I loaded up my brother’s Honda Element and headed to the Difficult Run parking lot for the early carpooling at 6:15am. Vicki Kendall and Jim Cavanaugh were there, as well as newcomers Victor Lin and Joyce Fendley, and a couple others. We checked the big stream crossing there before shuttling in two cars down to the start at Byron Park.

Without much fanfare, I sent about 12 runners on their way at 7:00am for the early start, designed to give people time who needed it to beat the cutoff. For the 8:00am start, there were about 23.  Michael Bur was running for the fourth time in four years, and there were others who were on their third. The weather was cool, and it was to get colder and windier throughout the day.

I went to Wakefield Park at mile 4.4 to get an idea of the group’s disbursement. There I heard that someone was out on the course with doughnuts for our runners. This turned out to be Gary Knipling, who made surprise appearances throughout the day, and even ran some as a bandit, or in his words, a “scab”. It was great to see Gary, who earlier in the winter helped clear the trees from that section by the giant houses between Vale and Lawyers.

Then I went out for breakfast and got to Oak Marr at mile 13.4 where Helen Cacciapaglia and her dog Sydney, along with Tim Ettridge were working an excellent aid station.  Helen has experience working at JFK, which is renowned for excellent support. And Tim, who lives near Oak Marr, had earlier in the week flagged the course from Oak Marr all the way to W&OD. He plans on running next year.

At Oak Marr I missed the first couple runners, but saw everyone else before leaving. I got a good picture of Jaret Seiberg and his Tunnel Dwellers there, who had bravely taken the retro route with a twist (storm drains) instead of the official 3 mile road section. Billy Lese asked if I had toenail clippers, which I did not, and there was visible blood soaking through his shoe.  So I called a friend to meet me at Twin Branches with some nail clippers in an hour. Then I waited at Oak Marr for the last few runners, to make sure everyone was OK. I also saw Gary Knipling at this aid station, but before I realized who it was, he was gone into the woods again!

By the time I got to Twin Branches at mile 20.5, half of the runners were already past. I went with my friend and Reston resident Bill Cimino, who brought his toenail clippers, to the spot where Eric and Helen Levy-Myers and family were hosting a nice shaded aid station in the Glade Valley, and waited for Billy. He came, took off his shoes and socks, and with his permission I got some close-up pictures of his gory foot. He patched himself up using a first aid kit that Eric’s family had brought down, and was off, at which point we waited for the last few runners again.

At Colvin Run at mile 25.7, there was only enough time to say hello to aid station manager Warren Kohm and take a picture, before heading straight to the finish at Great Falls, mile 32.2, where people would be needing the bags I was transporting.

I ordered pizza, cracked open one of the beers that Kerry donated, and the ”party” at Great Falls began. We could have used a windscreen and a fire. Warren called in to report that all runners were through Colvin Run, and we cheered in arriving runners. Tim Ettridge, who was at Difficult Run at mile 28.9, called to report that all runners but Trang Wood had passed and he was going to hike backwards to look for her.  A little while later he came into the park to tell me that Trang had passed Difficult Run and was on her way.

My sister Eileen drove 7 runners back to Springfield, and my Dad’s car was not needed. After the party dispersed, Mike Gaffney came running down the road and said he had taken a wrong turn after Brown’s Mill Rd. somewhere, had ended up going through the Reston Zoo, then ran down some major roads to finally arrive at Great Falls, adding at least five miles to his day!  Then Mike Stasioski, whose previous long run was 11.5 miles, bravely finished. Larry Lang waited a long time for his wife to show up, but after she did, it was Tim Ettridge, myself, and Trang’s family left to cheerfully greet Trang as she effortlessly sauntered down the trail into the picnic area with plenty of time to spare before the cutoff, and ate a piece of cold pizza.

It was great to see all the returning runners from our local ultrarunning community, as well as the new ones. Laura Nelson of Waynesboro and Mike Wedemeyer of Alexandria finished first together in 4 hours, 43 minutes.  Mike acted as the navigator for this duo. Doug Sabel was leading the run at Colvin Run but had to drop out. Michael Bur has now finished all four of the CCT fatasses. Jeez, I just realized there were a bunch of Mikes this year (five of them!).  Overall, I had another memorable time and look forward to next year, when I plan to extend the run to Riverbend Park.