Virginia Creeper Trail Marathon

26.2 miles on dirt, gravel, and wood

By Brian Cary

May 6^th, 2023

26.2 miles on Dirt, Gravel, and Wood

My first training run on this course for this marathon took place in January, when there was fresh snow on the trestles. Three months later, it was time for the race.

I had been preparing diligently for my first marathon after taking a break from training for a few months. Treadmill, outdoors, 2x/day sometimes, cross-training, stretching, nutrition - all the things were done leading up to the race.

My goal was simply to train for AND finish the race without injury. I'm happy to say that both goals were met. I had nary an injury the entire training cycle, and was only lightly sore for a day and a half post-race.