• Some efforts turn out to be nothing at all •
[1½ MIN READ]
Kudos to OKhen whose first marathon(!)^ was a breeze; no doubt in more ways than one. My run last week was its own version, even if it didn’t quite reach 26.2.
As usual, what made it so unique was the company. You might think that was a variation of SRC, but it was actually with the City of Bridges Run Club in Pittsburgh. The effort was a 7 a.m. planned 5-miler, but then I met someone who was on his way to an 8 a.m. group run. Since I really wanted something more like 14-16, I got permission from the other runners I was with (all conference goers) and went with Dave.
CBRC is one mighty running club. The number of those gathered in that week’s host facility ostensibly eclipsed that of a few marathons I’ve done. In fact it looked like a race because they even had pacers with singlets and signs. I joined Dave and some 10 others in the 10:00 min/mile pace group. After getting instructions from an organizer with a bullhorn, we headed off. The only thing missing was the national anthem.
Every CBRC pace group does variations of 5, 8, and 12 miles. After doing some calculating and assessing based on pace, 18 miles seemed well within reach (5 miles + 1 over-and-back + 12). I did me by exchanging names and learning about various people with plenty of time in my back pocket knowing we’d all be together for 2 hours. Despite the usual soreness for jumping up from 14 to 18 miles, the pace was merciful.
It was still not as easy an effort as OKhen’s, I know, but the scenery had to be less repetitious.
–CtCloser (Calvinthe) “Negative Split or Positive Splat” #dothedue
FINE PRINT
*Title thanks to the classic 1969 movie Easy Rider with its own version of bridging cultural divides. ^”Crunning (Cruise Running),” 2/11/2023 RUN REPORT. ¶Text by Calvin Wang (Wäng), CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. ¶Cross-published: Facebook Shawmont Running Club (2/18/23 RUN REPORT), Shawmont Running Club website, Ruminations by CtCloser.
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