West Branch Witch Hunt

Tonight I met Todd "Not Tom" Hanks and Tim "Cousin of Slim" Knapp at West Branch State Park at 7:30 for a night run. This has become a tradition to run at West Branch Halloween weekend ever since the witch encounter with my brother two years ago.

It was dark out when we started, but the sky was clear and the moon provided alot of light. The temperature felt great for late October in the upper 60s. I was also glad the rain held off.

We headed out on Snowmobile Rd and turned left onto the lake trail. We ran an out-and-back to Porter Rd and got in about 7 miles. We talked about a little bit of everything so the run went by fast. I found out Todd registered for Boston next Spring after qualifying with a 3:18 at the Towpath Marathon. Should be cool to see a familiar face there since he will probably be lined up close by me at the start.

Happy Days to Kendall Lake

Tonight I met my friend Marc at the Happy Days parking lot at 4:30. We went to Kendall Lake, ran a short loop and ran back to our cars for about 6 miles. We were both a bit disappointed at how quickly the leaves changed and fell. There were alot of leaves on the trail which made for some tricky running by the ledges. Afterward we enjoyed some Cincinnati Chili and coney dogs at Skyline Chili on Steel Corners Rd. Mmmmmmm!!

Fall in the Cuyahoga Valley

Here are some pictures I took tonight from the Overlook at the ledges in the Cuyahoga Valley.

Crooked River Trail Run

Tonight I attended my first Crooked River Trail Runners trail run at Lock 29 in the CVNP. This group meets every Thursday night at a different location and usually goes somewhere to eat and drink afterwards.

Some familiar faces included Jim Christ, who usually leads the group, Kurt "OPod" and Melissa. My brother Brian also showed up for his first CRTR run. We did an easy 5 miles on the Buckeye Trail looping around back to the Towpath.

Afterwards, Brian, Melissa and I enjoyed some beer on the outside deck at the Winking Lizard. The temperature felt great out!

Happy Days to Kendall Lake

Tonight I met my friend Marc at Happy Days for a run. We ran to Kendall Lake via the ledges trail for about 5.5 miles. We walked most the hills and took it pretty easy. The cool air felt great! I had no real signs of pain in my foot, so I'll continue to slowly get back into it and see how it goes.

Treadmill

Well today after work, I decided I would try running a bit. It's been about 2 weeks of no running and my foot feels pretty good. I took it easy on the treadmill and only ran 2 miles. I felt good and no pain in my foot!

Oil Creek 100 Trail Runs

This weekend I drove up to Oil Creek to watch my brother and sister run the 50 mile and 50k race, respectively. There were also alot of people I knew from Ohio that were running this weekend. I was planning on pacing someone for 30 miles of the 100, but decided to play it safe since my arch on my foot was still sore.


Brian started at 6 AM for the 50 miler and Jamie an hour later for the 50k. My parents, Dave (Jamie's boyfriend) and I drove around from point to point to cheer on Jamie and Brian. Jamie was looking strong each time we saw her and was the lead woman. She ended up winning the women's 50k race and finished in 6:14:23, an awesome time especially for that course!!


We then drove to an aid station to cheer on Brian. He was looking strong also! He ended up finishing in 12:07:51, a 2 hour PR!!!


Tom Jennings, the race director, did a great job organizing the event for the first year. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Watching all this ultra running this weekend has me wanting to do one soon. First thing's first, though, get 100% healthy!!