2021 Recap

It has been too long since my last post, so I hope to do a better job in 2022.

For 2021 I ran 2,308 miles, which was 545 miles more than last year. I was also able to run 251 days which was 45 days more than the previous year and 350 hours which was 85 more hours than 2020. I also ran 30 half marathon distance (or longer) training runs (Sorry, this is the analyst in me).

I was also able to compete in more races than in previous years. I ran the Cummins Falls 5k in February coming in 1st in my age group and my youngest coming in 3rd female overall. I ran the Young Life 5k with two of my daughters. I ran the Franklin Classic 10k in September with my youngest and several of her friends. In March I ran the Music City Ultra (25k). This was a difficult trail race where I got lost more than once. Probably my slowest trail race at that distance as well. In November I ran the Huntsville Half winning the Master’s Division and running a PR of 1:32:40. My final race of the year was the Bell Ringer 50k which I finished in just over 6 hours which was a PR and again the fastest old guy. Some Pictures from the races are below.

Cummins Falls 5k (3rd Female overall and Division winner 45-49)

Music City Trail Ultra 25k finisher medal and one of the many hills

The longest and toughest race for my youngest. But it was with all her friends which made it better.

In November I signed up to run the Nuun Half Marathon as a virtual race. Well, my daughter had a Taekwondo tournament in Huntsville, so signed up for the Huntsville Half. She ended up with a few medals and I won the Master’s division while also getting my PR.

The Bell Ringer 50k was my final and longest race of the year. Severe weather the night before made the course more challenging. Was still able to finish and beat my 50k time of the previous year by almost an hour and a half.

I was introduced to and ran with many groups in 2021 from the Hill Runners of Spring Hill on Wednesday nights (road); Franklin Road Runners on Saturdays (road); The Scalawags on Saturday (trail); The Mule City Milers on Saturday (trail) and the Dirtbag Trail runners on Thursdays (trail). Of course, I ran with a different group each Saturday.

I had the opportunity to run in several local parks including Sarah Benson Park, Preservation Park, Chickasaw Trace, Henry Horton, Westhaven, Percy Warner and Bowie Nature Preserve. With so many miles covered at so many parks it is hard to pick just one picture to share. Here are a few: