jfk 50
i'd like to say the trip out was uneventful...mostly it was i guess. except that pat and i both got the pat down treatment by the tsa goons. what bothers me is that we were profiled...skinny youngish guys with beards. we were not given the choice to go through the scanner...just pulled aside. i knew something was up when one of the agents was giving me the stare down while i was getting everything situated for security. i will say this...it is as bad as the news reports are saying. you are put in front of others going through security and they pat EVERYTHING down...including running there fingers inside the waistband of your pants. i felt humiliated. i'm all for safety but as far as i'm concerned, the terrorists are winning.
anyway, besides that we made our destination ahead of schedule. got our car and headed to western maryland where we would turn in for the night around midnight. we took advantage of our opportunity to sleep in, got some coffee and then it was off to do some course recon where the appalachian trail meets the tow path and did 10km of running. this is a beautiful area of the country and i had no idea that maryland looked like this. we were very close to the borders of maryland, virginia and west virginia but i never heard any banjos. this course is a doosey with 16 miles of very rough and hilly trail, then a full marathon on the tow path (rails to trail) and then 8 more miles on rolling roads.
race morning came and we were up and at 'em at 4:15. pat got himself ready while i reviewed my tasks. it was a bit of a drive to the start and looking back it is a bit of a blur from when we arrived to the start of the race. i would be seeing pat at around the 9, 16, 27, 38 and 46 mile marks. at 9, he was shaking his head at how hard the a.t. was in this stretch. at 16 he came through around 2 hours...right on plan. at 27 he came through and described a rough patch physically at 20 (the wall in a 'normal' marathon) but was optimistic and forging ahead. i ended up giving him the wrong bottle at 16 which he claims had no effect on the low point but i'm dubious. anyway, past the antietam civil war battlefield (the result of this battle was the emancipation proclamation and the end of lee's first attempt on northern soil) was the mile 38. pat looked really good relative to the competition but was at a mental low point. i did my best to pep talk and he was on his way. shortly after he was on the road and at the last aid station looked great. he finished with a flurry and cracked the top 10 (9th place)...all in all a great day. we hung around for awards and then headed back to the hotel for some r&r. a little dinner and a game of cribbage and it was time for bed.
headed north yesterday to tour the battlefield at gettysburg. amazing that we fought ourselves...and there were a lot of people in costume...and a lot of those were sporting the confederate grays. and, along the way there were plenty confederate flags. yikes.
anyway, i feel honored to have been a part of the performance pat had over the weekend. it has been a very trying couple of years for him, katie and charlotte. to be able to produce a performance like this at his first ultra back is awe inspiring.
happy monday.
anyway, besides that we made our destination ahead of schedule. got our car and headed to western maryland where we would turn in for the night around midnight. we took advantage of our opportunity to sleep in, got some coffee and then it was off to do some course recon where the appalachian trail meets the tow path and did 10km of running. this is a beautiful area of the country and i had no idea that maryland looked like this. we were very close to the borders of maryland, virginia and west virginia but i never heard any banjos. this course is a doosey with 16 miles of very rough and hilly trail, then a full marathon on the tow path (rails to trail) and then 8 more miles on rolling roads.
race morning came and we were up and at 'em at 4:15. pat got himself ready while i reviewed my tasks. it was a bit of a drive to the start and looking back it is a bit of a blur from when we arrived to the start of the race. i would be seeing pat at around the 9, 16, 27, 38 and 46 mile marks. at 9, he was shaking his head at how hard the a.t. was in this stretch. at 16 he came through around 2 hours...right on plan. at 27 he came through and described a rough patch physically at 20 (the wall in a 'normal' marathon) but was optimistic and forging ahead. i ended up giving him the wrong bottle at 16 which he claims had no effect on the low point but i'm dubious. anyway, past the antietam civil war battlefield (the result of this battle was the emancipation proclamation and the end of lee's first attempt on northern soil) was the mile 38. pat looked really good relative to the competition but was at a mental low point. i did my best to pep talk and he was on his way. shortly after he was on the road and at the last aid station looked great. he finished with a flurry and cracked the top 10 (9th place)...all in all a great day. we hung around for awards and then headed back to the hotel for some r&r. a little dinner and a game of cribbage and it was time for bed.
headed north yesterday to tour the battlefield at gettysburg. amazing that we fought ourselves...and there were a lot of people in costume...and a lot of those were sporting the confederate grays. and, along the way there were plenty confederate flags. yikes.
anyway, i feel honored to have been a part of the performance pat had over the weekend. it has been a very trying couple of years for him, katie and charlotte. to be able to produce a performance like this at his first ultra back is awe inspiring.
happy monday.
Comments