Again, it’s not that I’m lazy, it’s just that I don’t feel like posting most of the time.
Showed up on this day and we didn’t have a Q.
Unsure where the 4s and 5s went (possibly Reverse Carrilon).
6s went into Windsor Farms and then to Hillcrest…back through Windsor Farms. (We call the this the “Bodo’s Route” as Bodo’s one-time referenced it from the Pulpit on a Sunday morning. High praise right there.
Four weeks after a Q isn’t all that long to wait to post the wrap up. In my defense, we were without a sign-up Q, so YHC took the reigns.
There’s obviously some responsibility that I shirked while taking the reigns (“shirked” is a fun word to write, and say)…but here it is on a Saturday morning making sure everyone’s Big Data numbers stay true to form, as we know how important those are.
The Thang…
Reverse Carrilon (we got super creative)
Dueces everyone.
The Monday rain paved the way for a clean and pollen free jaunt around the hills of the Tuckahoe/Tuckahoe/Freeman district. After a couple of relatively flat Q’s the past couple of weeks at Spider Run, YHC decided to add some of the vaunted undulations of this part of the River City.
While we have conquered Mt. Henrico a fair amount of times, I’m not sure we’ve ever hit the peak of Splinter Mountain (around 1 miles south of Mt. Henrico).
Named Splinter Mountain because the 6s run by the domicile of Splinter…here’s The Thang…
Head to the baseball field…go North and then to the parking lot. Get out to College Rd and head South.
Take a right on University Ave and take that all the way up to Ralston. Right on Ralston, Left on University Drive.
From there University Drive turns into a driveway and leads to someone’s house…but also a trail. Knock on the door…Patti will provide coffee and words of encouragement.
Take the Trail down the hill into the scenic Countryside neighborhood.
4s…get to the bottom of the hill and return the way you came…until you get to Westham. Left on Westham. Right on Lakewood. Lakewood to College, back by the baseball field and back to the flag.
5s…get to the bottom of the hill and take a Right on Roslyn Hills. That goes to the top of a hill and you go left on Mellwood. Mellwood to Roslyn Hills…Roslyn Hills to the trail…past Patti’s house to Westham. Left on Westham, right on Beechwood…to Wood…to Lakewood and back in.
6s….get to the bottom of the hill and take a right on Roslyn Hills. That turns into Countryside. Take a right on Ruggles and RUN BY SPLINTER’s HOUSE…thus, to the top of Splinter Mountain. Turnaround at the end and head back Ruggles to Roslyn Hills. Left on Roslyn Hills, back up the trail, say hi to Patti, then back the way we came in.
The 6s got a bit sideways as YHC took a pretty decent spill right after seeing Patti the first time. A female walker was coming up the hill and YHC pretty much just bit it right in front of her, rolling an ankle pretty badly. The walker really didn’t break stride despite someone biting it right in front of her. To her credit, I bet it scared the fool out of her.
It was fun to Q again…hopefully the swelling will go down.
Y’all have a great day.
A double dozen came out on a beautiful morning at Ms. Mary Munford’s Elementary School for a Friday the 13th edition of RAMM.
After a few were lost last week on the Windsor Farms route, we wanted to try it again, with a bit more specific directions.
YHC did realize something during the jaunt that most likely is happening on this particular run. Three or four years ago we would run Hillcrest with regularity…it even became (and still is?) a Wednesday afternoon Q. Of course, we’ve had a plethora of guys join us since those runs, and they may (MAY!) not be as familiar with Hillcrest as others. After all, it is dark and there are a decent amount of offshoots around that hill.
From what it seems, everyone got back in good shape today and no one, to my knowledge got lost. It’s not the easiest of runs…Hillcrest at the top is a bear…but hopefully the PAX is figuring this one out.
Head east on Wilmetta which more or less turns into Kingscrest. Up the hill on Kingscrest until it dead ends at Malvern.
