Sunday, November 20, 2011

Stone Mill 50 Mile Race Is History!

Here at Applejack Lane,  we have been recovering from a weekend trip to Gaithersburg, Maryland.  Cathy ran her first ultra trail race there of 50 miles, and I was the pit crew and water girl.  We left on Friday and returned about 11:30 P.M. Saturday night after the race.  Needless, to say we are tired, but at much different levels.  I couldn't believe how she stuck in there and ended up running  51 miles in a day!

Crossing the Potomac River at White's Ferry sure beat traveling on the Capital Beltway...

 It takes four minutes to load, the ferry, five minutes to go across the Potomac, and another four minutes to unload a full ferry...
The race started at 6:00 A.M.with 300 participants.  Runners had to use headlamps to see to get started. They ran  through all kinds of terrain-wooded areas, fields, streams as well as the sidewalks in the city.  Aid stations were a welcome site...
  
 As the day warmed, hats and gloves started coming off...
 Part of the race went through the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail...
 About 3:00 P.M. it started to get a little chilly again...
This is the house at Stone Mill in the Seneca Creek Greenway Trail for which the race was named.  The area had historic locks and canals next to the Potomac River...
 This is Cathy about nine hours into the race...
 
A few miles later with an extra layer for warmth...
THIRTEEN hours later and in the pitch of darkness, she finished running 51 miles!  Many runners had to use headlamps again to finish going through the wooded trails and make it to the finish line.  Way to go Cathy!  
Today, she has had a tough time walking around.  I guess she won't be going to the gym tomorrow morning at 5:30 as she usually does!

2 comments:

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

A BIG CONGRATS AND CHEERS FROM THE SIDELINES TO CATHY!!!! Good for her for finishing the race and doing so well!!!

On another note, I love to ride Whites Ferry and we take it as much as we can just to avoid the Beltway! It's even more fun at night!! :-)

Paula@SweetPea said...

Congratulations! This is quite an accomplishment!! A good friend of ours was there, too. I hope Cathy won't be too sore this week.