First, tomorrow's Memorial Day run will be dedicated our son-in-law, 1Lt Jonathan Edds, who was killed in action in Baghdad, August 17, 2007. More about that tomorrow.

Today's run was was relatively easy by Blue Ridge Parkway standards (for my Florida running friends however, translate to horrendously steep!). Tropical Storm Bonnie was our friend providing overcast skies and cooler temperatures, but no rain during the run. The best part was having company, at the beginning and end.

Day 13 Run

Cloudy skies, cooler temperatures and less severe terrain made a less difficult run than may of our days. I had a 3-mile stretch of just relaxed running with a gentle 1% downhill grade--ahhh! But I took today's run a little farther so it would be easier to finish at Grandview Overlook near Parkway School. We started near Milepost 240 in Doughton Park and ended at Milepost 261.3 at the intersection of Hwy 16 and the Parkway. Here are the details. In case you are wondering, the left leg still hurts.

I started the day with Donny McCall. Donny and his wife own Perrycraft, Inc. in Sparta. Perrycraft manufacturers automobile luggage racks, roof rails, and truck bed rails among other products. Donny also invented Invis-A-Rack. I had no idea how famous he was--he was on Sharktank in Season 3. Here's a video about his product. But in addition to all that, Donny is a great guy, I was privileged to run with him for the first 5 miles. I don't have pictures but you can meet Donny in the Starting Video.

Sonny Church, helped me at the end. Sonny owns Brushy Mountain Water in Wilkesboro, NC. He was nice enough to come up to run the last mile and then take me back to my car, 21 miles to the north. You ask, "why didn't you just run back?" Yeah right! Sonny even brought me the "awesomest" brownie ever to put some carbs back into the system.

Photos and Video

The App Ortho Photo of the Day

We placed today's photos on http://www.BRPWeather.com/. Click on the link, then zoom the Google Map into the area between Doughton Park and Hwy 16 to see our photos. By the way, you can upload your photos to BRPWeather.com also; just click on the Photo link and follow the process--it's quick and easy!

By the way, BRPWeather.Com has two weather stations along today's route: at Doughton Park (called the Bluffs Station) and at the Laurel Ridge Station located at beautiful Laurel Ridge Camp, Conference, and Retreat Center. Initially our plans were to stay at Laurel Ridge Saturday night; however, we needed to be in Boone Saturday night. We thank them for their willingness to let us stay, and it is a beautiful spot.

Here are the starting and ending videos...

 Parkway Attractions and History

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