Right (south) on Malvern. Malvern crosses Cary and heads into Windsor Farms. You veer left on Canterbury which takes you around the backside of the neighborhood.
If you take the left the first time you see Dover, you’ll end up on the Powhite Parkway. Don’t take the first left on Dover. Continue to go around past Agecroft Hall and Gardens and then you come upon Dover again.
Take that left. That shoots you out to Locke Lane. You hop across an overgrown median and end up on Pocahontas. Take that until it ends on Hillcrest.
Take a right (North) on Hillcrest and start up the namesake of the street.
4s…exit Hillcrest (on Hillcrest, ironically) and cross Cary. Head west for about 15 paces to Oak. Go North on Oak, across Grove to Patterson. East on Patterson, south on WestMoreland, east on Grove, back to the flag.
5s…take another loop around Hillcrest, then exit on Hillcrest and follow the path of the 4s.
6s….take the same 2nd loop on Hillcrest but keep going back down the hill…go straight on Charmain, which ends up being WestMoreland. Hairpin turn at the end of WestMoreland (at Cary) back south on Locke. Take a RIGHT on Dover, then left on Berkshire to Cary. West on Cary and Circle MM back to the flag.
Everyone have a good weekend.
On a picture perfect November morning, 25 dudes met up for what turned out to be a complicated route south of Cary Street. This isn’t the first, or even the fourth time that we’ve took a stab at the vaunted “Windsor Farms to Hillcrest” jaunt…and, much like the first few times, I’m not sure anyone completed it as it was planned out.
Either way…here’s the ideal way to run this route…
Head east on Wilmetta which more or less turns into Kingscrest. Up the hill on Kingscrest until it dead ends at Malvern.
Right (south) on Malvern. Malvern crosses Cary and heads into Windsor Farms. You veer left on Canterbury which takes you around the backside of the neighborhood.
If you take the left the first time you see Dover, you’ll end up on the Powhite Parkway. Don’t take the first left on Dover. Continue to go around past Agecroft Hall and Gardens and then you come upon Dover again.
Take that left. That shoots you out to Locke Lane. You hop across an overgrown median and end up on Pocahontas. Take that until it ends on Hillcrest.
Take a right (North) on Hillcrest and start up the namesake of the street.
4s…exit Hillcrest (on Hillcrest, ironically) and cross Cary. Head west for about 15 paces to Oak. Go North on Oak, across Grove to Patterson. East on Patterson, south on WestMoreland, east on Grove, back to the flag.
5s…take another loop around Hillcrest, then exit on Hillcrest and follow the path of the 4s.
6s….take the same 2nd loop on Hillcrest but keep going back down the hill…go straight on Charmain, which ends up being WestMoreland. Hairpin turn at the end of WestMoreland (at Cary) back south on Locke. Take a RIGHT on Dover, then left on Berkshire to Cary. West on Cary and Circle MM back to the flag.
I’m committed to having the PAX finish this without error…so YHC signed up to Q next Friday as well.
It’ll be the same route.
Prayer requests–Pray for Shakedown’s family. Oleander doing a 100mile run on the Capital Trail.
Have a good weekend, guys.
Low 70s greeted a hearty group of runners and bikers on this ever peculiar Friday morning RAMM. It was good to see some familiar faces and have at least 45 minutes of normality these days. As always, I’m appreciative of this group, their humor, their encouragement and their inspiration.
The Thang…
Admittedly, the newly renovated Bat Cave starting at UofR and going to Huguenot Road has got me all fired up. The blacktop is a sensational running surface and the trail is wide and brand new. And, as it turns out, if you go west on Grove, right at Three Chopt and then down Iris to the start of the trail near UR, it is almost exactly 3 miles from Mary Munford when you get to the end of the trail. I mean, is that not a sign or what?
The 5 milers play the role of Moses in this backblast. The trail itself if about 1/2 mile long. Thus, simple mathematics will tell you that the 5s take the above root right to the start of the trail and then turn around. They get to see the asphalt, the wide trail…they get to hear the quietness…but they have turn around and head back.
