Views and People on the Long Run...

Here are a couple of views along the Potomac Heritage route.
The photocredits are those of Anstr Davidson. See below.

Much of what I love about running comes from the sensory richness of being out there; seeing, hearing, smelling, and feeling the softness of dirt trails, the squishiness of mud, the shock of cement pavement, the fragrance of bloom, of fallen leaves, of the pastoral landscapes I often train in, the temperature changes of stream bottoms vs. ridge tops. The little sorenesses that appear, peak and disappear as the run goes on.
Equally anticipated is the who of running; the friends and colleagues and absolute strangers I run with. Those strangers are strangers only briefly; they often become future running partners, mentors, and advisors.

Anstr Davidson is a trail runner and one of the founders of the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club. The photos above were taken during the running of last year's Potomac heritage 50k but the course was just as beautiful this past weekend. The first photo is of runners jamming up to past through a large culvert, over rocks, above a stream and heading for the C&O Canal.

Both VHTRC and Reston Runners have helped us get to this point for running the JFK 50 Miler. For years, I've known of the Happy Trails people through other ultra marathon runners. In training for my 50 mile run, I've gotten to know some of these people that develop, monitor and promote trail running in our area.

Anstr Davidson is one person who has helped so many local runners go the distance and become inolved in ultra running. He recently spoke to the Reston Runners JFK 50 Miler training group, giving us invaluable running tips dosed with a good amount of humor. He has run the JFK about 23 times! And he was there last Sunday leading the pack as the PH 50K started. From the Happy Trails web site, a note on Anstr:

"Anstr is also a founding member of the VHTRC. He maintains the club's Web site and embezzles money as the treasurer. His running career is all behind him. He still does JFK every year because he forgets not to. Anstr lives in Arlington, Virginia where he slaves away at a very stressful retirement."

Good people like Anstr make running not only possible but give us models of what we can strive to be.