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Saturday ‘Muddy Is As Muddy Does’ Trail Run

Hey Folks,

So, the MoCo trails are supposed to open at Noon today after being closed all week (DO NOT get me started on this!). Even though rain is gone I want to stay out of that jurisdiction this weekend. Sooooooo, we will hit some state trails which have been open all week! This weeks choice…drum roll, please… Lower Greenway North to infinity! We will park at the trail head on Seneca Road (right off River across the creek from Poole’s …Store where Jill has the Wednesday Evening Group meet). The Greenway is a state trail from there up to the North end of Seneca Creek State Park where it becomes part of the MoCo trail system (raise your hand if you knew that?). It will be muddy and it will be wet – in other words, perfect conditions! However, there will be a big round bright object in the sky. Don’t look directly at it. It is called the sun. Enjoy!

Details:

Location: Seneca Road Greenway Trail Head (plenty of parking along side of road)
Coords: 39°04’45.6″N 77°20’06.5″W
39.079338, -77.335128
Time: 0730
Course: Greenway North as far as you want to go.

Other Important Stuff:

*** Stone Millers! In agreement with Sir Barry Hauptman (Stone Mill Race Director extroadinaire) Muddy Shoes will be hosting and sponsoring the Stone Mill Course Preview Runs in the month of October leading up to the race. Over the span of four weekends we will hold preview runs on different sections of the course eventually covering every inch of it. Great way to learn what is coming at ya. Aid will be provided and donations will be accepted Also looking for volunteers to help pull these runs off (flagging, putting aid out, etc.) For more info and map check out the Stone Mill 50 website:

https://www.stone-mill-50-mile.org/course-training-runs/

Dates for the runs

Preview Run #1 – 13 October
Preview Run #2 – 20 October
Preview Run #3 – 27 October
Preview Run #4 – 3 November

All runs on Saturday, all start at 0730.

Locations will be posted.

*** Mark your calendars! The Muddy Shoes Phantastic Phall Phat Ass will be Sunday 11 November (Veterans Day!). There will be a Half Marathon and 10K option. Great after party too! This also is a great taper run for the Stone Mill 50 Miler the following weekend. Race Director Robin Sheperd puts on a great event.

*** Check out our Muddy Shoes merch! We got Hats ($15), Buffs ($10) and magnets/stickers ($1). They are going fast! Get yours from Robin (Hats), Phil (Hats, Buffs, Magnets/stickers) or Mike Chau (Buffs and magnets/stickers ($1). ). US Dollars only!

OK C U there!
Cheers,
Muddy ‘Muddy’ Shoes …thats redundant!

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Tuesday Night Light Run @ Redland M.S. (New Location!)

*Bring headlamp or handheld light*

Time to move to Winter quarters, Folks! We’ll also celebrate the end of summer (and good riddance to it!) after the run at the Outta the Way Cafe for a beer/burger. Join us!

So as the law has it we can’t be at Needwood after dark and it gets dark early now. Once again ,as the birds get ready to fly south and the leaves are getting ready to jump off the trees, we trail runners move to our Fall/Winter venue. Now, be aware…, this is also the start of one of the coolest kind of run you can do – at night, in the woods, in the dark… with a headlamp. I know most folks think it is nuts but, well, a lot about trail running is nuts. Thats why we do it! Night running is actually safer. Defies logic but 1) you naturally run slower and 2) your headlamp provides you with a cone of light that is easy to focus on. No visual distractions to throw you off. It is however, extremely exhilarating. Give it a try and you’ll be hooked.

Details:

Address: Redland Middle School 6505 Muncaster Mill Rd. Derwood, MD 20855
Coordinates: 39.140231, -77.130656
Time: 6:30 (6:15 for warmup)
Course: I’ll explain it when we get there!

