Yesterday’s Cruisers’ W&OD Trail 45-Miler Ultra Marathon was a huge success and I’m pretty sure that everyone who participated had a good time! I’m sending out a huge thank you to everyone who helped me pull off this event with such great success!
Here’s a little history that I haven’t shared with you on why I decided to put this event together and in such a short amount of time. If you remember, one Saturday in May my oldest son, Joseph, went out for a long run and ended up running 26.2 miles by himself. He set a goal to run an ultramarathon this year, but by that time all of the spring ultras had passed and he didn’t want to wait until fall to run it. As we were sitting around the dinner table discussing his conundrum, I said, “Why don’t I create a 45-mile point-to-point ultra on the W&OD Trial?” and an event was born! What a mother will do for her child! 🙂
July is pretty hot in Virginia and one would have thought that I would want to have the Cruisers running in the shade during the hot afternoon sun if at all possible. The western half of the W&OD Trail is shaded, and eastern half is not. It would have made the most sense to start on the eastern end of the trail at mile zero in the cooler early morning and run west toward the shaded part of the trail in the afternoon; however, as you can see on the elevation map below, we would have been running uphill the majority of the time. I opted with a west to east “downhill” run starting at mile marker 45 (actually 44.82).
Bill dropped Joseph and me off in Purcellville at the start, and we took off for Shirlington in a humid mess of foggy soup without remembering to take a picture. Bill took off in the SUV to crew for us along the way. We ran at a pretty good pace (maybe 9:30’s) and forced ourselves to take a short walk break every ten minutes or so. I tweeted our progress along the way using #CruisersUltra.
The horses came out to cheer us on…
Kim and Amanda were the first Cruisers to join us. We met them coming toward us at Mile Marker 40, and I took this photo a couple of miles later at Clarks Gap at my favorite stone bridge!
I had the “Cruisermobile” stocked full of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut bars, bananas, grapes, Shot Blox, Swedish fish, water, Gatorade, chocolate milk, towels, paper towels, cold packs, Body Glide, sun screen, changes of clothes, and the list goes on… Bill and I took turns driving it to crew for the other runners; and when we weren’t driving, we were running alongside Joseph.
As you can see, the western part of the trail is very rural, wooded, and has a lot of wildlife. This deer just watched us as we passed her. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a picture of the fox that went running by a little bit later.
Here’s one of the many farms that we ran by…
And a grown-over silo and barn…
After Kim and Amanda left us, Joseph and I continued to run alone and Bill snapped this picture of us when we stopped for a sandwich and drinks near Mile Marker 32.5.
We meet Cruiser Bob and his wife Bobbie on the bridge over Goose Creek. They came out on their bikes to support the runners, and we saw them two different times.
Just as I finished my first 15.5 mile leg at Mile Marker 29.5, Vamshi and Amit were waiting to join Joseph to run a short leg with him. Bill and I crewed together to the next stop for the only time all day.
My BRF Susan had this sign waiting for Joseph around Mile Marker 28. Isn’t she the BEST, and don’t you just love the shorts she’s rocking?
After the sign presentation and some wild cheering, Susan and her hubby Larry ran with Joseph for several miles…
Bill jumped on the trail with them at Mile Marker 27.5 at Carolina Brother’s BBQ. Boy did that place smell good! Julie joined us at that point and crewed with me for a while before she jumped on the trail.
Cruiser Beth and her hubby Tom met us at Mile Marker 17. Beth brought cold wet towels for the runners, and chocolate chip cookies for me! She hopped on the trail and Tom crewed with me for two stops.
Tom and I got to chill in the shade of my hatch for several minutes until the runners arrived.
At Mile Marker 11.5 Meagan’s dad Roger joined us on his bike to crew and stayed with the runners for about four miles. He took the following two pictures for me.
Joseph is looking good with ten miles to go, and Bill is just starting a walk break…
I jumped back on the trail at Mile Marker 5 and finished the rest of the course. I got this picture of Joseph and Julie on a walk break with only four miles to go.
The W&OD (Washington and Old Dominion) Trail is built on an old railroad bed and there are various train related signs and items along the trail. This is Bluemont Station near the eastern end of the trail.
My friend Skippy from MilesRun Group joined us on her bike at Mile Marker 5 and finished with us. Skippy rode ahead and turned to take these pictures of us finishing.
A well deserved high five low five as Joseph finishes 45 miles, his first ultra!
Happy Cruisers at the end of a very long day!
Here’s my Joseph right after he finished. I couldn’t be prouder!
Joseph was lucky enough to have someone running with him the entire distance. Here are the total miles run by each of the Cruisers who joined in on the fun:
Joseph – 45 miles
Bill – 26.5 miles
Deb – 20.5 miles
Julie – 18.5 miles
Beth – 15 miles
Kim – 11.5 miles
Amanda – 11.5 miles
Susan – 10 miles
Larry – 6 miles
Janet – 6 miles
Vamshi – 3 mile
Amit – 3 mile
- Questions:
- Who’s coming to run it with us if we do an ultra again next year?
- Would you rather run in the heat and humidity or freezing cold and windy?
