I had such a blast at my first ultramarathon last weekend, that I’m ready to do it again! But not this weekend. My body isn’t quite ready for that. Hopefully it is ready to cover a mountainous 10K though, because that’s exactly what I have on tap!

This weekend Barry and I will be participating in the Blue Ridge Marathon races in Roanoke for the fifth year in a row. Barry is signed up for the half. I was originally signed up for the half, but decided it was in my best interest to drop to the 10K. It still packs 2,000 feet in elevation change though! Barry will tackle a total elevation change of nearly 3,800 feet (pictured below from the 2015 race). I only have to deal with that first mountain. 😉

This race is so challenging, yet we keep going back year after year. It has grown a lot over the past few years, but it still has the feel of both a small race and a hometown race (despite Roanoke being an hour north of us). You just can’t beat that. My race will include a climb up Mill Mountain to get an up close view of the 90-foot-tall Mill Mountain Star, and then a descent back to the valley floor. Honestly, I think the descent is going to hurt more than the climb. All in good fun, though, and it should be a great day!

Who else is racing this weekend?

P.S. Tomorrow is also the ninth anniversary of April 16th. Nine years ago I was a freshman at Virginia Tech. One snowy April morning all hell broke loose on campus. Tomorrow we commemorate that awful day with a Day of Remembrance.

“Appreciate life a little more, take in every moment around you, count your blessings, tell the people around you that you love them, slow down, remember what’s truly important in life. And live for those 32 that do not have that chance anymore.”

We are Virginia Tech. We will prevail.