You Will Surely Say, "Massanutten ROCKS!"

Can I just say that my brother is running 100 miles in the trails of the Appalachian Mountains this weekend (www.vhtrc.org/mmt)? I know–it’s insane, it’s crazy, it’s absolute lunacy. But he loves it. In fact, after barely surviving last year’s race, he’s back this year to fight it out again. According to the event’s Web site, the race is “a well organized event over trails of the Massanutten Mountain in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley.” The race begins at 5 a.m. this Saturday and the field is limited to 150 runners, all of whom were required to complete an ultra marathon prior to registration. The race is demanding and extremely rocky, with rugged mountain climbs that total over 18,000 feet. It will be fun, right? Oh yes. The Web site claims that “we are confident that if you run MMT, you will not be sorry and you will surely say, ‘Massanutten ROCKS!’” I wonder if my brother said that after last year’s race…

I am proud of my brother. Last year’s race was incredibly challenging for him, particularly since his training consisted of absolutely no mountain running. He still managed to finish, albeit completely delusional to the angst of my mother, in 29 hours and 30 minutes. The race, and its inherent challenges, only made my brother stronger and want to fight harder to conquer this year’s race. This past October, he moved to the mountains of Utah and now trains on nothing but trails and mountains. I am proud to say that when I visited in January, I watched him motor up those mountains like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The training has obviously paid off. In his most recent race, the Antelope Island Buffalo 50 Mile Run on March 24th, he scored a second place finish in 7 hours and 59 minutes. Can he conquer this year’s Massanutten, with the added challenge of no crew nor pacer, or will he again be humbled by the harsh terrain, reduced to a blank-eyed state and days of being pushed around in a luggage cart? We will soon see. Whatever happens, I am a very proud sister. According to Kelly, this year’s goal is a lofty top 5–10 finish. After a few moments, he adds, “I just want to rock it.”