Wow! What an awesome event you put together for your son. The amazing turnout has so much to do with how much you, your family (Joseph), and the Cruisers have touched everyone’s lives. This was SO much fun to read! Joseph looks like he could even run a few more 😉
Way to go, Joseph!
(Way to go, MOM!)
Thanks, Stephanie, you are so sweet! It was a lot of fun!
I want to know how Joseph looks so fresh and energetic after 45 miles!!!! Ah, youth. Nice job to Joseph, the other runners who paced him, and especially to his mom. Oh, great pics too. What a beautiful area!
Thank you! It was a huge deal for this running family! You didn’t see Joseph walking around later Sunday evening. He was walking like he’d just finished 45 miles! 🙂
I want in!!!! Congrats to Joseph- that is AMAZING! Everyone looks like they just easily ran a 5k… unreal! What a great idea. The wheels are turning for my Moms RUN This Town club now…
emma @ a mom runs this town
Awesome! Your running group would love something like that. 🙂
Congrats to Joseph! You must be one proud mama! The trail reminds me of the Virginia Creeper Trail. It’s a rails to trails path, and it starts in Abingdon, VA. We do a lot of our marathon long runs on it. The scenery is beautiful and the trail is much easier on your joints when you’re logging the miles. There’s an annual, no-frills marathon on the trail that draws runners from all over the country. Thanks for sharing this recap with us. Love the great pics!
I ran the Virginia Creeper Marathon several years ago! I loved that course! 🙂
Isn’t it beautiful? I love all of the bridges!
Yes, and I love that the trail runs right along the South Fork (and maybe Middle Fork) of the Holston River. It’s a very beautiful trail!
Way to go Joseph!! You must be so proud 🙂 What a fun event for the entire Cruisers group- y’all put in a lot of miles as well! I love that stone bridge at Clarks Gap.
I’m glad my dad was able to meet up with y’all outside of Vienna. If you do the W&OD again next year, I will make plans to visit my dad that weekend and come run with y’all.
Honestly I think I’d take freezing cold and windy over hot and humid. You can put on a lot of layers, but you can only take so much off.
We would love to have you come join us if we ever do this again! Next time I will schedule it at a cooler time of year, though! 🙂
You’re so right about layering. There’s only so much that you can take off! 😉
Congrats Joseph! Completing your 1st ultra is the most awesome feeling! Debbie – this is incredible how you pulled this race together! Kudo’s to both of you!
I’d love to participate if you do this again but preferably when there is NOT heat and humidity! This is why I don’t race long distances during the summertime!
Amy we would love to have you join us if we do this again! And yes, it won’t be in the middle of the summer next time! 😉
BTW, are you doing the JFK 50 again this fall?
Fantastic event Debbie! Congratulations to Joseph and all the runners for their participation and terrific effort. A great example of playing full out. I am inspired….
Thanks, Joe! I wish you could have joined us for a leg. Maybe next time! 😉
So impressive!!!!!! Congrats to your son! Is he still going to come out for one in the fall???
Very impressive distances from everyone!! That’s great that you guys had so many people come out and support you, too! Totally regretting I didn’t make it out. Do it again soon?!
I think Joseph needs to recover a few weeks from this ultra before he thinks about doing another one… I don’t think he plans to run a fall ultra, but who knows?!?!
I wouldn’t be surprised if we plan another similar event next year, but probably in the spring or fall. It sounds like the Cruisers need to head your way for a meet-up run sometime soon. 🙂 Maybe we can plan a run in Rock Creek Park in late August…
Glad I could help. I have enjoyed the W&OD since it first opened in 1974. We used to use it to connect to the Custis and Mount Vernon trails.
Next time I will go for a little cooler temps. As always, let me know how I can help. I crew for Meagan on her races whenever I can, and usually by bike.
By the way, If I planned it better, I could have spent some more time with you. As it was, I put down 32 miles on Sunday. Not uncommon. I usually do 20+ during one of Meagan’s halfs.
Thank you again for crewing for that leg for us! You can bet that if we do this again it will be in the spring or fall! 🙂
Will you be in Blacksburg for the Hokie Half in mid-September? If so, Bill, Joseph, Julie, and I will see you there!
Hi, Dad! haha… look at you commenting on other blogs aside from mine 🙂
Congratulations to Joseph for completing this race! He did an awesome job and he is so lucky to have a mom that put on such a well planned event. She thought of everything. She even had Nutella sandwiches for him. It was indeed a special day. I just wish that I had known that there were chilled M & M’s available. Job well done mother and son!
Why, oh why, didn’t I tell you that I had chilled M&M’s in the car. I mean really, since your car magnet says, “Will run for chocolate,” I should have offered my BRF some! Thank you for coming out and running with us. It’s the support from you guys that made it possible!
Congratulations to both your son and you! That is an amazing feat, and he barely looks like he ran at the end!
It sounds like you have plenty of running friends, which must have helped break up the day.
Congratulations again!
Thank you! It was such a fun day for us, and he had either my husband or me running with him for all but two of the miles! We are a proud mom and dad!
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