The 4s get on Iris and then take a left on Robin. From Robin they take a left on St. Andrews and left on Stonehurst. Take a right on Iris and back to the shovel flag.
This isn’t the easiest of runs…heading back up Iris after 3.5 miles is somewhat of a chore.
Good work, everyone. Please be safe out there and I hope everyone stays healthy.
Fourteen men and a canine hit the Tuckahoe region this morning in sublime running conditions. It is hard to beat 56 in early March.
The Thang;
We gave the bat cave a try today and it was glorious. Other than a possible twisted ankle. Seriously, it is going instantly become a favorite way to leave the depths of the UofR. Everyone took the Batcave out to Huguenot.
From there, Huguenot to Westham Station all the way up to Westham. Cross River and enter into the idyllic Westham community.
4s hang a right on Baldwin. Right on Wood. Left on Lakeside and then by the baseball field and back to the flag.
5s hang a left on Baldwin, right on Rock Creek, which truly never stops going uphill. Right on Woodberry (after a detour to Patterson for some 5s). Woodberry to Horsepen. The Pen all the way down to the fraternities. Get back on college and through the parking lot and back to the flag.
6s hang that same Baldwin left…stop at 705 to pick up Onions…and then to Hollins. Hollins to Woodberry, Woodberry to Horsepen. Horsepen is quick…as you take a left on Devon. That’s pretty quick too…you make your next right on RidgeTop. RidgeTop to Mighty Chandler…all the way up Chandler and then back down to Gardiner.
Gardiner takes ya around to the cut through, lighted, path to end on Boatright. Theoretically, you hang a right on Boatright and run to Three Chopt then back down, through the parking lot and back to the flag. If you pause to get a dog, you run College Ave, to Campus to Gateway to Richmond Way and back to the flag as you have made yourself short on time.
Great to see Rosie on this side of the river this morning…it’s always fun running with him.
Weather permitting, looking to 2.0 at the end of the month.
Prayer request for Splinter’s dad who is having his eye examined this week as well as his heart.
Pull for the Rams this week in Brooklyn, boys.
While our bodies were wondering what we were doing up at 4:30am, eight men gathered in the near west end under a brilliantly bright moon to tell daylight savings where to go and how to get there. And to do a 45 minute workout.
The Thang:
Two laps around the traffic circle and then the COT up on the blacktop.
10 Helicopters. 10 Don Quixiotes. 25 Side Straddle Hops. 10 arm circles (forward and reverso) 10 Mercans. 15 LBCs. 10 four count Freddie Mercury’s. 5 burpees.
Mosey to the west end of the black top for “full blacktop agilities”. Start at the west end, agilitize to the east end, do an exercise, agilitize back. The agilities:
Kareoke–5 mercans High Knees–3 burpees Ballerinas–10 LBCs Leaps and Bounds/Butt Kicks–10 2 count side straddle hops. Sprint–10 Hand release mercans.
Mosey to the field for “Make them Up as You Go 4 Corners”.
Three sets for four corners for the group:
Corner 1: 10 Mercans. Corner 2: 10 Mercans. 10 LBCs. Corner 3: 10 Mercans. 10 LBCs. 5 Burpees Corner 4: 10 Mercans. 10 LBCs. 5 Burpees. 10 Freddie Mercurys
Corner 1: 10 LBCs Corner 2: 10 LBCs, 10 four count Freddie’s Corner 3: 10 LBCs, 10 four count Freddie’s, 5 Burpees Corner 4: 10 LBCs, 10 four count Freddie’s, 5 Burpees, 10 2 count SSHops
Corner 1: 10 Four Count SS Hops Corner 2: 10 Four Count SS Hops Corner 3: 10 Four Count SS Hops Corner 4: 10 Four Count SS Hops
Mosey to the Triple Check wall…yet we did double checks. Partner would circle the traffic drop off circle while the other partner would do the following…
Balls to the Wall Mercans LBCs Arm Circles People’s Chair Monkey Squats
It was a continuous motion type of thing with the QIC more or less making it up as he went. It wasn’t ideal, but did keep the motion going constantly with no rest.