Other Important Stuff:

*** This weekend we are having our 2nd Annual Phat Cat Run up in the Catoctins on Sunday. Please sign up if you plan on attending. Check out the link here: http://mymuddyshoes.org/calend…/1st-annual-phat-cat-run-923/

*** Stone Millers! In agreement with Sir Barry Hauptman (Stone Mill Race Director extroadinaire) Muddy Shoes will be hosting and sponsoring the Stone Mill Course Preview Runs in the month of October leading up to the race. Over the span of four weekends we will hold preview runs on different sections of the course eventually covering every inch of it. Great way to learn what is coming at ya. Aid will be provided and donations will be accepted Also looking for volunteers to help pull these runs off (flagging, putting aid out, etc.) For more info and map check out the Stone Mill 50 website:

https://www.stone-mill-50-mile.org/course-training-runs/

Dates for the runs

Preview Run #1 – 13 October
Preview Run #2 – 20 October
Preview Run #3 – 27 October
Preview Run #4 – 3 November

All runs on Saturday, all start at 0730.

Locations will be posted.

*** Mark your calendars! The Muddy Shoes Phantastic Phall Phat Ass will be Sunday 11 November (Veterans Day!). There will be a Half Marathon and 10K option. Great after party too! This also is a great taper run for the Stone Mill 50 Miler the following weekend. Race Director Robin Sheperd puts on a great event.

*** Check out our Muddy Shoes merch! We got Hats ($15), Buffs ($10) and magnets/stickers ($1). They are going fast! Get yours from Robin (Hats), Phil (Hats, Buffs, Magnets/stickers) or Mike Chau (Buffs and magnets/stickers ($1). ). US Dollars only!

OK C U there!
Cheers,
Muddy ‘Muddy’ Shoes …thats redundant!

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No Saturday Run – Trails Closed Cuz Mud – Other Options Below

Well, Muddy Shoozers, looks like MoCo trails are still still closed this weekend so we will not have an organized run. Sadness, I know, but as good trail stewards we have to abide by the Maryland National Parks and Planning Commission directives whether we agree with them or not. Many races and events have been cancelled already this weekend not just in our hood (MCRRC Needwood XC 10k) but in Virginia (VHTRC Women’s Half Marathon) as well. So we are not alone.

There are a couple of alternatives that you might want to consider so you can get your bad-ass out to slap yer stinkin’ doggies on some single-track.

1) Rick’s Run 5.22 Mile Trail Run and Ultra Challenge – Sunday 16 September 0830 – This is where I will be heading to get my miles in. It is held up in Boonsboro, MD at Greenbrier State Park. Several folks have done this before and I have heard good reports (Hot showers available afterwards!). It does cost some bucks to register on race day but all goes to a good cause. Print off attached parking pass. Check out the link here: https://www.rickstrailrun.com/

2) XTerra Fall Backyard Burn Series Race #1 @Pohick Bay, Sunday 16 September 0900 – As of this morning they are still good to go but will announce final decision later today. This has a 5 or 10 mile option and also cost $. Here is the link – https://www.ex2adventures.com/…/fall-…/fbyb-pohick-bay-park/

If anyone has info on either of these events to share or knows of other ‘sanctioned’ options for this weekend please add to post.

Other Important Stuff:

*** Location Change a comin’ for Tuesday Evening Runs:

Time to move to Winter quarters. I know we are still sweatin our butts off but night time falls upon us earlier and we can’t be in Needwood after the sun goes down which is earlier now a days. So we will be meeting up starting this week at Redland Middle School to hit the Redland Trails until Spring brings us light again. You WILL need a headlamp! Watch for announcement on Tuesday morning.

*** Stone Millers! In agreement with Sir Barry Hauptman (Stone Mill Race Director extroadinaire) Muddy Shoes will be hosting and sponsoring the Stone Mill Course Preview Runs in the month of October leading up to the race. Over the span of four weekends we will hold preview runs on different sections of the course eventually covering every inch of it. Great way to learn what is coming at ya. Aid will be provided and donations will be accepted Also looking for volunteers to help pull these runs off (flagging, putting aid out, etc.) For more info and map check out the Stone Mill 50 website:

https://www.stone-mill-50-mile.org/course-training-runs/

Dates for the runs

Preview Run #1 – 13 October
Preview Run #2 – 20 October
Preview Run #3 – 27 October
Preview Run #4 – 3 November

All runs on Saturday, all start at 0730.

