R and J in the USA

June 13, 2024

Our third race was a Thursday evening trail run at the Bear Branch Nature Center north of Westminster, Maryland. The drive to the race foreshadowed the course terrain – rural, hilly, and scenic. But our van cab’s air conditioning hid what proved to be two key features of the run – heat and humidity.

Heat, humidity, and hills. Those were the hallmarks of this race. Along with beauty. Green trails, undulating forests, and agricultural fields provided a visual counterpoint to the beading sweat, thick air, and protesting quadriceps.

Julie finished 3rd of 10 in her age group compared to Ryan’s 8th of 12 in his. But, in a twist, Ryan managed to edge out Julie with a 53rd place overall finish out of 129 participants compared to Julie’s 57th place.

The run was the second of six evening races in the Westminster Road Runners Club’s Twilight Series. And it was the third of fifty-one races in the R and J in the USA 50 States (and One Federal District) 5K Series. Unfortunately, it was not the third 5K in our series. The race turned out to be a 3-miler instead of the 3.1 miles of a full 5K, which means we will have to circle back to Maryland at some point to run an official 5K. In the meantime, it’s on to Delaware.

Detailed Race Report for Running Nerds

Julie was coming into race #3 hot and wiped – not a great cocktail for a hot and hilly trail race. The fast pace we had been keeping up in our first two states plus 2 hard races were already starting to catch up with her and Ryan was only looking more and more loose and relaxed. But she still wasn’t ready for this to be the first time Ryan would pass her on a race course. Well, life doesn’t wait for you to be ready. Julie started out this hilly, hot trail run whose formidability the locals were hinting at in the pre-race mingle, with some strength and confidence – taking the uphills with some temperance and sailing down the downhills, which undulated fairly evenly back and forth. By mile 1.5, the heat started to creep up with her and each new hill was less and less inviting. Before the race, the announcers and crowd made it clear to everyone – this was not a pr course – this was one of those “makes you feel alive to take on the challenge” type of courses. This was evident in both Julie and Ryan’s first mile, a 9:28 and 9:34 respectively. With Ryan a mere 6 seconds behind Julie at the close of mile 1, you can begin to see what was coming in mile 2. While Ryan soldiered on and clocked into the second mile’s attempts to stop us at a solid 11:01, this is where he won the race against Julie who submitted a bit more willingly to the mile’s challenges with an 11:42. Even though Julie’s final pace for the last .85 miles beat Ryan’s at a 9:56 pace against Ryan’s 10:23 pace, the damage for Julie’s pursuits of marital victory was already thwarted. Ryan crossed the finish line after 29 minutes and 11 seconds, Julie at 29 minutes and 58 seconds. Both crossed the line sweaty, tired and ready for the post-race popsicles Marriage, of course is not about keeping score. That said, Julie 2 – Ryan 1. The game is most certainly on.