We registered for Odyssey Trail Running Rampage Half Marathon today

John is going to run the half marathon and I will be running the 5 mile race. We have 11 weeks to train and have posted a copy of Runner's World 10 week half-marathon training program to the front of our refrigerator. A description of this race from their website:

Run along a series of trails that take runners through this beautifully scenic wooded hills and highlands of Virginia's Douthat State Park, set in the heart of the Allegheny Mountains in the western part of the state... with steep uphills and fast downhills as well as stretches that run along creeks and waterfalls, and take the field of runners along brief stretches through Rhododendron-covered tunnels that unfold along the trails inside the 4,493-acre park.

Douthat State Park is on the National Register of Historic Places because of the role it's design played in the development of parks nationwide. It is one of Virginia's original six parks and it opened on June 15, 1936. The establishment of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), during FDR's administration, provided the estimated 600 men who lived here and developed this park between 1933 and 1942. Since reservations for lodging in the park book up 6 months in advance, this year being no exception and the fact we made these plans at lunch today, we made reservations at a nearby B&B. We are staying at Firmstone Maanor in Longdale Furnace which is 13 miles from the park. We have never been to this town but drive past it when we go to Richmond. This picture below (c. 1890) is of the house from the front gates. The house was completed in 1873, a year before our home.

A little history from the B&B website:

Longdale Furnace played a significant role in the development of industry in the South, the Civil War, the development of the railroad and even shipbuilding.

Harry Firmstone This quiet mysterious bachelor who seemed to be more suited to creating magnificent gardens than running iron work changed Longdale from a tiny hamlet with a couple of hundred residents to a town of 5,000 in the late 1800's.

Shiploads of materials and furnishings were brought over from England to build Firmstone Manor. The mansion had 23 rooms, a carriage house, a greenhouse, gazebos, several cupolas, even a swimming pool. Flower and vegetable gardens were surrounded by acres of perfectly kept lawns. 163 varieties (of trees) were documented, 8 gardeners were employed and the mules used for cutting the lawn wore felt boots so not to leave marks on the lawns.

The front of the house.

An upstairs landing.

And this is the room I reserved for us called "The Firmstone". The furniture is original and supposedly was Harry's bedroom.