As we get older, we seem to cram more and more of these runs into every year, rather than less.   I’m not sure if that’s because we feel youthful and full of energy, or because the sand in the hourglass is mostly in the bottom half.   Either way, our Harpers Ferry race ended up being scheduled just a short six weeks after Chi Town.   Despite some rather daunting weather reports, we were excited about our chosen location and the fact that all 5 sisters were on board for this one.

Those of you who read my blog could probably write it for me as we have become rather predictable.   10 days prior we start following multiple weather forecasts in an attempt to predict race day conditions.  Early indications were for a warm, wet weekend, but nothing particularly unusual for West Virginia in May.  However, by Wednesday the sites were full of flood warnings, 100% chance of thunderstorms, and cool weather.   Wherever we travel, we seem to experience an unusually high percentage of unusual and “rare” weather conditions, so we’ve learned to roll with it.  We packed clothes for rain, boarded our planes on Thursday morning, and hoped for the best.

Linda, Colleen, Kathy and I met Melodie at the Baltimore airport Thursday afternoon, jumped on the shuttle bus, and headed to BWI’s rental center to pick up our van.  Alamo’s customer service clerk tried to upsell us on every feature imaginable, including changing to a large Tahoe suited for driving through a foot of water.   Between that and a report from our Airbnb host that the 340 bridge could possibly close because of high waters and falling rocks, we started our drive not entirely sure of what we were going to encounter.

As expected, the rain was coming down in sheets as we hit the open road, and traffic made our first miles very slow.   Our first views of the Shenandoah River were rather impressive.    The river was high, muddy, full of debris and running swiftly.    This shot taken from a driving car does not really do it justice.

Fortunately, we did not run into any bridge closures and reached our Airbnb in Harpers Ferry without mishap.  The 1862 Inn, as it had been dubbed by our hosts, was a delightful old 4-story brick home, recently remodeled to include some necessary creature comforts, but retaining much of its original Civil War era personality.

The views from the sunroom and back porch were lovely.   We had landed in a little spot of heaven.

As we unpacked and settled into our rooms, I made an unfortunate discovery.   We were not the only inhabitants of this house.   When I opened the blind in my room, multiple little creatures fell out.   They were quite dead so I decided to bravely ignore them and go about my business, but when I opened the armoire drawers and found their live friends, I wasn’t so nonchalant.   On race day, once we turned on the heaters to warm up, these little fellows started coming out of the woodwork in droves.  Despite our initial desire not to be exterminators, we decided something had to be done.   Armed with a broom, Colleen, our brave and fearless sister, chased most of them out of windows and doors, and smashed those who were less fortunate.   We did a little research and discovered they were a type of stink bug native to this area.   Mostly harmless, but neither attractive nor acceptable as roommates.

On our first evening in town, we chose a small Greek restaurant for dinner.   The eating establishment was small and the service very slow, but we enjoyed the chance to experience the local cuisine.   We were also treated to a little live music for the evening.  The musician was engaging even if the music did not fall into the same category.

Predictions were for two to five inches of rain on Friday, but we had some serious sight seeing to do and were not going to allow the weather to deter us.   After breakfast and a little bit of computer time, we headed to the local Walmart and purchased umbrellas.    We may not be Mary Poppins, but this crew can find a way to laugh at anything.

Harpers Ferry is a historic town situated at the confluence of the Potomac and Shenandoah rivers where the states of Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia meet.   The town’s original, lower section is on a flood plain created by the two rivers and surrounded by higher ground.   There are known to be at least 82 floods in Harpers Ferry between 1748 and 2011.  During the four years of the Civil War alone, there were 20 floods.   Four times the floods were significant enough that they ended up destroying the industrial, manufacturing, and commercial basis of the town.   The flood of 1936 caused the absolute end of the town until the 1960’s when the National Park Service came in and began to rebuild Lower Town and create Harpers Ferry National Historical Park.  At the time of our visit, the footbridge over the Potomac River (pictured below), connecting Lower Town Harpers Ferry to Maryland was closed due to high water and potentially hazardous conditions on the other side.

Umbrellas in hand, we took the shuttle bus down to Lower Town Harpers Ferry and spent hours visiting museums and exhibits, watching slide shows, and immersing ourselves in the rich history of the area.  History truly comes alive when visiting a place like this.

The original fort held by John Brown and his followers during the 1859 raid on the Armory. The fort has been moved four times.

Firearms factory

Dry goods store

Boarding House

Boarding House

St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church

It is impossible to capture the significant and essence of a place like Harpers Ferry in words, but this paragraph borrowed from the NPS makes a noble attempt.

“Here at Harpers Ferry, where the Potomac River cuts through the Blue Ridge, you encounter the past and its stories in magnificent expanses and hidden quarters.   In the force of these rushing waters, George Washington envisioned military strength and chose Harpers Ferry as the site for the second U.S. Armory.   Factories from the early 1800’s witnessed innovations that fueled the Industrial Revolution.   Here abolitionist John Brown struck a blow against slavery, and soon the Civil War trapped the town between North and South.  In the wake of war’s devastation, legendary Civil Rights leaders met at Storer College and claimed “every single right that belongs to a freeborn American”.

We found a fun spot to take a break from the rain and our history lesson and grab a bite to eat.

