No Frills, Just Hills FA

Today a bunch of runners met for the 4th annual No Frills, Just Hills FA. I've done it every year and was glad I didn't have to miss it due to some recent Achilles aches. This FA starts at Pine Hallow and does a 2-mile loop around the Kendall Hills area. Runners see how many loops they can do in the 6-hour time limit (or 12-hour option if you had your Wheaties).

My brother, sister and I all got in 8 loops for 16 miles. I was very happy with this and felt I got some good hill work in for Laurel. Everyone had a great time as always. It seems like every year I always meet some new runners. This year I met some friendly people from Michigan. I ran a lot of the day with this guy named Kevin. He was preparing to complete the ultra grand slam this summer. This consists of the Wasatch in Utah, Western States in California, Vermont in uh...Vermont, and Leadville in Colorado - all 100 milers. The 100 mile distance still amazes me, but I've become somewhat immune to the shock of the distance just because I know so many people that have completed it. However, doing 4 100 milers in one summer is just insane. Best of luck to him.

I also ran an easy couple laps with Cyrus Taylor. He was taking it slow because he was opting for the 12-hour option, the only person to do the full thing this year (and any of the prior 3 years as far as I can remember).

Another new face I met was Jerry Williamson. It was great talking with him for a few laps. He also signed up for Laurel, but is doing the 77 mile race.

There were also many others I ran with along the way that made the day enjoyable. It's cool seeing the progression of this event that started from an idea that Brian and I had during a run one day through Kendall. It's turned into a nice event that I look forward to every year. Sometimes you don't need any frills, just good friends.