COT– 20 American Hammers. Spell “Mister Holland” with your legs, 20 American Hammers.
Congratulations to Handshake, it’s been almost 2 years since he showed up at Hoedown…well done sir.
Also, for much of the Q I called Mr. Holland, Don Draper. Both are male characters in motion picture and TV dated dramas respectively, so it’s easy to get them confused. I apologize to Mr. Holland and, in some respects, Don Draper as well.
A solid double dozen men showed up on a just warm enough to wear gloves but not cold enough to wear long pants morning for a run around the southside of Cary Street.
The Thang…
Everyone:
East across Commonwealth to Willetta which winds east to Kingscrest (one of the two “crests” that were run today). Kingscrest deadheads into Malvern.
Go South on Malvern, across Cary into the wonderful Windsor Farm community. From there, you are on Canterbury and you bear to the left on Canterbury to start running towards the back of the community.
In the early 1960s, the Canterbury family and the Sulgrave family got into a pretty large brouhaha about land, liquor and the respect of their women. The Sulgraves won. Thus, about halfway down your route on Canterbury, it turns into Sulgrave. Long live Sulgrave.
The Sulgraves, however, just couldn’t keep it together in the 1970s and the Berkshire family took over that part of the neighborhood around 1976. While the Sulgraves fought hard, mainly over cattle and a few llamas…the Berkshires succeeded to grab that land and that part of the road.
Take Berkshire to Dover, right on Dover. Dover runs into Locke. Take a right on Locke and immediately go through the natural area to get yourself on Pocahontas. Make sure you take the 2nd opening of the natural area, the first can be a bit prickly, as found out by the YHC and FacePlant (but avoided by Hardywood and Splinter).
Pocahontas to Kingscrest. Right on Kingscrest.
The 4s get out of the Kingscrest loop at Cary. Across the street to Oak. Oak to Grove, Grove back to the Shovel Flag. A bit heavy on the final number (4.3 miles).
The 5s take the Kingscrest loop all the way around. Take the steepest part for the 2nd time and then to Oak to Grove and the back to the Shovel Flag.
The 6s take the Kingscrest loop all the way around but continue going another 1/2 lap. They take the first Charmain right (not the 2nd) which eventually, somehow turns into West Moreland. (Have you ever looked at a map and seen what Charmain, the road, really looks like. It is bizarre and very unorthodox).
Anyhoo, take a hairpin turn from West Moreland back to Locke. South on Locke. Left on Dover, that runs you to back to the Berkshire Family’s road. Left there, which takes you to Cary. Cross Cary to Commonwealth and Back to the Flag. (For the 6.5’s, take your first left off Dover onto Nottingham, take Nottingham to Coventry, to Calycanthus, to Lilac to Nottingham to Dover to freakin’ Locke to Cary to Commonwealth to back to the flag. I can’t get a run done in this neighborhood without getting lost.
Dueces.
F3, as we know it here in Richmond, began (give or take) in the late summer/early Spring of 2014. It will be 6 years old this August(ish) and continues to grow. What was once a workout at Gridiron a few times a week now has close to 30 workouts happening throughout the week at locations all over the Richmond area. Literally, hundreds of guys (and women) have found their workout/exercise home with F3 on a weekly/daily basis and several of those lives have been changed for the better.
Yet, there wasn’t always 25 people at an AO, and there wasn’t always four weeks of signups filled for a workout. In the beginning, there were just a few guys trying to figure it out and make it enjoyable for everyone.
Sometime between August of 2014 and Mid May of 2015 they began RAMM (run at Mary Munford). Just like it’s sibling 45MOM (45 Minutes of Mary) RAMM started and ended in the parking lot of Mary Munford Elementary. It was slated on Friday mornings at 5:45am…in the gloom.
