This was no picnic

The DC Raod Runners held their annual Summer picnic on Sunday August 10th. Unfortunately, they combined it with a 3 mile cross country run around Landon High School. I ran this race last year and while I loved the picnic, I hated the course. Even when I was in my best shape a couple of years ago, I didn't perform well in cross country events. Besides my fear of twisting an already tender ankle, it just seems like these courses take it out of me. This day was no exception.

Last year I managed to beat Christine C. by a minute or so. My one goal was to beat her again this day. I took off quickly at the start. So quickly that it wasn't until a minute or two into the race did people like Kirk Gordon pass me. Hmm, maybe that explained why I felt like I was going to hurl after only a few minutes. In essence, my race was over after just a few minutes. From that point on I just tried to stay in reach of the person in front of me, whoever it might be, and to also keep Christine(who was running with Mark Zimmerman) behind me.

I did OK on the first part for the first half of the race but Christine and Mark caught up to me about half way through the race. They put a pretty good gap on me when I stopped for a walk and I never recovered. Because of the nature of the course (lots of hills and turns) I didn't see them again untiul they were just about to finish. I trailed them by over 2 minutes. I thought there was a woman walking behind me but she must have dropped out because I show up in last place on the official results page. bummer. Someone talk me out of this race next year! I finished in 39:02 and was the 62nd male and the 82nd finisher.

Notable finishers were:
Richie Booth M 20 Darnestown MD 15:52 1 M 1
Ted Poulos M 46 McLean VA 19:58 16 M40-49 3
Kirk Gordon M 52 Mitchellville MD 22:38 33 M50-59 2
Robert L. Gurtler M 73 The Plains VA 33:15 59 M70-79 3
Christina Caravoulias F 53 Silver Spring MD 36:45 18
Mark Zimmermann M 55 Silver Spring MD 36:46 61