And we found a historical candy shop!   Candy organized by time period back to the 1500’s!   We all found a favorite and indulged a little.

Next on our agenda was the self-guided battlefield driving tour.  The rain, accompanied by strong winds, was really beginning to come down in earnest by mid-afternoon but we were pretty determined to take it all in.

First stop was Bolivar Heights, site of 5 Civil War engagements.   Linda and Colleen opted to stay dry and view from the car, but some of us decided to put our Walmart specials to use and braved the elements.

The tour also included Lower Bolivar Heights and Schoolhouse Ridge North and South, all sites of the famous 1862 Battle of Harpers Ferry where Stonewall Jackson forced the most significant surrender of Union troops during the Civil War.  We did get out of the car one more time, but at that point, we were starting to think about getting dry and warm.

Our Walmart specials had some challenges, as evidenced in this picture of Linda attempting to stay dry.

Next stop was Clarion Inn where we picked up our race packets and switched gears from history to running.   During the day, we had received an email from the race director informing us that the route had been changed because of high waters and excessive mud.   We already knew this would be a “smell the roses” run because of the elevation gain and challenging surfaces, but with mud on top of that, we were prepared to do a lot of walking.

Dinner that night was at an Italian pizzeria.   Again, the food was good, but the service was painfully slow.   We decided that the pace of life in West Virginia was just different than what we were accustomed to.   No one was in a hurry.

Our Airbnb was literally a stone’s throw from the race start, so race morning was relaxed.   We fussed a bit about what to wear, but in the end, decided everything was going to get wet anyway so kept it simple.  Melodie and I were doing the half marathon which started earlier, so we left our three sisters and headed down the road in the mud and the rain.

Trying to stay dry

Race Start

And we were off.   Conditions provided us with ample opportunity to take pictures and embrace the experience.    The route was spectacularly beautiful and made the endless hills and mud much more endurable.

The first two miles were through a grassy battlefield. The mud was epic.

The Point.

My awesome running buddy. We stayed together the whole time and kept each other going.

We found a fellow runner who was willing to stop and take pictures mid-run.

This section of the course was straight up a steep, muddy dirt trail.  It was so slippery I was grabbing on to anything I could find to stay upright.

Taking a short break at the mid-way point.

The gorgeous scenery never ended.

Mile 12 after running straight up a steep hill for over a mile.   1,332 ft of elevation gain is not for the faint of heart.   And this gal is not faint-hearted.

Another spectacular view

We finished. Muddy, exhausted and exhilarated.  It was both the most beautiful and the most challenging half marathon we’ve ever done.

The finish line

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, our three sisters ran the 5K and headed back to the house to get dry and warm.   Unfortunately, none of them remembered to take pictures, so all we can do is talk about it, and we are pretty good at that.   They weren’t willing to recreate the muddy look, but we did grab a photo of the three of them the next day at the finish line location.

5K Course

The 5K’ers

We spent the rest of the afternoon hot tubbing and watching Justify win the Preakness.  I have a new appreciation of what those horses and jockeys put up with to race in wet, sloppy conditions.

Rather than visit another slow service restaurant, we decided to visit the grocery store instead.   We took a short drive in route to the store and got a front row seat to local flooding conditions.  The road was drivable, but just barely.

Travel day dawned hot, dry and humid.  Hard to believe it was the same place.   We packed our bags, took care of our Airbnb checklist, and headed out to do a little more sight-seeing before making the trek to the airport.   We realized we had no photos of the five of us, so using Colleen’s selfie stick, we tortured ourselves for a bit.   What a crew!  Best friends and traveling companions ever.

Our attempt at a group selfie without the selfie stick wasn’t quite as successful.

We spent our last couple of hours in Harpers Ferry exploring outside as the rain had made this very difficult on Friday.   We quickly realized that the cool, rainy weather on race day had been a blessing.   Running with temps in the 80’s and the humidity at 99% would have been far more difficult.

The original location of the John Brown fort.

Melodie, Kathy and I took a short hike up to St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church and Jefferson Rock.    It was very hot by mid-morning, but the sheer majesty and beauty of the area made it worth the climb.

Private home. Harper’s Ferry still has 286 residents.

St Peter’s Roman Catholic Church

Looking down at the town from Jefferson Rock

Jefferson Rock

Views from Jefferson Rock

Potomac River

The traffic was much lighter traveling back to the airport, so we made good time.    However, we somehow managed to take a wrong turn after getting gas which added an extra 20 minutes.  Kathy and Melodie dropped Linda, Colleen and I off at the airport first and then headed out to drop the van off at the BWI rental car center.   Unfortunately, an accident caused a road closure and for a while, they did not think they were going to get back to the airport in time.   Thankfully, the road opened at the last minute and they made it with only minutes to spare.   I ended up sitting by a fellow passenger on the flight home who had indulged too heavily at the airport sports bar.   It made my flight home rather eventful and not particularly pleasant.   However, travel complications are part of the story and we all made it home, safe and sound.   State #30 was in the books.

All our trips are special, and this one certainly earned that tag.   Despite bugs, rain, mud, floods, challenging race courses and travel complications, it was a trip for the memory books.  We have so much fun together and the bonus on this trip is that we learned a lot.  Can’t wait for the next one!

Next up, Spearfish, South Dakota.