As the big miles stack up we enter the final weeks of long runs before the early November taper down prior to the big day. This weekend serves up 12 miles, a PR distance for YHC, and a run I’ve been nervously anticipating since before the Mud Run last weekend which sapped my enthusiasm for the 11 miler.
The next few weeks also appear to be complicated ones for our training group and so a couple options are being provided to get in the miles. This coming weekend we will be offering two different routes on two separate days.
First the base plan slated for Saturday, October 19th to overlap the Dreher convergence. Launch from DHS will be at 6:30 AM which means most people won’t make it back for the COT… or plan on leaving super early to get back in time. It’s your call how early you need to leave to be finished when you want to finish. As usual we have mapped the route using MapMyRun.com and the course below can be found there in all its glory. You can also download a pdf of the route including turn by turn directions. Here’s the basics, though:
From DHS, cross Millwood and head west on Devine Street all the way down into Five Points. Go through to Blossom and up to the Sumter Street hill passing the USC Horseshoe where the race will end… but don’t. Go on to Gervais for the Right turn back east turning Right on Millwood and Maple to a left turn on Duncan. Take a Left again on Kilbourne and take it all the way around to the Left turn onto Sanford for a shortcut loop around big Lake Katherine. Rather than turning up Woodlake like you will on race day, stay straight and head on to the Right turn on Shady Lane to trim off little Lake Katherine. Make sure to include Milford Road from Shady. Once back to Kilbourne, turn uphill again for the home stretch. Run all the way to Devereaux and end on Adger back at DHS. 12 miles in the bank.
The water station will be at Sims Park which is exactly the 6 mile mark and, as usual, the exact placement will get tweeted early Saturday morning. Our white cooler disappeared from the Kilbourne Park Baptist Church steps last week so a new Styrofoam cooler will be tracked down for our use.
Or Plan B…
While this normal Saturday scheme should work for most, a couple of us have Saturday commitments this weekend and will be getting in our long run early Friday morning, October 18th. Instead of a normal #Amble Friday, a few of us will meet at KBC for a 5:30 AM start using an alternate route that does the full Lake Katherine end of the Governors Cup route but turns on Harden to omit the lap around USC. This alternate route is also on MapMyRun.com and available in pdf form for those interested in the option below:
Obviously the big difference is that this route starts and ends at Kathwood Baptist Church, the standard Amble AO instead of Dreher. Rather than detailing out the turn by turn route, simply note the only deviation from the Governors cup route is the stab through Five Points on Devine before turning north back up Harden street to return to the race route at Gervais. That and the deviation to use KBC as a launch point are the only changes from the race route.
A water station will be placed at the fountain at the corner of Harden and Greene Streets. We’re going to place bets on whether a cooler left in five points will still be there an hour later as dawn approaches. Odds are not good.
Gentlemen, you have no excuses not to get in the 12 mile distance. If one of these two options doesn’t work for you, let the group know what you have in mind. This is not the time to skip a weekend. Get it done!
Aye!