It doesn't get better than this

I worked a little late Tuesday night and didn't have much sunlight left to hit the Pimmit Run trail for an hour, so I took it as far as I could- out to Bryan Branch, then back via Old Dominion and New Virginia Manor for 10 miles at about 7:00 pace.

Wednesday I had my ritual steak and eggs breakfast in advance of the evening's workout, which I had high hopes for- 5xmile starting at 5:15 and speeding up five seconds from there. When we got back from our warmup, the high school meet on the track was still raging, so we had to look at our options. We decided on the Capital Crescent Trail, which had half mile markers and a one-mile stretch between Connecticut Ave and the tunnel. The drawback is that heading north means going downhill and south is back uphill.
We started out downhill and finished in 5:08- I started a little late and caught up. It seemed too easy. The second was 5:11, but it was tough. The third was 4:58 and easy again, but the fourth was a struggle. I went out in 2:32, but fell back over the second half when my turnover wasn't quite there and finished in 5:17. By then it was pretty dark, and I spent enough time worrying about whether I would trip in the myriad of ditches and holes in the trail, so I retired to the track, which was just about to clear. That fourth mile busted me, though. I started to do some miles on the track, but had no sense of pace and went 70 seconds for a first lap, then jogged around a bit. I decided to try again, but felt wasted after a 75 quarter. I met up with the guys who finished the workout on the trail and we cooled down on the track while watching Diddy put some miles away, getting as fast as 4:23.

Thursday morning I woke early to head to the office so I could run among the cherry trees on Hains Point. It was miserably humid and I wasn't thrilled to do a second loop, so I headed back and just did 10. The cherry blossoms looked okay, but the real feature was the fog- I couldn't see Virginia from the west side of Hains Point. Not before I saw a guy who looked like Neal Hannan running. It turned out, however, to be his twin brother, Veal.

Looking at the forecast, Saturday morning looked rough, so I decided to do my weekend workout Friday morning. That meant an early wakeup -- 5:30 -- so I could get some water and ease into it. I headed out to McLean High School in the dark. I passed a few other runners, and wasn't feeling too spry, myself. The track was shrouded in fog and I didn't waste any time getting started with 20 minutes aiming for 5:30s. I was a little slow, though, running 5:31s, and was feeling awful. Part of me wanted to go home, but then I set myself straight. I woke up early, and I certainly wasn't going to be falling asleep again if I went home, so I might as well finish what I started. Also, this was my last chance to get an ambitious workout in that would contribute to my race at Cherry Blossom, so run I must!

I made it 14.5 laps in 20 minutes, and took an easy mile for recovery, but then the fog had lifted and the sun was all over the place. I figured I had nothing to lose from giving it a shot and running 80 second laps as long as I could. I was a little fast- 78 for the first one, and slowed only slightly as I came through my splits exactly on time- 5:20, 10:40 (with a 79.99 eight lap) and 16:00. I was a little slow on 13, but picked it up for 14 and 15 and finished in exactly 20, giving me an even 1:20.00 average. Beautiful. I thought back to the last time I did this workout successfully and remembered that I wasn't terribly sharp in the first segment, then was fine for the second. I felt like I was definitely running much harder to hit 5:31s than to hit 5:20s. When running 80s, every time I came through the 200, I threw in threw our four quick steps to keep turnover from slipping, and I think that helped. I did a longer cooldown on Westmoreland and felt magnificent. I took photos of the average split time to relish them, but I can't seem to get them off of my camera, so, no art for this post.

Saturday morning I ran all of the Pimmit Run Trail in a light rain. I finally saw the rest of the downstream section. Once I got to the end, I went up Glebe, Old Glebe, Glebe again,Williamsburg and through part of NVM to Orland, then I walked in from Longfellow for 14, no need for 15. I totaled 91 for the week and felt strong. Unfortunately, at some point on the trail, my right leg rubbed some poison ivy, to which I had just lost my immunity last year.

Sunday morning I went out for a new variation on my Brook loop. It was slightly misty in the mid 50s and felt very comfortable. I started out with a  6:15 for the first mile, but then ran 6:00 for the next. That was going to be the way things shook out. I wrote the names of the new streets I would be running on my warm, but the ink was already running seven miles in when I was supposed to turn on Daleview. I saw a "no outlet" sign, so I figured that much be the wrong road. Then I looked closely at my arm and realized it was right, and I would take my chances that the sign was full of it. I came across some fancy new houses and caught the right roads and figured out what the sign meant- there was an outlet, but drivers were discouraged from taking it because it looked like a driveway- one car wide. I then came across what might have been the nexus on the universe- the intersection of Old Tolson Mill Road and Old Tolson Mill Road. It looked like running ahead would take me into a yard, so I took a left and down a hill to a creek then back up the hill...into someone's yard. I turned around and went back, sure now that the mile markers I had committed to memory were not at least a quarter mile off. I came out on Bellview and was right in the middle of some rough Great Falls hills. It only got steeper when I crossed Old Dominion, and I was smelling lobster just about nine miles in. I didn't let that bother me, though, and took it as a challenge to push through it.

Drivers on Georgetown Pike were mostly (all but two) generous with a little space on the lack of a shoulder, and I gave so many thank you waves that I worried they seemed insincere after a while. After crossing the beltway, I ventured into the neighborhood north of GTP and liked what I saw-- rolling hills and not much traffic. Some middle-aged woman running along seemed annoyed to have to share to road with me, though I had given her a wide berth. As I wound through the neighborhood, I realized that I was doing exactly what I loved, and it couldn't get any better than this. I got back down to the rental car neighborhood (Mayflower and Enterprise) and nearly fell on my face after slipping in mud, but kept cranking. I hit 1:45 and decided to keep it up and crank it on Rupert and Lemon. I passed two hours at Crutchfield and finished up in 2:04 flat. I mapped it out to be a little more than 20.4, for a 6:03 average. A lot faster than I had planned, but it's hard to measure just how much pleasure a run like that gave me. More than anything, it gave me the confidence to head into the last month or two of my spring season with assertiveness. I can't wait until after Cherry Blossom, when I can let loose and work the miles for a few weeks. If I don't earn a Pittsburgh half entry, I'm seriously considering Cleveland, which will certainly give me a few more weeks to train.

Monday I ran an easy 8 at 6:30 pace on the Westmoreland loop. Tuesday I came home with every intention of running 10, but instead I lied around and didn't run. Wednesday's trip to the track was somewhat unnecessary, because I had my own plans and would not really get anything at BCC I couldn't do at home. I did three moderate miles- 5:12, 5:16, 5:14 and called it a day with a long cooldown. Thursday morning I did an easy reverse Westmoreland at 6:31 pace. I'll run nice and easily this afternoon, an Oak tomorrow morning with a fast 9th mile, then an easy Park++ Saturday. Sunday, I'd like to start no faster than 5:20, speed up a little over the next few miles, but really attack miles 4-9, then smell the finish line. I'm thrilled to be able to run this race, a month ago I wasn't sure it would be feasible. Even after I started running again, my quads felt like they were tearing apart. Luckily everything has tied itself up nicely.