The original route was relatively simple—it started at Munford…it headed east on Grove to Boulevard then west on Grove to Tuckahoe Ave, Libbie or Three Chopt…then back to Grove.
This is the Oral History of that run…
Swirly—We wanted a route we could all remember that didn’t have any turns, or really any big hills, or creativity. So we decided to run back and forth on Grove.
Saab—I hated it from the very beginning. There was nothing worse than running by the starting point and not being halfway home.
TYA—It reminded me of the original 10k that happened in Massachusetts. Many people think the first 10K happened in the Tidewater area…but they couldn’t be more incorrect…the original 10k was a run in New England where you ran to a rock, turned around, ran to another rock and then back to the original rock. We wanted to replicate that run.
Bleeder—It was lit. Not lit in the way that most of the kids are using the word now, but it was literally lit…with lights on Grove. That was nice.
Swirly—I wholeheartedly agree with that. It was lit.
Saab—Yeah, there was nothing better than seeing Mary Munford and then running right by it.
Swirly—I remember wondering what that high pitched noise was.
Sippy Cup—It was great for me because it was only 3 miles away from my house. That meant I could run there, and run the route, then run another 10 miles and then run home…and I could still be at work 7:15am.
TYA—Sippy would show up and wouldn’t even be sweating.
Bleeder—It was pretty lit when he did that.
So the guys continued each Friday, running this same route. Past the VMFA, turn around, run back past the flag to Grove and Libbie.
BT—It really made no sense to change it up. We knew the route. We knew the distances. No one needed a sticky note or a laminated card. We showed up, we ran back and forth, we went home.
LockJaw—I was never a big fan of it. You can’t create any cool names from running up and down on Grove. Plus, what’s the fun of signing up for 19 consecutive weeks if you ran the same route each time?
TYA—The original runners in Massachusetts ran the same route for 15 consecutive years. To the rock. To the other rock. To the starting rock. I didn’t see any need to mix it up.
Bleeder—In the back of my mind I knew there were other routes out there.
Saab—It sucked. 10 weeks in a row. Then 15 weeks. I would dream about the dental office right before 195.
Sippy—At one point I think I remember someone, maybe Bleeder, mentioning that we could possibly cross Boulevard on Grove and enter the Museum District…TYA shot that down pretty quickly.
Swirly—It was a great idea but TYA had no time for it.
BT—I was there that day…it was right before the COT…Bleeder said ‘have we thought about going past Boulevard and maybe making MM the start and end point’…but TYA immediately pushed back.
Bleeder—It got awkward and fast.
Loose Goose—Until then, it had been a pretty cordial group. In fact, many of us doubted that TYA was even from the North, considering how accommodating and friendly he was up until that point. We thought ‘there’s no way this guy is from Massachusetts’. That changed that day for good.
Saab—We left that prayer knowing for sure he was from up North.
Sippy—I speak up against stereotyping people…but it was pretty obvious after that conversation that TYA wasn’t born below the Mason Dixon line. That was an accent I had never heard before.
Loose Goose—There were words used that I hadn’t heard since college.
LockJaw—He used one word as four different parts of speech—adjective, noun, adverb and a gerund.
BT—It was flat out terrific.
Saab—It did open some doors to new language during Qs.
TYA—(edited for content) Look, we were going to run that (edited) route until I (edited) (edited) left the group. The settlers in (edited) (edited) (edited) Mass didn’t run to a far away rock, turn around and run to the beginning (edited) rock. There were three rocks. (edited) (edited) (edited)
Sippy—We didn’t talk a lot about changing the route after that.
Toga—Some of us thought about leaving the group and moving away.
Fudd—I thought about creating my own run. Something through the hills of Westham.
TYA—To this day I can’t believe that we changed that original route. (edited) Reverse Carrillon.
