Many years ago as a fledgling HR Manager at Brooks Sports, my running colleagues told me that if ever I decided to travel and run, the Charlottesville Half Marathon belonged at the top of my list.   So here I am, 18 years later, heading to Charlottesville, Virginia with my favorite traveling companions, my four sisters.   Anticipation is sweet, even though it requires getting up in the wee hours, crossing three time zones, and a long day of air and car travel.

Linda, Colleen, Kathy and I headed to the Phoenix Airport bright and early on Thursday morning.   The master travel plan was to connect with Melodie at the Baltimore Airport, pick up our rental car, and drive into Charlottesville, VA, a 150 mile drive.

We met Melodie on schedule, picked up our rental car and hit the road at about 4:30 pm, prime time for lots of other people to be sharing the road with us.    We realized quickly that this 150 miles was going to take a while to traverse, so we stopped off at a local Mimi’s Café for a very late lunch.   The homemade muffins that accompanied our salad were so large that we figured this lunch would last us for a while.

It took us two hours to go the first 60 miles, but the company was great, so we didn’t mind too much.   We stopped at a rest area in Fredericksburg, VA and snapped our first pictures in Virginia.   We’d never seen a rest stop like this.   It resembled a fancy hotel.

We finally arrived at the Hilton Garden Inn in Charlottesville, VA at 10:00 that night, a crew of travel weary senior citizens, but still smiling and ready for our weekend of adventure.     We had discovered early on that our rental car had an unfortunate smell of stale tobacco, so we rolled down the windows to try and air things out during the night.

We awoke the next morning to the sound of thunder and pouring rain.   We had missed the hotel breakfast as we were still adjusting to the 3 hr time change, so we decided to drive to a local café.    As we ran across the parking lot in the downpour, we remembered in dismay that we had left the windows down.    The driving wind and rain had turned our smelly rental car into a very wet and smelly rental car.   Melodie and Colleen ran into the hotel and collected towels and plastic bags to try and remedy the situation as best we could.    We were able to get most of the seats dry enough to sit on with the exception of Colleen’s.   Her seat was so wet that her clothes got soaked even through the towels and plastic bags.    As she got out of the car at the café with a plastic bag sticking to her very wet jeans, we burst into gales of laughter.   It was a picture for the ages.   Colleen was a good sport and allowed us to be entertained at her expense.    Her seat never really did get dry until the very last day.

Our goal for the day was to take a few hours and absorb some of the area’s rich history.   Charlottesville is home to three of our founding fathers – Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and James Monroe.   Albemarle County is steeped in history, not just in museums, but in the very fabric of the community.   Everywhere you go, from the University of Virginia, to the local restaurants, hotels, etc., there is evidence of the roots of our national heritage.  We elected to tour Monticello, the famous home/plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence and our third president.   Monticello is widely known as Jefferson’s autobiographical masterpiece – designed and redesigned and built and rebuilt for more than 40 years.  His gardens were a botanical showpiece, a source of food, and an experimental laboratory of ornamental and useful plants from around the world.   The original plantation covered over 5,000 acres and housed over 200 people including family and workers, both enslaved and free.

We were fortunate in that the weather turned beautiful as we arrived at the plantation.  We spent the first hour exploring the grounds on our own.   The grounds have been preserved, as much as possible, to replicate the way Jefferson designed them.    Some of the trees are actually originals.

The large tree pictured here is a White Linden and is presumed to be over 200 years old.

Underneath the house was the area called the “dependencies”, where the kitchen, wine cellar, ice house, carriage house, etc. was located.   There is a tunnel that goes all the way under the house and allows for access from the other side without going through the main house.

Pictured here are the gardens behind Mulberry Row, where the slaves lived and worked.   Many of the Jefferson slaves were craftsmen and developed skills other than agriculture.

Pictures are not allowed in the main house as many of the exhibits are on loan by private owners rather than the foundation.    Restoration efforts are ongoing to preserve and restore the house to its former state.  The entire experience was educational, humbling and inspiring.   It is easy to forget in today’s political world how blessed we are to have been born in a country founded by impassioned, intelligent men who had a dream, and changed the course of history by their determination to create a government where all men are entitled to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Here’s 4/5 of the crew waiting to board the bus back to the visitor center.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent in picking up our race packets and checking out the area for the race start.    We carb loaded at Bella’s, a local Italian restaurant, and then headed back to the hotel for a session in the hot tub and an early night.   Race mornings start early.

We crawled out of bed the next morning at 5:30 am Eastern Daylight Time, which translates to 2:30 am at home!  We pulled on our race togs, gulped down our race breakfast of coffee, cereal, and banana and headed down to the Historic Court Square for the race start.   This was a relatively small race, 1,200 participants total, so the crowds were relatively manageable.   Porta-potty lines were long, however, so we entertained ourselves by taking pictures.

And once again, we were off.     The course took us through the historic downtown area of Charlottesville, past the picturesque campus of University of Virginia, and then out to the Rivanna River Trail path.    It was described as a hilly run, and we certainly found that to be true.   Everything was either up or down for a total gain of 1,300 ft. over 13.45 miles.   The 8K’ers had much the same terrain, just a little shorter.    The weather, however, put its’ best foot forward and the temperature was perfect for running.  Everyone finished in great spirits, no injuries, and as always, the best feeling of all is crossing that finish line and realizing you are done.

Post-race pictures are always fun, particularly when you have a clown in the crew.

The 8Ker’s.

The Halfers.    Where would we be without our trusty Garmins to give us the data?

One fun thing about this race was that all 5 of us placed in our age groups and received certificates and a wine glass.   It made for a fun photo.

We headed back to our hotel and spent the afternoon relaxing, hot-tubbing, walking around the beautiful grounds of the Hilton Garden Inn, and just enjoying being together.   No matter how many times we do these states run, every time is a little different, but just as enjoyable, and contains precious, specific memories to treasure.   How fortunate we are!

Next up, Woodstock, Vermont!