I'll miss the Spider Relays and Monument Ave 10k, a bummer indeed, but I want to be sure I'm rested for Sunday.

Meanwhile a new Rock and Roll Half Marathon in Pittsburgh will kick off in August 2013. Though its scheduling was done with regard to the Great Race in October, holding it in early August is dubious, at best. I have confidence that it won't have the same fly-by-night, generic marketing act that 2009's Spirit  of Pittbsurgh Half Marathon carried, but at least those buffoons had the wisdom to run it in the fall. 

Also, the Richmond Marathon has a new sponsor-Anthem health insurance. As the Times-Dispatch article describes, the finish line will move for all three races. 

Hills again, but that's Pittsburgh for you

After the long ride back to Pittsburgh after the half, I had trouble getting to sleep. I might have gotten to bed around 2, then slept until 10. I did some work, then headed out for a run. I left my mom's house, went down Shaler, up Kearns, around Clearview and Strathmore, Berry, Stafford and West Carson, then up the McArdle Roadway and home for 12 miles. My calves and hamstrings were still wrecked. I had originally planned on 15 miles, with a loop up William and Boggs before coming back, but I was tired.

It rained all day Tuesday, and I didn't care enough to run, so instead I ate a lot of mint chocolate chip ice cream and watched movies. I spent a lot of that day bemoaning my Philadelphia race, at one point congratulating myself for coming so close to my PR despite the poor execution and latter-mile injury, then alternating to realizing that if I ran that fast considering how much went wrong, I had the opportunity to run much faster if I had done things right. In short, I spent the whole week sitting around my mom's house, pissed about the race and relegated to traveling on foot or arranging rides with friends.

Wednesday morning I picked myself up to run around Mt. Washington and added to it by running the new trails along the face of the mountain. It was wet, covered in leaves and mostly clay. For someone who wants to take a walk, it's ok. For a runner, it's a dangerous disaster. I twisted both ankles was on the brink of slipping off constantly. That said,the trail afforded me some great views of the city and I got about nine miles.

After 12 years of running the Downtown YMCA Turkey Trot, I put an end to it. Although it's very popular and had its best attendance ever this year, it's value as a road race has plummeted in the last few years. It's now a series of out-and-backs starting and finishing on the north side and just a mess of people. Great for the YMCA's fundraising, but its quality as a race has plummeted. I was on the race committee in 2008 when construction limited a lot of the courses the race had used from 2003-2007. Given the restrictions we had, we could only do a 5k but I hoped to be able to bring it back to the five mile course when possible. Then I moved, then the director left and took the focus on quality with him.

I did it for two more years, but also started running Dan Holland's Gutbuster race in Frick Park. I am not exaggerating when I say it's the hardest race I have run. Alternating up and down hills on trails that are often slippery. What didn't help was that I ran a 5k one year and a five mile the next before coming to the Gutbuster, so I was already wiped out. Last year's freezing rain made it miserable. This year it was dry for once, just warm enough, though it had rained all day Tuesday and it certainly wasn't dry.

The first mile is almost entirely uphill, with a flat stretch in the first 200 meters or so. I stuck with a decent pack that included Luke Briola, Jim Hommes, Nolan Wildfire and a little kid who looked like a short Andy Webster. We chatted up the hill, until Webster tried to take off near the mile mark, which we hit in 6:57. I bolted ahead of him and immediately opened up my stride on the loop around the fitness circuit and the sledding hill. I headed back down and saw my mom heading up, the two mile was not supposed to go this way and I told her as much. She just said "I know."

I didn't see anybody for a while, and I had a pretty solid lead. I came down the second mile in 5:17 (where was that when I needed it on Sunday?), then up the next hill in 6:44. I didn't see a four-mile mark, but I think I was a little over 24 minutes. I went back up the first hill and hit miles 4 and 5 in 12:43. I started seeing the people behind me coming down the hill and I was climbing, and I start giving high fives, essentially celebrating with almost half of the race left.

I apparently had no reason not to, my lead appeared safe. The next mile was 5:21, a little slower than mile 2. When I hit the Tranquil Trail, I was a little flat, but I figured I could afford to slow down, mainly because when I tried to run hard, my right hamstring didn't respond.

Again, I figured my lead was safe, so this obstacle shouldn't be too troubling. I saw Leslie and Pete near the bottom of the Biddle Trail, and they didn't say too much. That trail was the hardest part of a really hard course, the steepest section, half of the trail was a creek and the other was jagged rock. I slipped at one point and looked back and suddenly Jim Hommes was on my tail. I was shocked- I had no indication anyone was anywhere close to me. I hadn't seen anyone when I made turns, and I didn't hear Leslie and Pete yelling for him. That leads me to several possible conclusions- 1. he did most of the catching up on the hill 2. he told Pete and Leslie to be quiet so he could sneak up on me 3. I didn't hear them cheering for him.

We were in this same position in 2003 at the Turkey Trot, back when the race was worthwhile. I held him off there, but by that point I had a stronger lead. And I hadn't raced a half four days before and run myself into the ground over the last 3.5 miles.

For a few seconds I felt as though I was going to lose, the surprise that he was there, when I was feeling the weakest, nearly broke me. Jim's one of the toughest masters runners around, and his focus has always been exemplary for long races. I felt like there was no way I could fend him off anymore. I ran like an asshole and I was getting my comeuppance. Until I didn't.

I got to the top of the trail and turned onto another uphill, but less steep, trail. I started charging ahead, hoping to put a lot of distance between us before he joined me on the smoother trail. I split 6:53 on the seventh mile, not unreasonable given the lack of a push I had before I saw Jim. I kept cranking up the hill, then pushed a little more back down the hill. This trail was slippery, so I had to run with more caution than I had before. I also had to navigate around walkers and the runners in their fifth and sixth miles. Once I got to the bottom, I had a clear path to finish, and split 5:22 for the eighth mile to finish in 49:16. I think I had a 20 second lead over Jim, who had run a 50k a few weeks prior.

I would have liked to run under 48 minutes, but I could argue with winning, considering the way the prior few days had gone. Mom had fun doing the four mile, and I was left excited about making the Gutbuster my solitary Thanksgiving race in the future. I don't know if it prepared me for cross country running at nationals, but it was certainly tough.

Friday morning, I tried to go for a run on the Seven Springs golf course, but my hamstring felt incredibly weak. I got about two miles of running in before I realized I was better off resting.

Later, after I was back in Pittsburgh, I drove out to the Richard and did my Standard Beechwood loop, averaging 6:05 for 10.5. I finished right before dusk. I felt much better than in the mountains, and to be able to average that pace on those hills was relieving.

Saturday, I was once again without a car, so I ran from my mom's house down to the jail trail and out to Four Mile Run. I hit 11:01 for a two-mile stretch, but slowed down afterward. I made a rare trip up the Panther Hollow Trail, up Neville and over onto Bayard, past the Huff's old place, before turning onto Craig and Bigelow. Now, Bigelow is not a frequently traveled road for pedestrians. There's a sidewalk, but it was overgrown with dry weeds. Things open up a little bit in Frank Curto Park, then shortly after that the sidewalk ends and suddenly I'm on a busy almost-highway. That lasted about two-to-three minutes, then I was downtown, looping around to Gateway Center and back up the Boulevard of the Allies to the Liberty Bridge and Mt. Washington for just under 13.7 miles.

