Historic Run

For those who are thinking about the Subject line of this post, you're probably wondering how an old bald guy can do anything at all historic these days.

Well I can't. Or at least I can say I didn't. But give me time. I still plan to be the Greatest Runner Who Ever Lived. It's just going to take time. But what was historic about this run was the location: Martinsburg, West Virginia. We were staying here in order to visit nearby Harpers Ferry National Historical Park; it came as a surprise to me that the town of Martinsburg is historic as well. Upon later reflection, it seems that all of the towns and villages in this part of the country have some local history to be proud of.

Martinsburg has buildings dating back to 1812, at the least. Many of the others are from the Civil War era. One of the most important events occurred when Southern troops led by General Stonewall Jackson, occupied the town, and burned some buildings including the train station and destroyed 38 miles of track, all with the help of a famous accomplice: a 17-year old girl.

I learned these events during my run, but then it got serious. Of course I had been running slow to take all this in. It was good to have an excuse, since I always run slow anyway. I hit the high school track to get on track, so to speak, and that did the trick. I was able to get a 4-mile tempo run in.

This brought the total to 13 miles. Not one of my very best runs, but a pretty decent one.