Grandpa Runs

First 5k in $15 shoes and all the clothes I could find because it was cold Picture from TriState Racer of starting line  I began running at 51 years old, in January of 2015. Co-workers had talked me into a Komen Race For The Cure 5k coming up in May. Before then I was a hiker and swore that I would never be a runner. I down loaded the Couch to 5k app and used it from January until March when I ran a small 5k in 27 minutes. I swore that I hated every minute of that winter, I was running in hikers around a field at my home. The only reason I stuck to it longer than a day was because my wife is a 14 year survivor of breast cancer and I really wanted to do this race. After the March 5k I found out that I hate stress fractures in both knees from lousy shoes and preparation. So I took a couple weeks off, bought some Hoka Bondi 4 shoes and came back for the Komen  race which I finished in 25 minutes.           So 2 1/2 years ...

I have been visiting the Smoky Mountain National Park for over 30 years. When I saw this marathon advertised I jumped at the opportunity. It was put on by Vacation Races , an organization whose  by-line is "Run Somewhere Breathtaking." They have half marathons, ultras and trail runs near National Parks. While a little pricey, there were a lot of extras with the signup and you can save considerable by signing up very early. Great Smoky Mountains Half Marathon Course           This was to be my second half ever and I was hoping to finish in under two hours after finishing my first one in 2:02 on a downhill course. This course was net 727 feet uphill but I had ran a lot on hills getting ready. My wife recently went to be with The Lord and is buried nearby and I often run there and back which has 429 feet of ascent in the four miles.         We had to be at the finish line by 5:30 AM to catch a bus to the start. At 7 AM 1400 of us lin...