Sunday morning, I ran a little more than seven miles with Jess Gangjee on Mt. Washington before going back to Virginia.

Lonely in a crowd of 9,000

I don't even remember where I ran on Wednesday- I think a Woodley in the morning, something from my barbershop -- where I failed to get a haircut -- in the evening, for 16.5. Thanks to backloading my mileage the prior week and frontloading it this week, from Thursday to Wednesday I ran 120.5, so I cut the next few days' mileage so I could recover a little for the Great Race.

I slept in Thursday morning, then finally got that haircut in the afternoon. I warmed up back to my place then did a 10-10-10 p-word run on my usual loop. It was really humid, and the little bits of hair from the barbershop were spreading all over my body, thanks to the sweat. I was a little fast for the first mile- maybe 5:54, and about 30 seconds ahead of schedule at 1.6 miles. I was right on for the first mile of the 5:45 segment, but fast overall, 5 seconds perhaps. I was slow for the 5:00 chunk- 2:33 at the first measured half and 5:07 for the measured mile, but felt okay. It was pretty uncomfortable, but given how much I had run the week before, I felt alright.

The next morning, I set out to do an easy Oak loop, but the humidity made me feel like garbage a little more than two miles in, so I went a little more, turned onto the W&OD and ran home for 5.

The next morning, in Pittsburgh, I did my pre-race 5 on the Schenley Park course.

When I woke up, my room felt cool, so I had a good feeling about the Great Race. When my mom and I left the house, though, the air didn't feel quite as light, and it was warming up quickly. We didn't have to wait as long as we feared for a bus ride to the start.

I warmed up to the first mile and back, seeing Jason Baim and Brian Romine along the way.

The gun went off quickly, thankfully giving me little time to tense up on the starting line. The hoi polloi cleared out relatively quickly and the pack was pretty well set before we turned onto Forbes and I heard the first few people yelling for me. Outlaw, Luff and Hanson were all up in the front, with Steve Strelick up there looking tall and Brandon G by my side. I heard and saw Scott Rosenblum and Sarah Ordaz near St. Edmund's. The leaders went through the mile in 5:10, I was a second behind, pretty much right on pace. The lead pack pulled away up the hill shortly after the mile mark, but heading down, I wasn't sure if the three guys in the chase pack with me, including Greg, were going to be running the way I wanted, so I put in a surge to catch up to the end of the lead pack. They kept accelerating when they hit CMU, and I noticed Outlaw start to fall off. I hit the second mile in 4:55, a few seconds behind the leaders, but a world away. As I turned onto Fifth Avenue, I already felt like I was done and saw black spots on the bottom parts of my eyes. Well, if I passed out, at least someone would see me...

I passed Outlaw near Central Catholic but he didn't go with me. Then I heard Gillian off to the right, a very enthusiastic pick-me-up. I hit that third mile in 5:25, about15-20 seconds slower than I wanted. I was hoping to go through 5k in 15:45 and go from there, but I forgot how difficult running alone on Fifth Avenue, especially in the sun, was. Jen Taylor, of all people, was on the curb cheering, too. I saw a dude in orange ahead of me, and kept myself going to catch him with a bit left to go in the fourth mile. I hit 5:03, giving me a 20:36 split, right on pace to break 32, which was my moderate goal.

The fifth mile is always the worst for me. Almost every time I have run the Great Race, I've

been alone in the fifth mile. In 2007 I had Cavanaugh with me, but even then I split 6:00 for it. This year, Beth Shutt was riding along the course and shouting to me, but I felt like I was plodding. All I had to focus on was Hanson in the distance, also struggling alone. I feared a bit better than before -- 5:38, and came through five miles matching my PR for the distance- 26:15. After that, though, it was ugly. A minute later, Greg, the guy in orange I had passed a while ago, and some other dude passed me in a pack as yet another person I didn't recognize yelled to me. The downhill on Boulevard of the Allies did me no favors, and I knew I was unlikely to match the 4:53 I had once run for it. Matt, Shafer and Jo all cheered on Fort Pitt Boulevard, but so was some yinzer who yelled, "Get up with them! Don't run alone!" His insight into the dynamics of distance running sadly lacked the pragmatism of how I would suddenly get about 100 yards ahead. I ran 5:14 for my last mile and 1:07 for the .2 -- terrible -- to finish 10th in 32:36.

On one hand, it was just 9 seconds slower than my PR, and I rarely run 10ks. I ran almost 140 miles in the 10 days prior to the race. It was 70 degrees in the middle of the race and a slight tailwind was just enough to keep a runner's body heat moving with him, so there wasn't much relief there, though at least it wasn't a headwind in mile 5. When I ran faster in 2007, the weather was ideal. A lot of people complained about the heat and humidity, so I know I wasn't alone in feeling their effects.

I also ran alone for the last four miles, which seems more and more ridiculous. I wound up in that situation because I wanted to run a conservative first half, but I wasn't competitive on my own in the second half. Might I have done better if I had stuck with the lead pack, gone out faster and at least had people with whom to run? Maybe if I had more confidence in my ability to hold up? A few days later, I realize I definitely should have stuck with the lead pack and seen what I could do. This three-week racing segment is supposed to be a test for what I can do without the late-season taper, and taking a chance like that is exactly what I should have done.

But those excuses don't make up for a lack of discipline and ability to keep my pace when I needed to do so. My third and sixth miles were troubling. I didn't take any chances by pushing myself in the third mile. My goals coming in were to run faster than 31:30 on a great day, under 32:00 on a decent day and under 32:27 on an acceptable day, and I didn't accomplish any of them. I did match my five mile PR, but that was eight years old, and I barely run fives.

Using the Great Race as a benchmark, I am a little short of the shape I was in during the latter half of 2007, definitely my best year. That said, I don't feel like it- part of it might have been the humidity, but I am not as competent running hard on my own.

I did get to run in the last mile with my mom, which was fantastic. She also didn't feel good about her race, though with all the people she had to dodge in the first few miles, I'm sure it didn't even feel like a race for a lot of the course.

That evening I ran 9.25 around Mt. Lebanon, feeling pretty wrecked by seven miles in and definitely dehydrated. That place is a lot hillier than I appreciated when I was running there every day...

The next morning, after a doctor's appointment, I ran in Frick, starting at the Biddle parking lot, wrapping around to the start of the Braddock Trail, down to the Nine Mile Run trail, up the Tranquil Trail and my usual two loops near the lawn bowling courts. I got to the bottom of the Falls Ravine Trail and stopped, with no interest in continuing, but having gotten in 6.5 miles. After a trip back to DC with Sam that was a veritable GRC Heritage Trail (we passed the Wiggy's Mom birthplace in Hopwood, Pa., the Towpath Birthplace in Cumberland and the Towpatch Conception Point Monument in the Shady Grove metro parking lot) I ran another 6 on the Seaton loop.

