Checking Out Some Booty

AM: 65 mins. (9 miles)

I would've loved to meet up with the CRC group that was running long on the trails of Francis Beatty Park this morning, but unfortunately I was scheduled for work beginning at 9 so it just wasn't going to happen. Instead, I set out for a slow medium loop from home. The 24 Hours of Booty ride, a fundraiser with over 1500 participants, was in progress on the Booty Loop, and I wanted to check out the scene.


Riders taking off at the start of 24 Hours of Booty. Photo credit to the
Charlotte Observer.

I was about 20 minutes into the run--the first two miles of which I'd covered in a blistering 16 minutes--when I ran into AJ of CRC fame. I met him for the first time at an early morning Dowd run a few months ago and since then have seen him around town on occasion. He was just starting out a 16-miler and asked if he could tag along with me. I told him that I was running pretty slow, around 7:30-7:40 pace, to which he responded that he didn't plan to go any faster. I had my doubts. He is legendary for pushing the pace on easy runs, and I could tell by the way he'd rolled up on me that he was not taking it as easy as I would've liked. Sure enough, within the span of a few steps my "recovery" run pace dropped by nearly a minute and I found myself huffing and puffing up the Queens Road hill. Fortunately, things improved after a mile of my legs and lungs fighting the pace change, and for the rest of the run I thoroughly enjoyed the company and conversation. It was also fun to see all the cyclists and crew/spectators out supporting 24 Hours of Booty even at this early hour (and according to this followup article, they raised an astounding $1 million). Definitely made the standard loop a bit more entertaining.