Mountain Runs

New group member Eric Schwartz brings up the great mountain runs we used to do back in the late 70's.  He wonders if we can chronicle all of them.  So, what the hey, let's try!

Tracksters other than distance runners probably wonder just what the heck we are talking about.  Well, Coach Groves figured to keep us honest, he would tire us out on Saturdays and Sundays by making us run 15 to 18 miles in the mountains on days without meets.  We would meet at Rec Hall at 8:30 to 9:00 AM, wait for Gary Black to show up at 9:10 AM, and then pile into a van with no seats, a balky engine, and no ventilation.  No one brought water or anything other than the clothes (sometimes actually discarded during the run!) and shoes that they wore.  We would then drive to an undisclosed location worthy of Vice-President Cheney, park the van and place the keys on the driver side front-tire.  We would then run 18 miles while always pretending it was actually 15.  Hilarity, mayhem and occasionally training would occur.  Then we would all pile back into the fetid van and roll around in our own filth until dropped off back at Rec Hall, sometimes with fewer than had left in the morning.  We would then trudge back to the dorms where we would find out the dining halls were closed.  That sums it all up pretty well, am I missing anything?

Here are a few of the Mountain Runs I remember:

1. Colyer Lake- The one with the narrow stretch along 322 near the Eutaw House where  death was always an option.  The second most popular one. Also the best place to sprint into the lead at the beginning, duck into the woods and NOT run 18 miles.  (No names included!)
2. Bear Meadows/Switchbacks/Skimont- Probably the most common and one even recent team members recognize.  Also scene of a nasty parasite infection for me from drinking some spring water high above the switchbacks.  Stooooo pid, I know.
3. Harry's Valley Road- I was challenged on this one by the Blog Laureate himself.  I guess that one was dreamed up during my tenure there.  It had a desolate stretch near the end from a controlled burn.  Made it look like the "Nuclear Winter" that was all in the news at the time.  It also had a 1/4 mile stretch of pure moss to run on if you knew the cut-off just before the turn off Harry's Valley Road.  Heaven on earth.
4. Fillmore (or Fullmore?)  A one-time run out north of Route 80 way past the airport.  Not one I preferred.  Horrible coal plant or something half way through.

Am I missing any?