Wednesday morning, I am still wrecked from the race. My quads, especially, are heavy and don't respond when I want them to do something. My back is stiff and my head is pounding. Even my hands hurt. It's like someone beat me up while I was recovering from the flu. I just want to sleep. I got home and started to run the Double Pimmit, but eight miles in I was feeling poor, so I stumbled back home, and ate a most of a rotisserie chicken for dinner. I slept in the next morning, thanks in large part to a heavy morning rain that relaxed me so much that I just waited for my alarm to stop.

The weather is looking good for the Freedom's Run Half this weekend in West Virginia and Maryland. With a low of around 48 Friday night, I should hopefully have the tools with which to have a good race. It's a hilly course in miles 4-9, but that leaves seven miles that are fast. If I take the quick splits when I can get them and stay focused when it's rough, I can come out with a good race. The last three miles, especially, are consistently downhill, I want to take advantage of that and cross the line kicking, not sputtering. What I would like, ideally, is an opportunity to get in a rhythm that embraces an undulating, rural course and enjoy the uphills and much as the downhills. I see, at least in my imagination, a similarity to my Hickory Hill loop in Hanover County, Va, in both the weather and topography.

I remembered how to race

My workout race Thursday evening was okay. It was extremely humid, and my decision to run in my gray GRC shirt was questionable. I blazed from the start, a little too fast, because I let up in the last minute of the first mile, which I covered in 5:00, I think. I eased up for a minute, during which an Ethiopian passed me. I would catch him on my fast minutes, then drop when I slowed down, and he was visibly confused as to what I was doing. He left me behind in my third recovery, and I definitely slowed down on my own, though my last 30 seconds were great. I won a gift certificate to the Chris Sloane Running Company. During my cooldown with Laura, a delightful cool breeze transformed the climate, something we could have used 30 minutes prior.

Friday morning was just an easy seven miles on the Pimmit Run Trail. I should finally be able to do some more work on it Tuesday afternoon.

My Megabus trip back took 6:40, thanks to traffic escaping Hurricane Irene. By the time I got to Pittsburgh, my knee and hip joints were about ready to fall out. Dad made linguine with clam sauce and I got to play with Arnie.

The weather was cool but humid in the morning for the Run Around the Square. I knew it wouldn't be an easy race when I saw Curt Larimer. The course isn't very fast, with a flat first mile, an uphill mile+ and less than a mile downhill. Only former Hounds Joe Mahoney and Dan Lesser have broken 16:00 there, and some good runners have raced there. It's a good course, though, and a wonderful race, usually boasting more than 1200 finishers.

We started out fast, and even the mile that is on the road is hard, because the bricks on Milton Street are really uneven. There are dips three feet away from a rise, and it really pays to know the road's contours. It's almost like running through a field that's been torn up, despite the brick surface. It's a fun element to the race. I tucked into the pack behind Playmaker and a dude in red. Some guy in green was directly to my right and someone else was on my heels. My heart and lungs caught up with my legs when we made our first turn.

We turned down the steep hill into Frick Park and Red came hurtling down the hill, almost like he had tripped and was constantly catching himself and we descended, but he was moving with enough confidence that he thought he was going to break the race open. Well, he didn't. Within 30 seconds, the pack, which I was leading by that point, swallowed him up and left him behind, because whoever he was, he didn't break 17, unless he was banditing. He couldn't have run the race before, because nobody in their right mind would try to run away from the pack we had that early in the race with two long hills ahead of him. Playmaker and I started dueling up with hill, and I had a step on him, as we came through the mile in 5:00. When we crested the hill, I put on about seven fast steps to get the flat stretch off on the right foot, and I think I moved a few times to block a pursuer. "Gamesmanship!" Dave Wilson said later. I maintained a slight lead as we rounded the ballfields on South Braddock Ave, wanting to be in position to speed up when we hit the second uphill trail and blow it up with a mile to go, but felt a little worried when we turned onto the sidewalk, whoever was on my tail wasn't interested in running with me.

I swung a little wide on the left turn onto Forbes, and stepped onto the street, for no reason apparently. A few seconds later, Curt and t-shirt passed me, then Playmaker. I jumped back onto the sidewalk before we crossed the bridge, which had a knee-height cement barrier protecting the sidewalk. T-shirt hurdled it, now in a battle with Curt. The pack was moving away from me and I thought I saw Green out of the corner of my eye, but evidently not. I let the three leaders pull away, but once we turned back onto the trail, I just moving again. I remembered how broken I felt in 2009 when Remix and ERF Chaunce dropped me, and I realized I wasn't going to gain anything jogging it in. I couldn't see anyone directly ahead of me, but I knew he was up there somewhere. I hacked away at the hill, and wondered when I'd see the two "mile" mark, which is more like 2.1. When I crossed it in 6:28 (I know... but the whole mile is uphill) Playmaker was about 50 yards ahead of me. We had more climbing to do, and I kept after him.

When we crested the hill, my left foot slipped and I yanked my ankle. It hurt like hell, and I decided that maybe it would make the heavy breathing I was about to do feel a lot less terrible. I launched myself down the hill, intent on catching Playmaker. It's pretty darn hard to catch someone down a hill, but I decided I wasn't going to let him beat me. I didn't know it at the time, but I had a comfortable lead on Andrew Bell. I just started running recklessly down the hill, with a late-race intensity I haven't felt in a long time. I passed Playmaker with about a third of a mile left and put some distance on him. I was shocked and how I was able to fight back there. I eased up a little with about a minute left and I heard him on my tail, so I pushed again and held him off by two seconds to finish in 16:24. It was a second faster than I ran when I won it in 2008. I checked old results later, and only once or twice was my time not good enough for second place. T-shirt (Pat Dantzer) and Curt had run 15:57 and 15:59, by far the best top two the race had ever seen, and Playmaker (Chris Stoddard) was two seconds behind me, so if anyone could see the race in the woods, they got two good shows.

While I'm not crazy to have lost -- had I at least stuck with the leaders in mile two I would have had a chance -- I was pleased to have been able to recover and run Playmaker down in the last mile. It seemed for a while like it would be a lost race, but I recovered well. When I think back to the time I started chasing him in earnest and when I caught him, I'm amazed that I was able to do it, and as fast as I did. If nothing else, I regained some resilience and courage that I had been missing for a few years. The prize was a gift certificate to New Balance, but they didn't have much worth buying, so I picked up some socks and bodyglide. At least it wasn't another Elite Runners and Walkers gift certificate...

Dan Holland raced, the only Hound to compete.

Sunday morning I headed to the West End for my favorite long run loop- 20 miles. I made a few changes for some turns, so the mile markers were very general.

