Storming through Ramsey's Draft - NORSA Spring Backpacking

April 15 2011 - Team NORSA member Steven S, along with Cody L and Marvin W set out to conquer the challenging Ramsey's Draft wilderness trails.

Ramsey's Draft is quite an adventure, with 20+ stream crossings, remnants of virgin hemlock forest, and spectacular ridge climbs. If that wasn't enough, this expedition took place on a weekend with 100% chance of rain including thunderstorms and flash flooding.

The three hikers left after work on Friday with a 3+ hour drive to the forest. In what has become a NORSA tradition, the initial hike was mostly in the dark. The downpour started that night and continued through the morning. But, with a hot breakfast prepared under the tarp, they were ready for the day's challenges. These included: heavy thunderstorms that tested their rain gear, stream crossings that were knee deep, and bushwacking for hours to find a safe place to cross the rushing stream. In all the excitement, Steven S lost his water shoes.

Despite these difficulties, they made good progress by the time the rain let up to allow a lunch break. That is when the first hailstorm hit. Steven learned never to say things like "at least we know it can't come down any harder..." This kind of talk only tempted the skies to prove him wrong. After finishing the 20th crossing, the trail climbed to the headwaters of Ramsey's Draft. The trail literally became a running river itself, with many branching streams and waterfalls forming along the way. It was an impressive sight, and would have made for good camping in normal conditions.

A suitable campsite was waiting on top of the ridge. Everyone enjoyed a hot meal and looked forward to drying their gear overnight. Surprise! It got below freezing. Steven S was using his 40F rated bag and it was damn cold. Same thing in the morning as the wind cut through wet clothing. But eventually it turned out to be a beautiful spring day. The second half of the hike follows Bald Ridge with a lot of climbing early, and then has a steady downhill finish back to Ramsey's Draft. The ridge features many window views, white pines, and beautiful camp sites. At last the descent brought them back to the draft, and in a fitting conclusion, required one more bushwack and stream crossing to make it to the trailhead.

Despite the tough stuff on this trip, everyone had a good time and took it all in stride. Ramsey's Draft East gets a NORSA seal of approval. For a less intense version of this hike, try it during a drier time of year or just rearrange your plans if the weather forecast looks terrible.

Yuengling Shamrock Marathon

March 20, 2011 Virginia Beach, Virginia

Allison ran her first marathon.

And it hurt. No, actually it went really well! The wind, though, was downright brutal (which was a ghost-town as racers filled hotel lobbies looking for a break from the 35-40 mph gusts). It died down a bit yet provided a steady 10+ mph force for runners; normally nothing terrible but the “wind tunnel” along Atlantic Avenue took its toll on many-a-runner including tough-as-nails Michael Wardian who was upset with his time due to the strong winds.

Nevertheless, Allison was able to achieve her “A” goal of finishing in 3:50 (website says 3:51 but, umm, potty break, yo!) despite having been given a range of 3:55 – 4:35 (more than likely 4:15-4:20) for a finishing time by the experts (what now?!).

Miles 1-10 were a breeze, no pun intended. Allison tagged along with the 3:50 pace group and, despite a varied amount of mile splits (8:55, 8:15, 9:15, 8:37, 8:20), she was able to run under pace and still feel good about it. As described, the wind began to take its toll as Allison ran back up Atlantic Avenue (major wind gusts) and her quads began to ache around miles 15 and 16. A grab of Gu packs at mile 15 (thanks to her husband!) helped to gear her up for the lonely miles 16-23. Her pace began to dip a little bit but it didn’t pose a threat to the 3:50 goal since she “banked” 3-4 minutes with the overaggressive pacers.

The dreaded mile 20 loomed when Allison struck up a conversation with another runner who asked if she minded if he tagged along with her for the last 10K. Did she mind if a shirtless and incredibly fit naval officer ran with her? Heck no! The pain of the last 6 miles was offset by the feeling of floating on air as Allison enjoyed a 40 minute run with the handsome hunk. Reality set in, though, as she realized that she was floating a bit too much and had to haul if she wanted to finish in 3:50.

So she dropped the hunk and kicked it into gear.

What seemed like a mad sprint on shot quads wasn’t anything more than flopping around at an 8:45/m pace into the finish (and nasty headwinds). The turn onto the boardwalk was incredibly uplifting yet horribly terrifying at the same time as she could see the finish but realized that getting there would involve the longest 3/4th of a mile that she ever ran. And the wind was in full force. She gritted her teeth and used the crazy-awesome crowd (cow bells?! You shouldn’t have!!) screaming her name (note to racers: if offered, have your name printed on your race bib – it does wonders to one’s moral when strangers cheer for you by name) and helping to push her to cross the finish in 3:50:51. Not one to showboat at a finish, Allison couldn’t help to throw her fists in the air in celebration not only for having completed her first (of many!) marathon but for doing it in a time that many deemed impossible for her.

And then her quads seized up and she buckled in pain as the running gods punished her for bieng such a fruitcake upon crossing the finish.

This won’t be the last marathon for Allison and, for the time being, she will be filling her time with a handful of small road races (45k bike race, a Duathlon, the Disney half marathon (??), a 5k here and there) up and through June 27th when she begins training for the Marine Corp Marathon.

Race Results

Net Time – 3:50:51

Pace – 8:48/m

Over All Ranking – 807/ 3,159

Female Ranking – 191/ 1,276

Age Group Ranking (25-29F) – 50/263

My "fuel" to the finish (shirtless Naval officer "Jay")

Running with "Jay"

"Do I mind!?"