2013 PHUNT 50K, Fair Hill, MD
This low-key trail race takes place early every January in the northeast corner of Maryland, just miles from the border with Delaware and Pennsylvania. It meant an early start and a 1 and 1/2 hour drive from Silver Spring. Not so bad. Since the race begins at a leisurely 9AM, I had time to eat and digest a good breakfast, get a quick shot up an unusually empty 95 North, and enjoy the sunrise while crossing the Susquehanna. I was one of the first to arrive. I dropped off my canned goods for the food drive, handed over my contribution for the aid tables, and did a little early exploring of the trails. Elkton and Fair Hill NMRA sit at the head of the upper eastern shore of the Chesapeake, but the terrain in this area is not part of the flat sandy coastal plains area of Maryland. The twisty, hilly, stream-crossed forests and fields of Fair Hill NMRA are part of the same Piedmont Plateau region that includes the trails in my own backyard--Seneca Creek, ...