It’s been 12 days since I finished running the Blue Ridge Parkway. As a quick update, I’m feeling great physically except for an old injury Achilles tendon attachment injury at the base of my left heel. It was aggravated by all the uphill/downhill in the last 6 days of the run (Crabtree Falls up to Read More …
Author: ray
R. Getty Browning, Father
At a Parkway construction site. Mr. Browning is 2nd from the right. Two weeks ago, after the ascent to Mt. Mitchell, the Day 18 Running Blog featured thoughts about the skills of R. Getty Browning. There is little doubt that he was the most important framer of the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. He Read More …
Post-Run FAQ
Bass Lake, Moses Cone Estate. Tuesday morning, after four days of no running, I returned to one of my favorite short runs to “kick the tires”. A 5-miler including the Maze beginning at Bass Lake is an easy test of the legs. It all went well, I even picked up the pace a little with Read More …
RWR Day 24 – Finished, More to Tell
Ray and Russell resting after some “busy” days. Sorry for the delay in posting the Day 24. About 30 minutes from the finish, our daughter called with the news that our new grandson, Russell Gorman Berry, had just been born. After a quick lunch in Cherokee, we scurried to Boone to repack and then to Read More …
RWR Day 23 – Rollercoaster
It was an epic run across the Plott Balsam Range. I think 19 of the 20 miles had a grade of 5% or more (12 of those were up, 8 down). The day beat my legs up big-time. Many thanks to Julie and Les Taylor from Waynesville who came to the start and supplied cookies from Read More …
RWR Day 22 – Richland Black Balsam
Day 22 was a day of highlights. At Milepost 431.5, we reached the highest point on the Blue Ridge Parkway–Richland Black Balsam, elevation 6053 feet. But even more exciting was that Don Lister, the only person to have ever run the entire Blue Ridge Parkway to date, drove over and found me. We had lunch Read More …
RWR Day 21 – High Terrain
Today’s run featured good running company, tunnels, a climb up Mt Pisgah, Looking Glass Rock, Graveyard Fields, and the start of the climb up Black Balsam. Day 21 Run Ray with Ranger Conrad Shirk Ranger Conrad Shirk, an interpretive ranger for the Blue Ridge Parkway, ran about 13 miles of today’s run. His company made the Read More …
RWR Day 20 – Beautiful Asheville
Day 20 was the most event-packed day of Relay with Ray with a 7 AM start at Haw Creek Valley Overlook live on TV. We took a brief break before visiting the Blue Ridge Parkway Visitor Center in Asheville. The day ended with a run through a tunnel almost one-quarter mile in length. Day 20 Read More …
RWR Day 19 – Descent to Asheville
Day 19 began at Milepost 360 on the side of Mount Mitchell and ended at the Haw Creek Valley Overlook at Milepost 380. We had lots runners along with terrific long range views. Day 19 Run I must keep this blog abbreviated. Today was a very long day–up at 5:15 AM, pack and leave Big Read More …
RWR Day 18 – Massive Mitchell
The term “breathtaking” is overused, but literally today at one point I looked to my left and it took my breath away. Day 19 took me to the 5600′ level on Mount Mitchell. I’ll mostly let pictures tell the story. Day 18 Run Ray at Mt Mitchell Entrance Run by the numbers: 18th day, 360 miles Read More …