I woke up at 7:30, not terribly excited to run. After dropping my bottle off, I finally got started at 8:30. I was hoping to get going early enough that I'd be heading down Noblestown Road when Nate and his gang were heading up, but that would have required me to start much earlier. I definitely felt the race still in my legs when I got started, somehow the flat stretch on Wabash Street felt the same to me as when I started climbing Steuben and Chartiers. My first change was turning onto Stafford and Stadium, a long downhill and a steep uphill. When I got to the top and hit Motor Street, a nice breeze cooled me off. Sheraden Park looked really nice, as did the hillside near the pool for which I coordinated the landscaping work in June. I picked it up, relatively, a bit in the Sheraden Park coop, then slowed down when I climbed Kelvin and Mutual, another slight change.

I didn't exactly roll down Chartiers past the cemetary, and I knew it wouldn't be a fast run. My calves were really sore, so I decided to just finish it and not try to run too fast. I grabbed my bottle or raspberry lemonade propel that I found in a cabinet, took a few swigs and dropped it at the top of Broadhead Fording. The Ingram section was uneventful, and someone said hi to me on West Prospect when I got into Fairywood. Man, that neighborhood is just so run down and isolated. I ran through the project and past the Giant Eagle distribution center, the most hopping place in the area, and jumped on the tracks. I had to walk over most of the rocks near the railroad yard fence. The weeds had grown pretty tall and dry near Napor, but they didn't itch too much when I ran right through them. Someone was walking along the Industrial Highway, which seemed to fly by, but also look like it was hilly for some reason. The sun wasn't terribly hot, and when I got to Mazette, it was overcast enough that I didn't notice it. Some blonde girl almost hit me with her car in Emerald Gardens.

I grabbed my propel and headed up Clearfield, which was completely overgrown- I had to slow to climb it, which gave me a good chance to drink more. It's a ridiculous hill, really. Middletown Road was no better, though I really didn't have any trouble climbing it. When I got to the bottom of Stratmore I left the bottle and my shirt and just kind of cruised in the last few miles, not going too fast and not having any doubt about finishing, unlike last week's sweat box. I noticed a little trail between Clearview and Crafton, maybe that would be better than the brick laden, and uneven,Clearview. I explored a bit in Crafton Heights, and when I hit Noblestown, I just cruised it in, giving my legs a break, though I love to just tear it up for those last two miles. I finished with 20.75, averaged 7:01 and was tired for the rest of the day. The hills were rough, but I was never too tired to keep going, I was just beaten up from the bus ride, the race and almost 21 miles of climbing and descending.

Monday morning, I ran at 5:15 before taking the bus back to Washington. I just did eight laps of Chatham Village- 3/4 mile. I was surprised to run 5:29 for the first, then 4:58, then six 4:45s.

Trails made the right way

"Trail" is a dicey term- lots of trails in newly-developed areas are nothing more than long, paved sidewalks, which, while useful in protecting users from traffic, are a bit of a disappointment. Good news from my old paper, the Valley News Dispatch, about progress on various crushed limestone trail projects in the Alle-Kiski Valley:

'Nexus of trails' envisioned

Photo by Louie Ruediger

Favorite Pittsburgh Runs #1

The Wild Wild West End

This route was born from my foray into politics in 2009.

My neighbor and friend Georgia ran for city council to represent the west end of the city. As I explored the district map, I realized just how little I knew of the area. While living in Mt. Washington in 2007, I had run in the West End, Crafton Heights and Elliott neighborhoods, but outside of that area, I was relatively unfamiliar, save for some trips through the Corliss Tunnel as a child. To help introduce her name to western neighborhoods, I planned to make a t-shirt bearing Georgia's name to wear as I ran through the area. The fun part was taking the district map and finding a way to maximize my travel and find a good longish route. What I came up with is a diverse and fascinating tour of Pittsburgh's forgotten neighborhoods that turned out to be excellent for running.
Note: I had become enthused with Esplen in 2008 when I saw this photo and story, but sadly it doesn't fit in the loop.

The start in the West End is a flat stretch through the valley between Elliott and Duquesne Heights until the climb up Steuben Street and Chartiers Avenue into Elliott about a mile in. Traffic can get a little tight early on Chartiers, but on the post-Lorenz downhill, the road widens and traffic disperses.

A right turn at the Comcast building takes you

through the Corliss Tunnel. As a child, I loved traveling through tunnels in Pittsburgh, and because the Corliss Tunnel was the most out of the way, I was drawn to them the most. I couldn't have passed through them more than five times as a kid, and tunnel is very short so they weren't long experiences. You face the Ohio River on West Carson Street and turn left and head west for a block until Glenmawr, a long climb that runs parallel to the West Busway and takes you into Sheraden.

Sheraden is the largest neighborhood in Pittsburgh's West End, annexed by the city in 1907. The once-stable, sprawling neighborhood has gone to seed lately, but decent housing stock is the norm, just in various states of decay.

While running down Ashlyn Street, Eric Shafer, Jo Rupp, Steve Garand, Brandon Gillingham and Greg Byrnes and I saw a teenage girl throw a brick at a boy across the street, but attempt no further assault. Turning down into Sheraden Park you can see some of the fields that bind many of the youth together in routinely strong baseball and softball leagues. A right on Fransisco brings you into the Sheraden Park co-op, with views through the trees of Brunot Island in the Ohio River and down into McKees Rocks.

Back onto Chartiers Avenue, you pass a few taverns on your right, Smitty's, Kron's Draught House and Molly O's Bar and Grille. The Googlemap represents each of these establishments with a martini glass, but I do believe if you order a martini at either place, your departure will be likely expedited by several burly gents.

A loop takes you around the Tuxedo Street skate park, and then hits Chartiers again. The route then descends past the Poale Zedeck Cemetary, associated with a congregation in Squirrel Hill, which is now full. Down the hill into Chartiers City and Windgap, two middle-class residential neighborhoods featuring the Remember When ice cream shop.

A left onto Windgap Road leads out of the city briefly into Ingram, by the beautiful Allegheny Valley School Patricia Hillman Miller campus in West Prospect before reentering the city in Fairywood, perhaps the most intriguing neighborhood in the city, as I consider it. The neighborhood has about 10 streets, with houses in varying states of decay, and few residents remain. I am still a little scared to venture onto Mazette Place...

The loop runs through almost all of the streets in the neighborhood, and the corner of Abordale and Fairywood Street is so remote that I doubt 99 percent of the city's population has ever been there.

Head straight into the Broadhead Manor housing project, abandoned in 2004 when Chartiers Creek flooded after Hurricane Ivan. It used to be the most dangerous part of Pittsburgh, and I'm sure there are squatters living there that keep it moderately dangerous, but on Sunday mornings they are rarely out and about. They're probably at church. Here's a taste of the dysfunction once abounded at Broadhead Manor. You've hit the lowest point on the loop and

will enjoy a few miles of flat but exposed running, so if it's a hot day, be ready for it. By that point you really start to feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. The valley you are in was rural until the end of World War II.

Coming out of Broadhead, you see the vitality and likely the future of Fairywood -- industrial real estate. I'm not even sure what all of the buildings store -- I know one is a food depot, another is UPS and a third is Roomful Express furniture. Head to the end of Beechnut Street and head off the road and turn left to run parallel to the train tracks that are part of the former Scully Yard.

