All runners have their favorite races; the ones they have done many times in the past, ones with an interesting course, or maybe ones with nice awards.

We did the Railroad Grade 5K in Todd, NC last year and remembered the nice stoneware ceramic mugs that we received for our efforts.

After spending two summers in the area, we have come to know quite a few of the local runners and they were sure to be at this run.

Also, Frieda wanted to put her mountain training to the test so it was off to the races once more.

The course, which is out-and-back, begins in the village of Todd and travels a country road along the banks of the New River. It is slightly downhill to the turnaround and then (as you might guess) is slightly uphill to the finish. As you can see, there was plenty of running room on the course.

Frieda and our friend, Leon Lewis (with no shirt), paced each other for much of the race. Leon is one of those senior runners who will race every weekend if he can find a 5K event within a reasonable distance.

Apparently, Leon's male chauvenist instincts kicked in and he surged ahead of Frieda approaching the finish.

The race organizers put out a very nice assortment of fruit, cookies, drinks, and even Subway Sandwiches for the runners to munch on while waiting for the results to be announced. Frieda's time was 22:19 which won her age-group. In the overall standings, she was 25th out of 120 finishers.

For this effort she received one of the beautiful hand made stoneware mugs by Doe Ridge Pottery bearing the race logo.

Norm asked Frieda if he could have the mug but she told him, "Why should you get an award when you did nothing to earn it."

Norm remained silent all the way back to Boone :-(

We hope all of you down there in Florida have good races in the coming weeks and we look forward to running with you soon.