Locations will be posted.

*** Mark your calendars! The Muddy Shoes Phantastic Phall Phat Ass will be Sunday 11 November (Veterans Day!). There will be a Half Marathon and 10K option. Great after party too! This also is a great taper run for the Stone Mill 50 Miler the following weekend. Race Director Robin Sheperd puts on a great event.

*** Check out our Muddy Shoes merch! We got Hats ($15), Buffs ($10) and magnets/stickers ($1). They are going fast! Get yours from Robin (Hats), Phil (Hats, Buffs, Magnets/stickers) or Mike Chau (Buffs and magnets/stickers ($1). ). US Dollars only!

OK C U there!
Cheers,
Muddy ‘Muddy’ Shoes …thats redundant!

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My thoughts on MNPPC county-wide, comprehensive natural surface trail closures.

(From Coach Phil)
As many of you are aware the MNPPC has issued a closure of all natural surface trails in Montgomery County until further notice. The blanket county-wide trail closures we are experiencing are a policy that I have personally only seen instituted this year, specifically, this summer. I have to believe, and I have nothing but a gut instinct here, that this is due to the exponential and expanding increase in trail use by mountain bikes (I know, here comes the darts).
I have no intent disparage the MB community because many trail runners participate in this activity as well and they have every right to use county resources. In addition the MB organizations do A LOT of volunteering and do a lot to maintain the trail system. In fact, many MB groups issue voluntary notices asking riders to keep off of muddy, wet trails because of the potential damage that bikes can cause. However, pound-per-pound it is hard to dispute that a human on a bike has a greater impact on a trail than a human on foot. If the county has concerns about ‘trail integrity’ as mentioned in their announcement, they should look at graduated closures (i.e. trails closed to certain set of users based on trail conditions) or closing certain compromised sections of trail rather than a comprehensive closure thus denying access to ALL users. There are just as many, if not more, trails that drain well and are not in low-lying, flood-prone areas as there are trails that do get rendered impassable by flooding or standing water. I observed trails last night that would have supported use by all groups (mountain bikes included) with little to no adverse impact.
The county, in their announcement, cites two reasons to keep people off natural surface trails after excessive rainfall: First is safety. This is baseless unless you close ALL parks and paved bike paths as well. There are no areas that pose more danger because it is natural surface vice paved due to excessive rainfall. One only had to look at the conditions of the Parks Half Marathon Course this past weekend to see that. I have never seen the Parks Dept. close an entire trail system for heavy snowfall, ice storms or excessive wind which pose more of a threat to personal safety than water.
Second, trail use can “adversely affect the integrity of the trails.” The MoCo trail community has been using the trail system for decades, in all conditions, with minimal impact (races being an exception) to the trails or runner safety from excessive rainfall. This has never before been a concern in the 20+ years I have been running on MoCo trails. For some reason it is now an issue. Our running groups are not large and there has never been any overt ‘damage ‘ to the integrity of the trails we run on and no one has ever had their safety compromised by using the trails.
In case you haven’t picked up on it yet this issue touches a nerve for me but this is my take on it. My opinion , not that of tne Muddy Shoes group. I would be interested to know the county’s reasoning behind their decision.
OK, I’m ready for the backlash.
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Tuesday Evening Trails @ Lake Needwood