Over a slight bridge and onto Napor Boulevard, you're now in Kennedy Township, I believe. Follow Napor under the Thornburg Bridge into Thornburg then across Steuben Street, in Crafton, back into the city.

The first time I remember crossing the Thornburg Bridge was in June 2001, when I got lost taking my then-girlfriend, Kelly, to dinner on Mt. Washington. I couldn't get over to the Route 51 South exit from 279 and took 51 North, where we hit an awful traffic jam. Trying to turn around in the West End, I made an illegal left turn and would up climbing Steuben Street into Elliott, Crafton Heights, regular Crafton and when I hit the bridge I realized it was time to figure out where in God's name we were. Eventually we got back on track, but for a long time the memory of being so completely lost in an area close to where I lived stuck with me and represented itself visually as the Thornburg Bridge.

In 1777, General Edward Hand built the first federal hospital in the new nation along the banks of the Chartiers Creek, near the fording between the Thornburg Bridge and Brodhead-Fording Road.

You run back to Broadhead Manor on the Industrial Highway, which is dramatically empty. It adds to Fairywood's post-apocalyptic feel of. It's really remarkable. Matt Ciccone discovered the same route as a high schooler, and my friend's boyfriend (who went to Langley) used to know people who would drag race there. It runs along Chartiers Creek, which my high school environmental science class studied. Someday, there will be a complete trail along the river, there there are a few miles of trail on the west bank.

There was a man on Broadhead Fording Road who used to be outside when I would run there in Spring 2009. He was a welcome change from the hecklers I ran into in the suburbs. He would ask me earnestly how far I had gone, if I was running the in marathon, and how far until I was done. I hope that man is still around. I doubt it.

In contrast to the rest of the neighborhood, Emerald Gardens is growing somewhat. A private company bought the former projects, Westgate Village, and is renovating them, and it seems to be the only growth going on there.

You're actually in a city at this point.

Shortly before the 14-mile mark, you start a long climb to Steuben Street. The next few uphills are pretty much a constant, but managable, climb. Clearfield street is hard to catch, so be mindful to look to the right up Windgap Avenue approaching Summerdale. There's a chain across the path, so look out! You disappear into a wooded path that makes you forget you're in a city. It's amazing. It's also very steep.

Throughout this stretch, you'll see middle-class homes and churches, with the occasional crazy man in front of the Middletown Road Baptist Church, who will ask you if you are interested in what he has to say. You are not. Trust me.

The climb up to Barr is kind of steep, but it's the end of any climbing you'll have to do. The last two miles on Noblestown are a long downhill, and it's fun to just let loose, especially when passing through West End Park. Crank it!There's a convenience store around the corner from the finish, and they stock chocolate milk. If you run early enough, you can get warm doughnuts in Elliott. A long hard run on this loop will satisfy you for a while, and if done right will leave your legs tingling.

For the most part, people I know don't spend any time in the area. When I had my going away party at the Obey House in Crafton Heights, most people said they had never been around there. I just love the variety that comes in this run, the long hills, the dramatic views, the 10 different neighborhoods, the fact that nobody knows where half of the places are.

I think one reason I enjoy this loop so much is that the area was pretty close to where I grew up, but I never explored it. I didn't know much about the area between interstates 376 and 79, and I didn't care. There couldn't be much there, right?

Considering how dangerous Broadhead Manor was, that's probably a good thing I didn't explore so much. To see that neighborhood reduced to near abandonment intrigues me, because the bad stuff that happened just picked up and left.

In 1998, Charlie Van Gombos and I decided to follow a pair of girls in their car after they bought some cigarettes (clearly underaged) and we wound up following them onto Noblestown Road all the way to the West End. Neither of us had a clue where we were- it was dark and that lent an air of mystery to the whole fiasco.

The neighborhoods' interconnectedness also adds a sense of adventure- a wrong turn on Berry will lead you to Langley High School if you aren't careful. There are fascinating views and spots all over the place.

It's a land of mystery, of which the nexus of it all may never be determined.

Another Pittsburgh Marathon weekend 5k idea

The Pittsburgh Marathon added a 5k to the weekend's races. This article describes the race, and the course doesn't seem too inventive, but it was certainly an afterthought for the organizers. It's admittedly a compromise to the popularity of the race weekend, which is fantastic, because so many people are interested in running the half (though we could use more people willing to step up to the full, there are plenty of spaces there still). With a little more planning next year, a 5k that takes advantage of Pittsburgh's hills for a fun and fast race. Note that I plotted this first course in April 2010, long before the marathon course was changed to Liberty Avenue, which necessitates a shift, perhaps to Smallman Street. I could redraw the courses, but since I already waited 11 months to reveal my prescient genius (along with my ego and sense of sarcasm) , I am just getting these ideas out now for...nobody to read them or take them seriously.

Pittsburgh Marathon-related 5k

Rather than a loop downtown, take advantage of Pittsburgh's topography and "shoot them out of a cannon" down the Bloomfield Bridge and onto Liberty Avenue to the shared finish line at the convention center. People waiting along Penn Avenue could see people running on Penn and Liberty in different races.

A second option is down Bigelow Boulevard, which will be more scenic, though it will involve a few turns. You do get to finish on Grant Street, which is pretty sweet. I prefer this option.
Start the marathon and 5k races at the same time. If the slowest 5k runners come through in an hour, which at that point would be a trickle, the fastest half marathon runners will just be approaching, and the 5k will have been going on for 1:15 by the time an appreciable crowd comes through for the half.

The big logistical issue for both of these races -- getting runners to the top of the hill.

Favorite Pittsburgh Runs #2

Standard - this used to be the Beechwood loop until I realized that less than half of it was on Beechwood Boulevard.

Beechwood was the foundation upon which most of my eastern-centric running was based. This basic route evolved from my winter long runs in 2007, when snow or frozen ground made running on trails unwise. I tweaked it a bit. It used to start at the oval, wrap through Schenley, and looping down forbes to Morewood then Fifth/Penn all the way to Braddock and back on forbes before starting Beechwood. In retrospect, that was a lame loop- there was no need for all of that distance on Fifth.

Beechwood's appeal is that for most of its length, two bike lanes give you an off-sidewalk option. Miles two, three and four are pretty long uphills, so much that even when starting in the middle, Alex complained nonstop about having to climb. Mile four is a delightful downhill.

When Beechwood meets Browns Hill Road, the bike lanes dry up and you have to find a good opportunity to cross the street. The traffic rarely moves fast, but drivers are impatient here.

Crossing the Greenfield Bridge shortly before the sixth mile mark is usually ridiculously windy, but offers a nice view to the west down the parkway.

After that, you climb Greenfield Road to Schenley Park, up past the oval and tennis courts and down against lightly-trafficked one-way, winding road. After heading east on Panther Hollow Road and taking a left at the Bartlett Playground, you follow the Race for the Cure course at about its 1.75 mile mark. After a climb around Serpentine Drive, you head down through the gentle curves of the the Bob O'Connor golf course, and back up to Forbes and

Northumberland. When you hit Shady, it's a long downhill that you won't have to climb again. You can really enjoy it. Perhaps my favorite part, despite running through parks and all kinds of dramatic hills, is the short downhill on Emerson, close to the end of the run.

