Seven Spider Run regulars + 1 FNC (friendly new car) convened at the commons for the weekly hillfest known as Spider Run.  Route was a somewhat basic loop with various offshoots to add mileage.  Prescribed route was: – Head south to the entrance on River Road – Down the hill, through the parking lot and west towards the bridge – Take a right at the fork to stay on Westham Station – First offshoot was right on Panorama, up to River and back down – Second offshoot was supposed to be right on Highland, up to River and back down…

9 men arrived in the gloom to take in a morning run in only slightly damp and chilly whether… Route:  Progress out and back through a 5 roads leading from UR to Three Chopt (Robin, Iris, Tapoan, Ridgeway, Old Mill).  Mother-goose approach where leads circle back until last has reached the top (i.e. end of each road). YHC enjoys his hills and, despite residual pain from this past weekend’s trail run, he wanted to offer a sampling of the various ascents surrounding the campus.  Five out-and-back legs were chosen (or what was later dubbed “5 fingers”).  The entire PAX performed extremely well on…

6 intrepid gentlemen arrived at University of Richmond commons for a post-holiday run. Route (Splinter Special): Take university entrance, run through river road shopping center and head toward bridge. 4 milers:  traverse bridge and cloverleaf, then return.    5 milers:  head East, turn around at Rock Falls.  6 milers:  go past z-dam…to somewhere (or turn around at z-dam if you want a slightly shorter run – which is what we did). NMS:  Whether it was illness, copious amounts of food and spirits, or a trip to a resort in the Bahamas, it was clear the PAX was still shaking off the long holiday.   All mile options were covered…

4 gathered at UofR on a (very) frigid morning to take on various hills in and around the campus and surrounding neighborhood.  Total distance was between 5 and 6 miles – coupled by some obligatory merkins in the beginning and end. Moleskin: With TYA off running a 20 miler in the mountains with Lab Rat, Marv in the Bahamas, and other regulars among the missing, it was a fairly light crew but we made the best of it.  Since Swirly was elsewhere (No Toll), YHC took it upon himself to crank out some solo merkins – many of which were performed…

10 men posted on a beautiful fall morning.  Weather was 47 degrees and gloomy.  Perfect for a run The Thang: Mount Henrico redux.  Run the side of the lake and around the baseball field.  Left on the main road, right onto lakewood, right onto wood, left onto Baldwin, right onto Westham, left onto Baldwin, left onto Rock Creek, Left onto ridge, right onto university, right onto Glendale, left onto Julian.  Run to top of Julian at the intersection of Parham (highest point in Henrico county – according to Splinter), turn around and return using the same route.  6 milers take…

Nine runners +2 in high heels met at the commons for this week’s iteration of Spider run.  No one signed up for the Q so YHC took it and here is what went down: –  2 laps around the lake for warm up –  Meet back at the bottom of Gateway drive for hill repeats – Ryland Circle was home base.  Run 1 minute up Gateway at ~80%, remembering the point you stopped. –  Stop and recover back down the hill to Ryland in 1:45. –  Rinse and repeat a total of 6 times –  Easy stroll back around UR…

A lucky 13 showed up for a November 1 run.  Yes, It’s November already. Take the batcave exit to River Rd and cross the bridge.  Hop on Riverside Dr and head downstream.  4 milers turn around at Rattlesnake Creek, 5 milers a little further down the river, and 6 milers closer to Pony Pasture after the z dam. YHC took us out. NMS YHC came in hot to the AO on foot today with two minutes to spare.  Quite a few Pax out today and perhaps a new Spider Run record.  The Pax looked strong today en route. Riverside Drive…

Eight fearless sherpas gathered at base camp for a trek up Mount Henrico.  Started with the first few legs of the Fudd run and then modified.  Here is how it went: Depart west along the lake and around the baseball field Left on College Right on Wood Left on Baldwin, quick jog on Westham before continuing left on Baldwin Left on Rock Creek Left on Forest Right on University 4 milers do the Arlington circle loop and then return Right on the road that starts with a G.  Turns out it was Glendale Left on Julian to the top of…

Seven appeared in the moonlight for this week’s variation of Spider Run.  Straightforward out and back included: Meander through UR to River Left on River, cut through shopping center to Huguenot Cross the bridge (return for 4 miles) Turn right and head downstream Pass Rockfalls (return for 5 miles) Reach the ‘Z’ dam (return for just shy of 6 miles) Moleskin Great run today gentlemen.  Not quite as cool and refreshing as last week but still an enjoyable run.  Somehow we have never turned right when we got over the bridge, always preferring the left turn up Riverside to Cherokee.…

Yes I know it is cliché, but on this day in history (’75) Springsteen had his first pop hit with “Born to Run.” How fitting given the 7 devoted who showed up at UR for today’s Spider Run. Chosen route was the River Run (take TYA bat cave, cross the bridge, take Riverside Drive to Cherokee and then back). YHC was pleased to be back in groove of posting a weekday run. Whether due to the weekend trail run, or just a protracted recovery, YHC was a little stiff near the end of the run but enjoyed the cool weather and conversation nevertheless.…