Hey there, Folks! Well, even if it doesn’t rain today (and it might) Lake Needwood will be breaching its banks this evening. In fact, it already has in some places. We’ll probably have to do some bushwacking around some of the flood zones along Mudcat Trail and maybe by the boat houise but the rest should be OK…buy expect some good ol’ mud. Also, given that it gets dark earlier, this might be our final Needwood run before we move to our Winter Tuesday location. If its cloudy tonight, then you might want to bring a head lamp cuz you’ll be finishing in the dark. OK, keep an eye on the weather for this weekend. We’ll be running. There might be some race cancellations though.
Any here are the details and more information about upcoming stuff. Read on…
Location: 15679 Needwood Lake Cir, Derwood, MD
GPS Coordinates: 39.114637, -77.127564
Time: 6:30 (6:15 for warm-up)
Course: We will run around the lake counter-clockwise, hit the Blue Jay Loop, Beaver Tale Trail, down the West side of the lake to Adie’s Hill for repeats then back to the cars.
Stuff
*** Stone Millers! In agreement with Sir Barry Hauptman (Stone Mill Race Director extroadinaire) Muddy Shoes will be hosting and sponsoring the Stone Mill Course Preview Runs in the month of October leading up to the race. Over the span of four weekends we will hold preview runs on different sections of the course eventually covering every inch of it. Great way to learn what is coming at ya. Aid will be provided and donations will be accepted 🙂 Also looking for volunteers to help pull these runs off (flagging, putting aid out, etc.) For more info and map check out the Stone Mill 50 website:
https://www.stone-mill-50-mile.org/course-training-runs/
Dates for the runs
Preview Run #1 – 13 October
Preview Run #2 – 20 October
Preview Run #3 – 27 October
Preview Run #4 – 3 November
All runs on Saturday, all start at 0730.
Locations will be posted.
*** Mark your calendars! The Muddy Shoes Phantastic Phall Phat Ass will be Sunday 11 November (Veterans Day!). There will be a Half Marathon and 10K option. Great after party too! This also is a great taper run for the Stone Mill 50 Miler the following weekend. Race Director Robin Sheperd puts on a great event.
*** Check out our Muddy Shoes merch! We got Hats ($15), Buffs ($10) and magnets/stickers ($1). They are going fast! Get yours from Robin (Hats), Phil (Hats, Buffs, Magnets/stickers) or Mike Chau (Buffs and magnets/stickers ($1). ). US Dollars only!
OK C U there!
Cheers,
Muddy ‘Muddy’ Shoes …thats redundant!
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Paw-Paw Celebration Saturday Long Run

OK, Nutcakes, its Paw-Paw season! Ya’ll know what a Paw-Paw is dontcha? Also known as the Hillbilly Mango, its one of the best fruits you’ve never eaten. Check it out here is the link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asimina_triloba . So anyway, these suckers grow wild around here in these parts and they get ripe this time of year so we are going to do our long run in honor of these fruits and hopefully find some along the trail (psst, I know where there are some Paw-Paw trees along our run!) My question, however, is this: if your Dad gives you one of these fruits does that make it a Pa-Pa Paw-Paw? Or if you eat too many do you end up having a Paw-Paw Poo-Poo? Ba-Da-Boom! Sorry, that was bad…sigh…I’ll stop… Anyway, we got cooler temps for tomorrow, maybe a little precip but a LOT better than what we have been dealing with weather-wise. Fall race season is rapidly approaching so c’mon out and slap yer feet on some gorgeous MoCo single-track and maybe harvest a paw-paw or two. We’ll be doing an out’n’back course this week with some options to extend for longer mileage. From Riley’s Lock we’ll head up to the Seneca Bluffs Trail and take it up to Rt. 28, turn around and head back. Folks can go on up past 28 to Black Rock Mill to add some miles on or add on along the C&O Canal if they want. This is a gem of a trail. Great scenery. And, maybe, some Paw-Paws!
Details:
Location: 13015 Rileys Lock Rd, Poolesville, MD 20837
Coords: 39.069183, -77.339993
When: 0730 Saturday
Distance: 14 miles round trip (less or more if you want)
OK, here is some other really important stuff. Read on:
*** Stone Millers! In agreement with Sir Barry Hauptman (Stone Mill Race Director extroadinaire) Muddy Shoes will be hosting and sponsoring the Stone Mill Course Preview Runs in the month of October leading up to the race. Over the span of four weekends we will hold preview runs on different sections of the course eventually covering every inch of it. Great way to learn what is coming at ya. Aid will be provided and donations will be accepted 🙂 Also looking for volunteers to help pull these runs off (flagging, putting aid out, etc.) For more info check out the Stone Mill 50 website https://www.stone-mill-50-mile.org/course-training-runs/
Dates for the runs
Preview Run #1 – 13 October
Preview Run #2 – 20 October
Preview Run #3 – 27 October
Preview Run #4 – 3 November
All runs on Saturday, all start at 0730.
Locations will be posted.
*** Mark your calendars! The Muddy Shoes Phantastic Phall Phat Ass will be Sunday 11 November (Veterans Day!). There will be a Half Marathon and 10K option. Great after party too! This also is a great taper run for the Stone Mill 50 Miler the following weekend. Race Director Robin Sheperd puts on a great event.
*** Check out our Muddy Shoes merch! We got Hats ($15), Buffs ($10) and magnets/stickers ($1). They are going fast! Get yours from Robin (Hats), Phil (Hats, Buffs, Magnets/stickers) or Mike Chau (Buffs and magnets/stickers ($1). ). US Dollars only!
OK C U there!
Cheers,
Muddy ‘Paw-Paw’ Shoes
Posted on