Favorite Pittsburgh Runs #3

Fox Chapel

Similar to Sewickley Heights- forested, hilly, and pleasant. There's little through traffic, so it's generally pretty safe.

I used to run a six mile loop from my dad's house, which took me around Squaw Run East on the northwest side of the Shadyside Academy campus and the Field Club. That route, however, passed a treacherous stretch near my family's church that worries me a little, with sudden turns, so I combined it with part of a loop I have run with my friend Jess. Turkeys are sometimes an issue...

There's little more to say about the loop than it is pleasant, challenging and you can extend it with several loops around Squaw Valley Park, which is delightfully flat and has a nice crushed limestone surface. The turns are a little tight for workouts, but the loop is 1034 meters long.

There's a short trail through the woods to the east, but it doesn't go much of anywhere. You can also find the Trillium and Salamander trails off of Squaw Run Road.

Favorite Pittsburgh Runs #5

Center Ave- Alex introduced me to this gem in 2008, the morning after the Run for Roch, as if I hadn't run enough hills the day before.
We ran from his house in Highland Park, through the zoo and across the Highland Park Bridge to Aspinwall, with a quick left onto Center. Then the fun began.
Center Avenue is amazingly steep, and is the first of the Dirty Dozen hills that Pittsburgh bikers tackle each Thanksgiving weekend. After s slight respite on some flat (or at least, less steep ground), your turn onto Guyasuta -- not as steep, but still challenging. Getting to the top gives me the best lug turnover, and the downhill on Pasadena is scenic and easy on the legs. With the extended Squaw Run Park trail serving as an unpaved sidewalk, the stretch along Fox Chapel Road is much safer now. The only truly unpleasant part is passing the Waterworks, because drivers generally aren't on the lookout for runners on the shoulder.
I eventually added enough to cobble it into a 15-mile long run, with a warmup hill on Mossfield. I did it the day after Martha's Run.

In 2009, I sadly did not join in the Christmas day fun because I ate before Alex was scheduled to go, but I still waited halfway up the hill for him, with some Gatorade. His approach up Center is documented in the above photo.

Favorite Pittsburgh Runs #6

Sewickley Heights
The home of Gary Young and his house guest Derek Bond, who ran the 1995 Sewickley 5k in 15:00.
North of Sewickley, the hills slow down your pace, but not your intensity. It's the local training ground for Hounds Jeremy and Jocelyn Cornman and the routine biking route for Matt Ciccone. It's no wonder Quaker Valley's cross country and track teams have done so well with a place like that to train. It's a bit of a hike from the city, but once you get there it's well worth it. None of the roads are particularly great shortcuts, so vehicle traffic is delightfully light. You can run down the middle of the road most of the time, if you are so bold. It does give the feeling of a long road race.
I first ran it in 2009 after driving back from New York for my friend Dave's bachelor party, which was fueled mainly by 4+ pounds of meat I ate two nights before at a Brazilian steakhouse. I was in Sewickley for Jocelyn's birthday party and had to get a run in before I ate anything and found this route suited me nicely.
The incline gets a little more serious after passing Hallaway Road, and by time you reach Beech Ridge Road on Campmeeting Road, it's getting tough. The downhill that comes with Backbone Road, however, is a smooth reward for all the climbing.
Cutting through Walkers Park is an option on the way back down hill.

A damned shame

Not that I care that much about North Hill's cross country team- I have no compelling reason to, but this is a shame:

From the Tri-States Track Coaches Association Cross Country Championships, which is pretty much a warm up race for the WPIAL championships the next week:

10. North Hills
 1  Juris Silenieks, Sr        15:39
 2  Zach Hebda, Sr             15:39
 3  Joe Kush, Sr               15:50
98  Anton Martinez, Fr         17:55
308  Alex Baginski, Fr          20:03
347  Andy Fitzpatrick, Fr       21:01
381  Dan Fulton, So             22:09
Total Time = 1:25:05     Total Places = 412

Their top three are easily the best in the state- to run those times on the hills of western Pennsylvania is remarkable, let alone to dominate a huge meet of 497 finishers. One of the teams that finished ahead of them won't be competing for a trip to states, but unless a few miracles and a lot of disasters happen to other teams.
Now, this team has had a very successful last six years, so missing a trip to states isn't horrible, nor is this an indictment of three freshmen and a sophomore who are thrown in with three top-notch senior runners. It's just worth noting the difference between three good runners and five, which makes cross country so compelling. Last year, these three went to states with a few seniors:

3. North Hills
796     3  Joe Kush, Jr                15:48    5:06
797     4  Juris Silenieks, Jr         16:01    5:10
795     5  Zach Hebda, Jr              16:01    5:10
791    17  Paulson Domasky, Sr         16:39    5:22
792   129  Brian Dulick, Sr            18:19    5:54
793   231  Corey Palko, Sr             19:23    6:15
Time = 1:22:47     Places = 158

Before that, the best circumstance of a great top three missing a chance to compete as a team at states was the 2000 Baldwin team. The difference is that I was friends with four of the runners on that team, of the North Hills runners, I have only met Juris. The 2000 season was the first year the WPIAL lost its fifth team qualifier for states, meaning Baldwin, a fierce but respected rival now and when I ran for Mt. Lebanon, missed out. Though they didn't run as well at WPIALs, their performance at Tri-States turned heads.

5. Baldwin
 1  Daniel Mazzocco, Jr         16:08    5:12
 3  Ryan Sheehan, Sr            16:49    5:25
 6  Jeff Conroy, Sr             17:04    5:30
113  Chris Ritter, Sr            19:08    6:10
114  Brett Brennfleck, Jr        19:09    6:10
162  Eddie Weaver, Sr            19:55    6:25
163  Joe Brichacek, Jr           19:57    6:26
Time = 1:28:16     Places = 237

I remember talking to Conroy (Hoag) after WPIALs and all he could talk about was how close he felt they were to catching North Allegheny (23 points). Same from Sheehan. These guys were team players. North Hills might be, too. But those Baldwin guys might reap all the benefits of team running- they unseated North Allegheny, for a week, at Tri-States this year and if they run confident races on Thursday could win the school's first WPIAL cross country title since 1999, the days of Scary Larry Quinn and Bobby Toth.
I'm pulingl for Mt. Lebanon to make its comeback to states.

A Hell of a Race for a Spectator in Heaven

The Run for Roch

Admittedly, I wasn't creative when planning my race strategy for the Run for Roch. It's a rough course, a really rough course, and I had success in 2007 by just running hard from the start and gapping everyone. That was the race's weakest field- Eric Shafer was second, but he wasn't on top of his game thanks to grad school. It's a course, though, that if you build enough of a lead, the topography can discourage people from closing the gap. It's on Mount Washington, overlooking the city of Pittsburgh, and the course is an out-and-back on Grandview Avenue and an out-and-back on the McArdle Roadway, which descends and climbs the side of the mountain.

