
Magnus Gluteus Maximus Fat Ass 50k
December 15, 2012
Bull Run Park, Manassas, VA

But when I got to Fountainhead this year, we were having such a good time — Sean, Keith, Aaron, Greg Z., Greg Z’s awesome ultra-running beagle-spaniel, and myself — that I continued on to the Do Loop without much cajoling, and ended up running the whole 50k. Sean and I have been talking about doing a long run together for years now, and with the weather absolutely perfect and plenty of good cheer to go around (Greg Z. can TALK), I decided to strike while the iron was hot. I particularly liked running the part of the course that overlapped with the Women’s Half Marathon — it was so pleasant to be able to relax and enjoy those stretches of trail, rather than race them with your heart pounding out of your chest. I have a crazy crisp memory for what I was thinking about during any section of a race: I could recall the exact place in the race where my nose twinged because I was so sad over my rapidly dying kitty, Waddle, who was diagnosed with feline leukemia on the day of the WHM.
But the take home lesson is: I’m not going to run long because people tell me I should, or because there’s some underwhelming view ahead, or because I’m training for anything specific, or because Sean whines a lot. I’ll keep going as long as I’m having fun, as long as conversation keeps flowing and people keep laughing at my dumb jokes. And there are lots of snacks along the way.