On Saturday June 5th, John drove me out to Algonkian Regional Park down in Virginia on the Potomac River for the 5:00 a.m. start of the North Face Endurance Challenge, Washington D.C. edition 50 mile trail race. 
On the morning of Saturday April 10th I drove down to Hemlock Regional Park along the Occoquan River in Clifton, Virginia to run my second Bull Run 50 Miler (see previous post from the 2009 race below). The Bull Run Run is a 50.4 mile trail run in the rolling hills of the Virginia countryside alongside the Occoquan River with two out and back loops (see the map of the course below) that includes ~6300 feet of climbing throughout. "The BRR is a beautiful, tough run on the Bull Run Trail in 
Northern Virginia sponsored by the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club. The run's unique character includes a Civil War theme that respects the battles that occurred here many years ago. The BRR is a difficult challenge, but many have finished it. It is not easy, but it is not brutal. The BRR is not for casual runners, but if you like to run trails, come enjoy a day in Virginia's spring beauty as we honor those who fought here many years ago."
On Saturday March 6th, 2010 I drove the 20 or so miles out to Riley's Lock in Seneca, MD for the Seneca Creek Trail Marathon & 50k. Finished in 5 hrs 39 min. 
Since starting school at Georgetown in 2004, I had successfully run and biked through 5 winters in Washington D.C. without much consternation... until the winter of 2009/10 arrived. On the night of Friday December 18th, the weather forecast was calling for a massive snowstorm of 18 inches or more starting after midnight and continuing all day on Saturday. Sure enough, come midnight the snow starting falling. Excited to go out in some fresh powder before it all melted, I laced up my running shoes that night around 3:00 a.m. and set out on a quick 6 miler out-and-back on MacArthur Blvd. There were a good 4 to 5 inches on the ground already. It was so much fun slip-sliding through the fresh powder. Turned out to be one of the most fun runs I can ever remember. Got cheers and honks from the many snowplow drivers - I felt like I was Rocky Balboa training for a prize fight through the streets of Philadelphia. Little did I know when I went to bed that night that this was not to be the last run through the snow this winter.
