The 2011 Mountaineer Autumn Classic

"I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

It was a beautiful autumn morning as the sun rose over Cooper's Rock State Park in Bruceton Mills, West Virginia. The temperature was somewhere in the mid-30's as people gathered to sip hot coffee to awaken and stay warm and became eager to start the 12-mile loop through the Appalachian hardwoods. There was more than enough food piled onto the tables to feed a small army (that included Beth Byron and her roommate Lisa's nutty/chocolatey trail mix bars!).

Fog fills the gorgeous Cheat River Gorge.

Fog was swirling about the Cheat River Gorge, taking a long time to burn off as the sun climbed ever higher.  The solemn beauty of the autumn colors was radiant and the faint smell of smoke from some distant campfire added to the ambience.  People would come into the day use parking lot, take a few minutes to prepare, and head off down the Scott Run Trail to do battle with rocks, roots, and mud, to get the day's adventure started. The "hardcore" runners, true to form and with serious speed, rocked the course from top to bottom; those like Tad Davis and Maria Dalzot (this after a true race effort the day before!) and Ironman/Ultraman Mike Levy. And God love Conrad Quesen for running on broken sesamoid bone in his foot!

My sister Lauren and her husband Randy (the rocking Weavers :-)) drove down from the Cleveland area to experience some West Virginia splendor and to drink a bit of red wine with me the night before in my apartment -- ha!  Among some other familiar faces were Anne McAlpine from Chicago (thank you, Anne!) and a colleague from work (Ken) and his faithful black lab (Smoky).  The entire Johnson family drove down from Pittsburgh to tread the area where "someone" received a wedding proposal many years ago out on the windswept Raven's Rock (thanks for the story, Andy).  Aira and John Burkhart stopped by to show their support.  And last, but certainly not least, a shout out to trooper Xiangyi Zhao who, despite losing the map and directions, slogged up the last several miles of the Advanced Ski Trail, sans water.    

Raven's Rock

It was also a great time to "break bread" and cross paths with new people and not-so-familiar faces faces. To wit, a very nice nephrologist (Karen) from the local hospital, someone I met at the gym recently (Dick) who was taking his son (Connor) on his longest run distance to date, and a chemist from Pittsburgh (Steve) recently located to the area.

Entering Rock City!

In closing, $350 will be going to the folks down at the food pantry tomorrow; that is, Christian Help of Morgantown, West Virginia.  As I remarked in an email to some of those who ran and walked today, each of these people in their own unique way are special people who greatly enrich my life and have now enriched other people's lives in a time of need.  Thank you, thank you, thank you ... And the same goes out to those I failed to mention in this post.

Update 10/26/11: An amazing person and humanitarian matched the $350 that was raised and made a donation to their local food bank.  That means $700 total was raised for local food pantry shelves. 

The Unshakeable Spirit

"We accept the verdict of the past until the need for change cries out loudly enough to force upon us a choice between the comforts of inertia and the irksomeness of action." -- Billings Learned Hand

My sister did a marathon last Sunday. Many people do marathons so, in and of itself, some people might think this is no big deal. However, it is a big deal! It is always a fine line as to how much to divulge on the Internet but I feel comfortable (as would my sister) in at least "paraphrasing" her life over the past several years so as to tell the whole story.

Several years ago my sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. As my mother had died of breast cancer many years ago and Lauren tested positive for the BRCA 1 oncogene, suffice to say she was very worried of what the future foretold. What ensued was a battle royal of surgeries, a few of which were major, invasive ones, and oncological treatment. There were times that my sister's spirits flagged but I never heard her bitch and complain about her condition. Through it all she fought the good fight and was officially declared a breast cancer survivor!

Several side effects were very hard on her even after she was declared to be "cancer free". One unfortunate side effect of her treatment protocol was a substantive increase in her weight. There were conversations with doctors who, more or less, told her that was just the way it was going to be.

About a year and a half ago, my sister decided, for her own personal reasons, that she had enough and wanted to take matters into her own hands and steer the ship in another direction. She started to walk a mile for exercise, which lead to two miles, which ultimately lead to weeks were she walked over fifty miles! She took control of her diet and became meticulously careful about what she ate. Early on, she targeted the Towpath Marathon in the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area of Ohio as a goal. Her speed and mileage increased as the hours of training went by, the pounds came off, fifty of them to be exact, and her mental outlook improved.

Last Sunday, I had the opportunity to witness, on a lovely autumn day, my sister cross the finish line and bring to a close one chapter of her life, a chapter whose theme was about not quitting, about walking towards the light, and about reliance on the unshakeable spirit that resides within all of us.

On the day before my sister's marathon, I was distressed that my buddy Conrad Quesen had to pull out of the Oil Creek 100 after enduring a season ending injury (a sesamoid injury in his foot) and (gulp!) a twisted testicle. Even after the aforementioned and some 35 miles, he told his wife, his son, and me that he had felt strong and ready to go. Having logged plenty of miles with Conrad on Laurel Highlands Trail this summer and fall, I can attest that Conrad was lean and well-trained. Here is hoping for an expedient recovery and a new, determined focus for 2012, Conrad.

In other news, I went to see the Cirque du Soleil in Pittsburgh last Friday, courtesy of Sarah and Conrad, and was treated to a wonderful show. While I'll confess I was skeptical at first beforehand, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed it! The athleticism is stunning and the music was riveting. Go if you have the chance ...

Autumn is here, my favorite time of the year, and with it comes some wonderful trail runs and leaf peeping. This morning, Tad and Maria took me over to Swallow Falls State Park in western Maryland. It was GORGEOUS! I did an easy six miles and was treated to waterfall views, aspen turning yellow, and a couple of deer poking through the hardwoods. Since Leadville in late August, I have really enjoyed taking a mental and physical break from training for a few months, and reconnecting with work, people, and nature.