Oskar Blues 4-Mile Run

We had a wonderful weekend, Martha and I - the race went better for both of us than we had expected.  Clear blues skies, high cirrus clouds, and arrival in plenty of time for race-day registration.  From my upcoming newsletter:

Your humble editor and his wife drove over to Brevard to run this little gem of a race.  It has everything going for it:  a relaxed starting time of 11:00 a.m. (which means we did not have to leave Highlands until 8:30 a.m.), a USATF-certified 4-mile course just perfect for a new PR (if you’ve never run a 4-miler), a relatively flat and rural course along the Davidson River (well, there is one little hill in the second mile), chip timing and prompt results, and a free Oskar Blues beer at the finish line.  This was the second year we ran this race, and still not entirely recovered from injury, I was pleased to run a 42:17, with no walking breaks – a far cry from last year’s 38:22, but these days I take victory where I can find it.  And while not making excuses, this race does attract some fast runners despite that little hill; even if I had been in top condition I could not have come close to the first place finisher in my age group, who finished in 24 minutes and some change (that’s 60-69, folks!).  The overall winner crossed the line in a scorching 19:10.

This was Martha’s third race of the year, and hot from first-place finishes four weeks ago in Morehead City and two weeks ago in Fletcher, she was prepared to break 40 minutes if she could.  She ran a strong race, finishing in 39:17, and good enough to take another handsome first-place trophy – yes, that’s three races, three first place trophies.  So proud of her!

 

Martha mounts the podium for 1^st place

Yes, I am proud of her, and we celebrated at Dugan's Pub after the race, ran leisurely errands all day, then had a wonderful Japanese dinner at Sora, our newest favorite restaurant in Brevard.  After dinner we enjoyed The Kitchen Witches as planned.  

Isn't it great when you can run a strong race on a beautiful March day, along a wide river and past little farms, the aroma of hops and malts from a brewery wafting out into the finish area.  It's even better when you can make it into a Race Weekend, take in a good dinner and a theater, and sleep soundly knowing you have done your very best this day.