5.4 miles @ ~9.3 min/mi

"Trample the Weak — Hurdle the Dead" reads the fluorescent lime-green shirt of the runner in front of me at the start of this morning's cross-country race. The outside edge of my left foot hurts. Did I over-stress it in yesterday's jog, or bump it into something last night? Ken Swab doesn't have to DNF in order to game the tiebreak system for the Montgomery County Road Runners XC series competition, as he beats his arch-rival comfortably. I push hard the whole way and find the hills challenging. Dee Nelson starts ahead but I squeeze by her after a mile. Peggy Dickison in her yellow goggles and orienteering shirt pulls me along for the middle miles, then slows slightly on a climb near the end. Official result: 62nd of 118 finishers, 4th of 10 in the male 55-59 year group, 50:04 minutes for an initially-advertised "8k" course that was ~5.4 miles around Clopper Lake in Seneca Creek State Park.

(cf. GPS trackfile, ...) - ^z - 2011-12-29