Five More Perfect Runs

1. The perfect run is when I arrive late ( and I have) run w/o my inhaler and win my age group (and I have).

2. For me, the perfect run combines the elements of:

• A great setting (usually on a trail in the woods)
• Friends to share it with
• If it is a race, good results
• Pretty OK weathe

Three runs come to mind in the last year

• HAT 50K - my first sub 5 hour 50K trail run
• Escarpment 2001
• Quadbuster in the fall - 45 miles through PA, MD, VA and WV. It had all of the elements. I only ran half the miles and crewed the other half, but I made new friends, had fun running with old friends, loved the trail scenery and felt great doing it. Plus, there was no need to "race" the course.

Honorable mention: VHTRC Fat Ass 50K just completed recently.

8. July 4, 2000: This happened during the Peachtree Road Race after I had climbed Heartbreak Hill and was passing the Beer Mug...probably four-and-a-half miles or so into the 10K. The field was 55,000 strong, so even this far into the race the course was still congested. I passed this one real old guy who I'd seen before out at some of the local tracks, and I guess I must have cut in front of him and slowed down a bit because a few seconds later he pushed me on my shoulder and told me to get out of his way as he ran by me. Now I'm thinking, "alright old man, let's get it on!" So I hang with him for a half a mile and then he just picks it up and leaves me. I went on to run a little over 36 minutes, and (when I checked the results in the paper) he finished about 45 seconds ahead of me. After the race I met up with some friends from the Track Club (some who'd finished 5 and 6 minutes earlier), and we were recapping the race. I said, "Hey, you guys know that old guy who's out at the track sometimes? He pushed me out of the way and just crushed me in the last mile." One of them said, "You know who that 'old guy' is don't you? That's Dick Buerkle."

So it turns out I'd been bitch-slapped on the course by a former World Record (indoor mile) holder who once beat Steve Prefontaine. Pretty cool, huh...only at Peachtree. And now you know "the rest of the story." It still cracks me up when I think about it. After he shoved me I was like "that's it, I'm gonna kick your ass now." HA! Not likely.

9. The perfect run for me would be a 2:59 marathon with negative splits. It wouldn't be fun, it wouldn't be spiritual and it sure as heck wouldn't be pretty for the last 10km but it sure would be perfect.

10. While most any time of the year can result in a "perfect run" on the trail, I would say that the mostest perfect run would be just after a fresh snowfall of 3-6 inches, when the sun is glistening on the snow and I'm breaking the first track. Peaceful . . . quiet . . .