It's a good time to mention that the Run for Roch is probably the hardest real 5k course I have ever run. The Ohio Township 5k is technically worse, but that's because it was just thrown together on some roads that aren't fit for pedestians. The Run for Roch was developed by coach John Papa of Slippery Rock University and Rich Wright of Baldwin High School, it's a true competitive course, but it is a monster. I ran 15:56 to win the 2007 race, and I have no idea how I did it then, it is now all a blur to me.

I got involved in the race in 2006, after I moved back to Pittsburgh from Richmond. I had metRoch Furguiele in 2000 at a WPIAL alumni run and got to know him the next few years as I grew into the Pittsburgh running community, particularly as a friend of Scott Sehon and Dave O'Hara from Mt. Lebanon and Larry and Brian Quinn from Baldwin. His positivity influenced my attitude and I came to know him as a principled and talented athlete. He was a member of the Pharaoh Hounds and a volunteer coach at Pitt, but in 2004 he drowned while on a family camping trip in West Virginia. His parents, Roch and Donna, started a scholarship fund for Pittsburgh city high school track athletes to go to Slippery Rock. I've thrown myself into promoting the race to improve our numbers and bolster our case to potential sponsors. We've financed a few scholarships, but the goal will always be to have a great race befitting Roch's legacy as one of the greatest runners in Pittsburgh Public Schools history.

This year, I was going to do the same. Ryan Sheehan and Jeff Weiss weren't here to dominate, so I guess I had to be the one.

I started out hard, harder than I had all year. I was in the lead within seconds. Roch's mom, Donna, was ahead of us in a Corvette, cheering me on. In fact, I heard people cheering for me the whole time. It was great. Less than 90 seconds in, I felt someone on my shoulder. Steve Kirkland. He's been having a great year, with breakout 5ks at the Brentwood and Fathers' Day races. He might be ready to take that next step and take me out, so I knew I had to push it now and nip his hopes in the bud. I opened my stride up coming down the first hill and hit the half mile mark at 2:30 even. The second uphill is probably the most miserable on the course and by the time I got to the top, where Matt Ciccone and Amy Lazarus were cheering, I was back in the lead. Or so I thought.

A smaller dude in back shorts flew by, opening a huge gap down the hill. I heard people cheering for Bobby. I thought it was this Baldwin grad who runs at Louisville, and as he increased his lead, I thought to myself "Ok, this is it, I'm losing this." My mind wasn't on the race, I thought about my cat. Not the right attitude or focus, but Bobby ran 16:09 at a really hot race in Greensburg where I just snuck in under 17, so I was worried and a little blown away. I relaxed a little and felt Sean Staltari, a proud Mt. Lebanon alumnus, on my shoulder. I would ordinarily love to have him with whom to run, but he has signed with St. Joseph's, a bitter conference rival of the Richmond Spiders, so I figured it was time to start hammering again. I started to reel Bobby in, passing the mile in 5:23 (pretty darn slow, despite the hills), and catching him at the first turnaround.

I moved quickly to put distance on him and the rest of the chase pack, which included Sean, Steve, Pharaoh Hounds Greg Byrnes and Tim Wu, Shadyside Academy alumnus Andrew Bell, and some dude in green shorts who looked like Sam Weiser, all in hot pursuit.

Right then, Larry Quinn ran by on his way out on the course and told me to race like a man.

At this point, I thought, there were eight guys who could win this race. If I was going to be the one, I would have to string the field out so they couldn't chase me in a pack. They wouldn't all have the strength to come after me and keep the pack intact. After cresting the second worst hill on the course, I started to fade a bit, but took the next downhills hard. Then, Bell was right there. Every time I tried to recover from putting a move on someone to get away, there was another challenger there to take a shot. Back up the initial hard hill, I dropped him and tried to keep my momentum going down the hill. Green shorts caught me then, and I pulled away. We were both going top speed down the awful hill that leads into the McArdle Roadway. I continued to hold him off until the turnaround halfway down the mountain.

I am just plain bad at turnarounds, and Greenshorts got the jump on me. I was a step behind him climbing the hill, and the last turn to the church at the very top of the hill was my undoing. When I got to the top, I saw he wasn't too far ahead. I could get him if I cast my fate with a half-mile kick to the finish. I listened and heard steps behind me. I wasn't sure who it was, but if I tried this kick and it failed, or just like every other time someone was just keying off of me, I would at least get sucked up by a few pursuers. I decided to be conservative, hold off anyone who was behind me and take a shot at Greenshorts if I felt I had a chance a little closer to the line.

As it turns out, I didn't, and I finished in second place at 16:25. The winner turned out to be a 34-year-old Irish fellow named Conor McGee from new York who was visiting his sister-in-law and found the race online. He told me how he was running scared the last half mile, which flattered and infuriated me, because I kicked myself for not taking another swing at him.

Not to be egotistical, but I feel like I made the race a bit exciting by pushing the pace and being competitive. I hope I made everyone else run faster. Even though I lost, it was an exciting race, and I really really enjoyed it.

I was struck by the consistency with which I run this race- the last three years I have finished with the same time and place. Moreover, the general timing of the top places has been similar

2007 2008 2009 2010 Me 15:56 Wu 16:14 Sheehan 15:39 McGee 16:18 Shafer 16:24 Me 16:25 Me 16:25 Me 16:25 Rabe 16:35 Shafer 16:34 Wu 16:32 Bell 16:34

I know I don't feel fast, but I feel strong. That I averaged 5:17 for 5k after opening in 5:23 makes me feel pretty good, but not as good as winning the race would have been. I trained though the race, even though I dropped my mileage. That wasn't so much intentional as it just happened.

The women's race was great, too with Michelle Corkum running like crazy to hold off Laura O'Hara, who took the lead with less than 1200 meters left and cruised to victory and a new course record.

We had 294 finishers, our second highest turnout, and I think that with competitions like those, we held a race that would have pleased Roch. Sadly, Dave O'Hara was unable to run, thanks to an Achilles tendon problem, but he got to see the

finish as he clipped off the chips on people's shoes.

I hope the race resumes its growth next year. We do face competition from two other big events- the Pittsburgh Triathlon the next morning and the Turtle Trot, an absolutely flat 5k in Turtle Creek.

People who want to run the Turtle Trot clearly know what they want, and it isn't a hilly course. What we can offer is a challenging course and a great experience. I was happy to see some familiar runners: 10 Hounds, including Dave Hackworth pushing his two sons at 7:37 pace, Dave and Tricia Keen with Mara and Mati; Jim Schweitzer, whom I met at some race last year and convinced to come to Mt. Washington; Jess and Nick, two PT students I recruited at the Greenfield Glide last year, Dave Torrey and a crew of FrontRunners, Nate Wildfire, Regina Anderson, Pokey, Scott Rosenblum, Clay Northouse, Mike Bode, Laurel Chiapetta, Erin Egal, Karen Nichols, Sara Roberts and of course, my mom and sister, who ran together until my mom cut Hallie off at the end (accidentally, she says) and improved their time from last year by 15 seconds.