2023-03-25 at 10:27am
3.36 miles (08:25/mile)
Green Bay, Virginia

First official lap for me in the Dogwood 24-Hour Relay. My position as the tail of the team was due to my later arrival…but it worked out well.

The other team members were E Fitness, Steve Rothwell, Mike Papazoglou, Katherine Graham, Joshua Lowry. Everyone was solid, running more than needed…the requirement was for each team member to execute four laps of 3.4 miles apiece over the twenty-four hour period. The team ended with at least twenty-six official laps.

My goal with the first lap was to use the daylight to memorize the route, and to see how reasonably fast the loop could be completed. My intent at the start was to run the first and fourth official loops reasonably fast…but the plan failed to take into account that the fourth lap would be in the dark. Thus, the actual result was more of a positive split from first to last lap…(grin).

Terrain was middling-rolling, with no serious elevation, but enough to make the entire loop an effort. Waiting approximately two to three hours between my laps made for the start of each to be an exercise in loosening back up.

Weather at the beginning was nearly perfect for running…cool and relatively dry. Conditions changed…