Hmmm... what a fascinating pair of forecasts I have in my immediate future.
As a VA resident, we keep getting warnings of an increasingly apocalyptic snowstorm.
The finalists have been announced! And can you believe it? I was not one of them. I know -- shocker, right?
Oh well. I guess I'll just have to get (back) to any of these races in the usual ways.
To see who the finalists are and bits from the videos they submitted, take a look at the announcement on YouTube:
Unfortunately, after multiple workout cancellations for the nascent Loudoun County chapter of Achilles International (because of insufficient sign-ups from Achilles athletes), the chapter is closing. It may just be that Leesburg is too far for many people in Loudoun County to get to, not to mention the fact that our meeting spot was not convenient to Metro or even the W&OD Trail.
Simultaneous with that closure, though, is an attempt to start up a chapter in Fairfax County. Multiple options are being considered for meeting points, to include the W&OD Trail near the Wiehle-Reston Metro stop and the Vienna Metro stop. Fingers crossed that either of those locations will make it more palatable and accessible for athletes and guides alike to come out and make it into a thriving chapter over the next several months. (Having something other than very cold, very windy runs would certainly help, too. The wind was brutal on each of our Sunday runs.)
If you know someone who is blind or needs to use a hand cycle, and they want to participate in road races -- ultimately in marathons, point them to Achillesinternational.org. There are plenty of chapters around the country and worldwide. And if they are in the Northern Virginia area, they should hook up with the Fairfax chapter!
No surprise, given that we're talking about Miami, but it's looking like it's going to be a HOT day running Miami. Given my group starts at 6:30am (rather than the initial 6am wave), I get a little more of the heat and a little more of the sun.
While these conditions will be great for the spectators, we'll need to be throwing water over our heads starting at the very first water stop. Will certainly need to speed up my running pace a little bit to allow for slightly longer stops for the group to drink and douse.
I certainly prefer writing race reports and similar blog posts. But, every now and then (actually, more frequently than I care to admit), I just don't think I have anything worth writing about. Hence some of the dry spells here.
On New Year's Day, I finally succumbed to starting up an Instagram account. While the initial impetus was having another place to post my World Tour entry, and where many of the photos/videos taken during the several races will definitely go if I win the contest (though the fuller narrative will still be here), it seems like a good venue for other videos.
So, check out my nascent account. My Insta handle is runners.record.
Feel free to provide feedback, both here and on Insta. It's always nice to know if others think my material is interesting and/or helpful.
Finally finished my video entry for the Abbot World Marathon Majors' World Tour, posted on my Facebook page.
Hopefully it will do the trick, not only for my getting into Boston 2026, but all of the other majors, too. Looking forward to having the "problem" of figuring out which of the 2026 or 2027 runnings of each of them I would like to do -- amid all of my other races.
