Nine on the ninth.

Non-Runner Nancy runs a series of virtual races that relate to miles and the day of the month. This month it was to run nine miles on the ninth of February. Last year's inaugural event was to do eight miles on the eighth of December. Or something close to that around then.

They're well attended because you can do them anywhere anytime. Nancy collates the results (check out her February 11th post for this month's race) and many people post funny accounts about their run. My favorite was the guy from last year's event who took over eight hours to do his eight miles because he went inside and hung out all day between halves. I think he was trying to top some list--how about the slowest. It's a hilarious post. Check out Nancy's December 10th results post.

A week ago Sunday, a day after my 12K race, I went nine and a half miles with a friend from work, down by Mt. Vernon along the Potomac. We ran south from Belle Haven Marina on the eight-foot bike trail, south of Alexandria, . It's a lovely run, going through marshlands before you get into forested switchbacks in the little hills down there.

I wanted to use the seven and a half miles at an 8:16 pace from the race on Saturday but it got too complicated to figure out the next day's add-on. On Sunday we did our first mile at about 8:15, but then slowed down so we could actually complete the projected distance of ten miles. The nine and a half mile run took 1:29:29 (9:23), counting a few breaks to stretch and not counting our half-mile cooldown walk back to the cars. (Above: The Potomac from the Mt. Vernon Trail south of Old Town.)

I didn't know where the nine-mile mark was since we started at the comfort station between mileposts and turned around between mileposts. Aw heck, this thing isn't competitive, it's fun. Although some fast guys are starting to flock to this race. Nine (actually 9.5) on the ninth (actually Sunday the tenth) was 1:29:29 (9:57) for us.

I think Nancy is onto something here. For a "non-runner," she knows obsessed runners pretty well. Thanks for putting it together!