Tuesday Bikram Trail Run @ Needwood

Ya’ll heard of that hot bikram yoga they do? Well, tonight will be the trail running version of that. But, there will be no yoga mats, no Lululemon yoga pants, no down dog or sleeping lotus flower poses ( I made that lotus flower one up!) and no Namaste! Just dirt, roots and rocks. What more do you need? Well, OK we need cooler temps but they are on the way! In the meantime, we’ll be out there clicking off the miles. Now, on the serious side, this type of weather is not to be messed with. Everyone should dial it back a little this evening, hydrate all day and maybe do a little less than you normally would. Just sayin’!
In the meantime, details, details:
Location: 15679 Needwood Lake Cir, Derwood, MD
GPS Coordinates: 39.114637, -77.127564
Time: 6:30 (6:15 for warm-up)
Course: We will run around the lake clockwise, hit the Troll Trail , Blue Jay Loop (optional)l, down the East side of the lake, hill repeats on Potty Hill (also optional) See how you feel.
Stuff
*** Stone Millers! In agreement with Sir Barry Hauptman (Stone Mill Race Director extroadinaire) Muddy Shoes will be hosting and sponsoring the Stone Mill Course Preview Runs in the month of October leading up to the race. Over the span of four weekends we will hold preview runs on different sections of the course eventually covering every inch of it. Great way to learn what is coming at ya. Aid will be provided and donations will be accepted 🙂 Also looking for volunteers to help pull these runs off (flagging, putting aid out, etc.) For more info check out the Stone Mill 50 website https://www.stone-mill-50-mile.org/course-training-runs/
Dates for the runs
Preview Run #1 – 13 October
Preview Run #2 – 20 October
Preview Run #3 – 27 October
Preview Run #4 – 3 November
All runs on Saturday, all start at 0730.
Locations will be posted.
*** Mark your calendars! The Muddy Shoes Phantastic Phall Phat Ass will be Sunday 11 November (Veterans Day!). There will be a Half Marathon and 10K option. Great after party too! This also is a great taper run for the Stone Mill 50 Miler the following weekend. Race Director Robin Sheperd puts on a great event.
*** Check out our Muddy Shoes merch! We got Hats ($15), Buffs ($10) and magnets/stickers ($1). They are going fast! Get yours from Robin (Hats), Phil (Hats, Buffs, Magnets/stickers) or Mike Chau (Buffs and magnets/stickers ($1). ). US Dollars only!
OK C U there!
Cheers,
Muddy ‘Sweaty’ Shoes