I’m doing another ultra! Well, not really, but it certainly did feel good saying that! :-)I am planning a very informal ultra for our running group, and here’s the scoop… On Sunday July 14, 2013 (yes that’s just around the corner), I’m planning the Cruisers’ W&OD Trail 45-Mile Ultramarathon Training Run.
The Cruisers have run the 45-mile distance of the W&OD Trail a couple of times before, but always over a four to six-week period doing a different leg each Saturday morning. One of our Cruisers (not me) wants to run an ultra this summer, so I thought, “Why not organize one!” My goal is to have at least one other Cruiser running on the trail with our “Ultra Cruiser” at all times. I plan to run a 15-mile leg early on, and then join in again later in the day for another leg. Of course my running availability will depend on who I have to help drive the support vehicle…
The Cruisers’ W&OD Trail 45-Mile Ultramarathon Training Run will start on Sunday, July 14 in Purcellville, VA and run the distance of the trail to Shirlington, VA.
We will meet at the old train depot parking lot at the trail head in Purcellville (next to Magnolias at the Mill, 198 N 21st St, Purcellville, VA 20132 ) at 6:45 AM. Plan to be dropped off and picked up, because there will be no shuttle to take you back to your car when you finish.
Cruisers at sunrise at the Purcellville end of the trail in 2010
Runners of all levels may participate and run the entire distance, join in at any point to run a few miles with the ultra runners, or set up a relay team. Calculate an average pace of 12-13 minutes per mile for the distance runners to determine what time to arrive to join them along the trail. I will tweet locations and times throughout the day. Follow me at @DebRunsFIT and use #CruisersUltra for updates.
Cruisers at the Shirlington end of the W&OD Trail in 2009
Although there will be a few water stops along the way, bring your own water, Gatorade, gels, etc. If you plan to run the distance, please have your own crew team, or coordinate with me to carry your supplies. Feel free to provide support, or to get a friend to drive in support, and meet the runners at key locations along the trail with food, drinks, and encouragement.
Cruisers at Clark’s Gap in 2009
This is a free, low-keyed training run with no t-shirt, no finisher’s medal, lots of photo opportunities, plenty of bragging rights, and an opportunity to be featured on DebRuns.com!
Please be considerate and keep these W&OD Trail rules in mind during the event:
- Stay in the right lane
- Give warning if passing another runner or walker
- Move completely off of the trail when you stop
- Place all trash in the appropriate trash receptacles
If you plan to join us, please RSVP on the Facebook event linked in the second paragraph. Also, if you’re available to provide support, please leave a comment on the Facebook event.
- Questions:
- If you live in the area, do you think you’ll join us for any part of the run?
- Have you ever run an ultra?
Ultramarathons are so inspiring. I can’t wait to follow your journey!
I’m really looking forward to it! It’s going to be a crazy day!
I have never done an Ultra, but if I lived closer to you all I would definitely join you guys for my first one! At least I would give it a try 🙂 There is an Ultra out here in Badwater that I think is 200+ miles, which I think is crazy! Yikes :-/ But I would like to go sometime just to be a spectator to watch these inspiring people.
I’m not sure if we will have more than one or maybe two runners running the entire distance, but I think it will be fun to support the runners and have others join in along the way. I’m planning to run early on and then join for another leg later in the day.
Holy moly! What will the temp and humidity be in mid july? Am following on twitter!
I can’t even imagine what the heat and humidity might be like… The first 15 miles or so will be nicely shaded, but after that a lot of the trail is in the sun. Unfortunately, if we were to run it in the opposite direction it would be a mostly a gradual up hill run.
This is awesome! I hope it goes well. My Dad often bikes on the W&OD Trail on the weekend (usually starting around mile marker 10) so I will let him know about this event in case he’s out on the trail at that time and happened to see you. I’m not on Twitter, but I’m sure you’ll be posting on here afterwards. Can’t wait to read all about it!
Hopefully, I will get some good pictures and have a fun blog post the next day!
Will contact you thru your Facebook. I am not sure what my schedule will be that weekend but as Meagan indicated I usually jump on the trail just after MM 10, where you cross Cedar Ave. Let me know what time you intend to start and if available, how I might help.
It would be great to see you again! As it gets closer, I will let you know what time to expect us to approach the 10-mile marker. If you go to the Facebook event and RSVP that you are attending, you should get all of the updates.
This is great!! I currently live like a few blocks from the Shirlington start of the trail, but we are moving this weekend, ha. I will definitely still try to make it out for part of it, though! Are you running the entire way? I will probably try to meet you guys towards the end…do you have an idea of when you will be getting to Shirlington?
It would be great if you join us for the latter part of the run! 🙂 Depending on the logistics, I plan to run the first 10-15 miles, then take over driving and support, run a little in the middle section, and then hopefully join in at the end. Bill and I haven’t planned it all out yet, but we will be splitting crew support and running. As it gets closer and I have a firmer grasp on the timing, details, etc. I will let you know. If you go to the Facebook event and RSVP that you are attending, you should get all of the updates.
[…] Ultramarathon Training Run that I’m planning and talked about last Saturday in my post I’m Doing Another Ultra!. If you are in the area and interested in joining us for all or any part of it, please go to our […]