The 5:30am jaunts continued each week. PR’s were bested, more people joined. In Mid May, over lunch at Lunch Bleeder invited a 40 year old VCU employee, Robby Robinson to the group. Robby showed up at the height of the Tom Brady deflate-gate, and immediately knew he was in the right place. He got the nickname “MARV” because he did the VCU games on the radio and Marv Albert was a notorious play by play guy who as once arrested because he bit a woman’s back while he was wearing a slip.
Toga—Hemorrhoid was still available.
Marv—I had been trying to figure out when to work out…5:30am seemed perfect. Loose Goose led the Q that day and I was sold. The very next day they had a run. And I like to run…so it seemed perfect.
Bleeder—You know the young guy in ‘Shawshank Redemption’ that shows up with all the energy and everyone immediately likes? Marv was not that guy. But it added to our numbers, so that was cool.
Sippy—He showed up for the run wearing headphones.
Saab—I couldn’t believe someone had the nerve to show up to run in headphones.
TYA—(edited) headphones on this (edited) guy.
BT—The headphones were an…let’s say…interesting choice.
Marv—To this day I’m not 100% sure why I was looked at like a leper when I showed up in headphones.
Hardywood—Why use headphones when you can just sing at the top of your lungs?
Rosie—There are days I wish I had headphones.
Garbage Plate—Now the dude just turns on his music and listens without headphones.
Hardywood—I think it’s DC Talk music.
Splinter—When he does that…I either slow waaaay down or speed way up.
Marv—After about three weeks of running up and down Grove, I asked if we had considered another route. You know, something that ran on other streets.
Swirly—Oh boy.
Sippy—We all looked at TYA and closed our eyes.
Splinter—Marv asked the question that had been on everyone’s mind. Other than ‘I wonder if there’s someone in the group that can calibrate all of our attendance on some website.’
Saab—It was about time we brought it up again. It had almost been one year of running in a straight line.
Marv—How was I supposed to know that subject was taboo? I mean, there’s two things in my life that I know…1—the first Thanksgiving was in Virginia. 2—it was hideously boring running in a straight line each week.
Conspiracy—I would purposely show up late and run a different route and pretend that I ran the same route. Then I would get mad.
TYA—I decided right then and there that I was going to kill Marv. Either that, or I was going to build him his dream house. One of the two.
Splinter—I run with MARV a lot…he has a bunch of crazy ideas and says some crazy things….this may have been the craziest.
Bleeder—TYA asked where else we could go. What other possible routes could there be in that area?
TYA—Seriously, it’s not like we had a lot of choices…I asked the Q to name three better routes right then and there and I’d consider it.
BT—That was a bad move by TYA.
Sippy—That’s when the routes started to come out…
Marv—I said that Monument Ave had a route where tens of thousands of people pay upwards of $60 to run on it. We could do that. For free.
Splinter—On Good Friday we could run like a cross.
Lab Rat—There was the Carrillon route.
Bleeder—We could run laps between Hamilton and Malvern
Copernicus—As long as we stay out of Windsor Farms we could go anywhere.
LockJaw—After Duke games we could run Grace to Allen. Grayson Allen….get it.
Saab—We could do just about anything and it would be better.
Swirly—We could take a left on Hamilton and run by the greatest building ever built in the history of Mankind.
LockJaw—Surely there was a dangerous industrial area we could run to.
Circle K—Haiku to UofR and back.
Sippy—I could wear a light on my shoe and we could split up into three groups and we could chase each other. It could be snowing.
TYA—edited for content
Lab Rat—We could run back and forth in the neighborhood north of Munford. There could be one part where the road ends and everyone could guess where to go.
Toga—The snake route.
Marv—I hate the snake route.
Splinter—The snake route sucks.
Hardywood—There’s not a better route in the world than the Snake route.
The group decided that the next week they would try one of the 25 routes that were deemed different than the Grove to Boulevard to 3 Chopt to Munford. And from there, that route became less and less of an occurrence. Except for today…January 24, 2020. It was the day that route came back…for nostalgic purposes. And because no one signed up on the spreadsheet.
TYA—What a great (edited) Q today, boys.