For the Greater Good: =PR= & Saucony Trail Run

It is mid-January and the weathermen predicted a beautiful, sunny and 60 plus degree day: perfect for a trail run in Algonkian Park. Potomac River Running (=PR=), a locally owned Running Apparel Company and Saucony joined forces and planned a trail run on Sunday January 13. Algonkian is located in Sterling, Virginia and is home to a beautiful trail that stretches and winds for miles and miles along the scenic Potomac River. It is also the home of the North Face Endurance Challenge, where I will be running the 50 miler in June.

In May of 2012, I starting working for =PR= as part of their event staff. While there a many aspects of my job, one of my responsibilities is to help with various events hosted by PR. We have hosted holiday parties at various stores, scavenger hunts along the WO&D trails, evening fun run and more! (for a complete listing of PR events see the calendar page).

Today, along with Saucony, we hosted a trail run, complete with water, donuts and hot chocolate! PR provided the treats and Saucony was on site to provide trail shoes for runners to test drive and ViZoPRO vests to wear.

The trail run provided a great training opportunity for me, since we would be running along the same course as the North Face. I planned to meet up with my friends (the Honey Badgers) and we were going to tackle the trails together. I was excited and really looking forward to fun, the challenge and the training.

At at work meeting earlier in the week with Keira, a member of the PR Event & Marketing Team, she mentioned that we had over 200 RSVP's for the Trail Run with Saucony! Wow, 200 people plan to come and run the trail, this was going to be fun! With the amazing weather predictions, we were sure it be a hugely successful event.

As I woke and dressed early this morning I planned for a beautiful sunny day, but as in my usual manner, I took several additional layers "just in case" (I really hate being cold, so I almost always have an extra layer or two on hand!) Fortunately I had the extra layers, because, as is often the case in the DC area, the weathermen were a little off on their forecast. It was in the mid-40s, foggy and misty. As I drove to the park early to help Keira set up, I wondered how many people would choose to stay home snuggled in their warm beds. It didn't take long to get the answer to my question, within about 30 minutes over 130 people had assembled, braving the cold misty morning ready to run the trails. The runners ranged from first timers to well seasoned trail runners. After all of the shoes and vests were handed out, directions were given and we were set to go...

I worked with Keira checking in and greeting everyone, gave general instructions and had a great time seeing friends and meeting more member of our great running community. With so many registered we quickly realized we needed more donuts! As everyone put themselves into groups and set off along the trail, I decided to stay back and "man the fort" while Keira hurried out to buy more donuts for the hungry trail runners.

I was naturally a little disappointed at not being able head out along the trail, test the terrain, and run with my buddies. But I really enjoyed manning base camp and greeting the sweaty and muddy runners as they returned by offering them donuts, water and hot chocolate. The smiles on the faces of each runner as they returned made me smile and realize how much I love my job, being part of the =PR= Team and such an amazing community of people who just simply love to run. For over an hour I welcomed runners back (we asked that each runner check in and out, so we were sure not to lose anyone out on the trail), listened to their stories of mud, rocks, creeks, hills, fun (getting lost) and helped collect the jackets and muddy shoes! Thank you =PR=, Saucony and all of the runners who braved the weather. I will be out there next time, hitting the trails with you!