Author Archives: Kevin Heckman

Seamus O’Possum 30k

LINKS

Race Website
UltraSignup Results

SUMMARY

This morning, I had a great opportunity to ease into my 2014 race schedule with a shorter trail race at Delaware State Park, the Seamus (SHAY-mus) O’Possum 30k (18.6 miles). I found the inaugural event on UltraSignup, which is pretty much the most expensive website I can spend time on. (I am going to get on that trail, even if it is 7 states away!) I want to run all these races. Anyway, the hilarious FAQ page alone was enough to get me to sign up for the race.

With an 8:30 am start time and an hour and a quarter drive from home, it was no surprise that I was still waiting in the bathroom line 9 minutes before the scheduled start. I checked in at the start line just before 7:45, and there didn’t seem to be a lot of urgency on the staff’s part. Didn’t they know I really needed to get to the restroom before the race started? Unfortunately, there was a single stall in the only men’s restroom near the start line. This race wasn’t starting things off on the right foot, for me. After listening to the last like 35 seconds of race instructions (I missed all of the important stuff while at my car getting stripped down to race clothes), the race director told us to turn around and start. No gun. No “ready.” No “set.” Very informal. And people were everywhere. I wasn’t sure this was all real until half way up the road to the top of the dam wall.

After running up the hill to the top of the dam, I wasn’t real impressed. There were like what, 100 people in this race? And I was in the top 5 already? It wasn’t looking real promising for having people to run with for the rest of the race. The first mile, I was really questioning why I had actually paid money for this. Not for port-a-potty rentals, that was clear. Three of us broke away from the pack during that first mile atop the dam wall. Clearly, none of us were in overlapping age groups. One kid looked like he was training for high school track and the other guy was clearly at least 10 years older than me.

The second mile finally had us dropping off the dam wall and in to some real trails. See the course map for elevation and details. And the trails quickly got narrow, winding and muddy. Now this race was looking promising.

Things got a little muddy out there.

Things got a little muddy out there.

There were streams in the woods with steep muddy sides and a long muddy section along the beach. Then a path through the disc golf course and up and down more creek beds near the reservoir. Eventually, there were only two of us, trading the lead at several points when one of us hesitated to find the next course marker (it was very well marked, but the rising sun made it difficult to see the markers heading east) or stopped at an aid station.

I had the lead (by ~2 feet) at the 9.3 mile turn-around, but Jay (I learned his name after the race) dropped the hammer and pulled away along the next mile and after 4 miles, was completely out of sight. The out-and-back nature of the course meant the trail was extremely torn up and slippery on the way back after all ~100 competitors had run through once. Some of the hills were extremely tricky to navigate up, but I knew I had a comfortable lead and barring disaster ahead of me, I wasn’t on pace to catch 1st place even if he slowed his pace dramatically over the last few miles.

I ran the majority of the way back without anyone accompanying me, but with a lot of friendly racers going the opposite direction and offering encouragement. I raced against the clock on the way back and was a little surprised when I finished just under 7:00/mile pace. Under the conditions, I felt really good about that.

I got a sweet finishers glass and hat and an awesome trophy for second place.

I had to put something in it to contrast the green logo. Also, I was thirsty.

I had to put something in it to contrast the green logo. Also, I was thirsty.

 

"a unique finisher’s award."

“a unique finisher’s award.”

That is right, the trophy has a karate man on top. It kind of stands out among my trophies. Fun day, great weather, awesome race!

Post-race with my fancy trophy. The finish line banner was not cooperative.

Post-race with my fancy trophy. The finish line banner was not cooperative.

New Signs!

My alley got a big update this week with the replacement of the one way sign in my backyard and the addition of this fancy new one way sign on Main St. The neighborhood is looking pretty nice lately.

Flowers

I came home last weekend to find my lillies starting to bloom in the middle of the night.

And the rest of my flowers as of today.

 Here is the state of the rest of my garden as well:

Little cucumbers:

And sweet corn:

And finally my green beans that are almost ready:

Comments are welcome.

Rad(ish)

I have the first fruits vegetables of my labor in the garden this year.  It has been a month since I started planting my garden and my radishes turned out pretty well.  Here is my first harvest:

Before:

After:

For size comparison, here they are next to a milk cap in my sink:

An overview of my garden as of the 22nd (after a light rain):

A look at some of my cucumbers:

And finally my green beans and sweet corn:

The end.

Garden!

I started a garden in my backyard a little over a month ago.  It is right next to my garage, and probably too close to my only tree, so not ideal growing conditions, but I think it is going to be OK.

It is roughly 2m x 2m.  (I also got rid of that dandelion in the above picture.)

I have baby radishes:

I think a rabbit snacked on my little corn plants:

And the following pictures were taken a week later.

A row of radishes:

My tomatoes finally came up:

And my corn started to grow:

And then one week after that:

My  cucumbers came up:

And my radishes matured:

The tomatoes did not make as much progress however:

But the sweet corn is looking better:

And my green beans came up:

The red beets got a late start, but are looking good:

That is all for now.  I will continue to update my blog as my (attempt at a) garden progresses.  Also, I need to thank my parents for donating some of the seeds for my little backyard project.  Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

GCKZDA

Well, I can’t go a whole year without posting or no one will ever visit my blog again. I decided to get out of the house Saturday and nothing sounded more exciting than a mystery cache, so I drove down towards Lima to Ford Reservoir.


I got headed off on the wrong trail at first, and realized it immediately, but decided to see how far and where the trail went. It followed the nearby railroad and passed behind some houses and some ponds.


After I had gone about a half mile down the trail, I decided I had better head back and find the cache before I ran out of daylight. I got back and found this ammo box much closer to where I had parked than what I expected. It was right where I expected it, so I must have solved the mystery correct. If you are interested, this is a really good cache, I would highly recommend it.


I left a 3rd place trophy from a 10 mile race in Lima, and not a trophy that I had won myself, but obtaining the trophy is another story entirely. It just fit in the ammo box, so somebody will have to take it out if they want to put anything large in there.

Twin Caves and Gus


We took a tour of some water-filled caves this morning and then this afternoon we visited the Gus Grissom Memorial.  After that we headed to the nature center in the park.  After a short swim in the pool, we enjoyed a big dinner to wind down the day.

Spring Mill Village


After making people out of the remains of our breakfast, we hiked around on the trails for quite a while today both before lunch and after. Both times we made it to the Spring Mill Village where there is a working grist mill.