I checked out the entrants list beforehand and saw that my friend Seth from FL had signed up! When I lived in Orlando, he was working on finishing off the 50 States marathon checklist. Now, he was working on the ultra version of that challenge, a 50K in every state - hence the interest in low cost (free) low key oddball timing events.
To minimize logistics, this event was a 5K loop you could run as many times as you wanted in the time limit. Obviously for a 50K you'd need to get 10 loops in... my goal at this early point in the year was a modest 8 laps.
That's what I did so I technically DNF'ed and am not listed in the results as far as I know. I went to check the results and the link doesn't pull anything up now. Hey, it was a fat ass event, it's fine.
The race itself started/stopped at a bunch of picnic tables. We runners claimed sections of the tables and benches to setup our stuff - drinks, chips, munchies, etc - and then we went to do our mileage. The group that traveled from MD included several others and loop events are always nice for sharing some time with others.
The route was runnable, minor roots and rocks with a slight hills over the distance. It was reasonably scenic as well, as we circled a small pond, Killen's Pond.
Check out the "circle of life" the birds made in the pond.
I stopped briefly at every lap before heading out again, and by the end of the 8th lap I decided not to grind out 2 more. On the way home we stopped at a great Italian place in Annapolis and I had some really delicious lasagna.
Overall it was fun, a great workout, and reasonably warm for mid January. A great way to start the year!
Eugene Bruckert