You know the back story, you have been living it. In order to slow the spread of coronavirus, to flatten the curve, we must maintain social distance. Yet here is the conundrum; when facing a challenge we always do better when we have a community to help us.

Running maybe is only a small part of your life when measured in hours each week, and your running club even a smaller part. But running is what keeps many of us sane and releases stress. It is the happy moments of the day. And when I run with teammates is when I laugh.

Running has always been an odd combination of being together and being apart. Most of our miles are run alone, yet we run our hardest and best miles together. In normal times it is your running partner who talks you into the extra mile, or pushes the pace when you’re feeling lazy. But now?

The “Lone Runner Challenge” is an attempt to fill this gap. It gives you a reason to get outside and trot a few miles. And it gives you a reason to tell the rest of us about your adventures.

WHAT IS IT?

The Lone Runner Challenge is a series of challenges that Alex Hall and I will be posting each week. The Challenges are designed to be achievable by runners of all levels. We have sketched out a number future challenges and I find they fall into three categories.

• Exploration runs. For example the first week’s challenge was to run a road rarely trod upon according to the Strava Heat Map. In the future we will have you looking for hills, or trails or Class IV roads you have always meant to run but haven’t.
• Hard Work. Some challenges will be hard. Last week’s hill running comes to mind here. In the future we are going to have long runs with negative splits, and short runs with lots of loops. But in all these cases the hills are not Everest, rather the hills and the paces need only challenge you.
• Funny and Goofy Challenges. Muddy season is upon us and I am sure we can make some sort of splash with that!

HOW DOES IT WORK?

We will send out an email every Thursday with a challenge. So far most people have used Friday to figure out what they will do and then actually run the challenge over the weekend.

We also post the challenge on the UVRC Strava page: https://www.strava.com/clubs/upper-valley-running-club and then look under the “post” tab. There you will find the challenges posted and people are encouraged to tell us about their run under the “comment”. (Comments can be added by clicking on the button with the squarish speaking-bubble).

In a Strava account a run, or a bike ride or a hike or whatever is called an “activity”. When I finish a challenge I’ll add comments and photos to that activity. It is easy to post an activity to FaceBook. You can also go to the challenge’s posting and add a comments which includes a link to your activity (I have not figured how to do this smoothly, so I copy the URL of the activity’s page and paste it in my comment.)

And then we can comment on your comments, and so on . . .

SOME FAQ’s

WHAT IF I DON’T HAVE A STRAVA ACCOUNT?

The Basic Strava account is free, and simple. But if you don’t want to deal with that, you can still do the challenge, and then share any way you want. You can describe it on FaceBook, send long emails to your friends, or write it on parchment, stuff it in a bottle and float it down the Connecticut River to your friends in the flatlands.

But the important thing is to do the run and then share it with the rest of us.

MY RUNS ARE NOT “WORTHY” OF POSTING

Who says!? You are out there working up a bit of honest sweat while family and neighbors are watching re-runs of “I Love Lucy”. You’re a hero! You ran the hill, those miles, that trail. You’re the first one to notice that the fiddleheads are pushing their way up through the duff on the forest floor. You’re the one who was chased by a dog, so when you tell us it was half-wolf, we will never know that it was also three-quarters-chihuahua.

Some of the simplest runs are blessed with the best stories.

MY SISTER-IN-LAW IS NOT IN THE CLUB (NOT EVEN IN THE UPPER VALLEY), CAN SHE PARTICIPATE?

She wouldn’t get our Thursday emails, but you most certainly can share the challenges. I would love to see how other people solve these challenges. And she can even post photos of those hills in Florida – if she can find one.

I SEE THAT I MISSED A GREAT CHALLENGE, CAN I STILL DO IT?

To most people I would say no. The prizes are too vast and the competition is too stiff. But for you I will make an exception. Yes, feel free to try some of the past challenges. However, most eyes will be focused on the most recent ones.

SO FAR

The first challenge was the “Road Less Run” (#LRC1 #RoadLessRun). I didn’t know that Chapel Hill and Turnpike, in eastern Norwich connected (thanks Andrew). Sara tells us that both ends of Bliss Rd in Quechee are not connected – which apparently makes it even better. And donkeys are blocking Alex’s exploration of Bradford. But for the most distant posting Paul tells us about Bearclaw Poppy Trail, near St. Georges in Utah.

The second challenge was the “Great Hill” (#LRC2 #GreatHillRun). Even before the ink was dry on the announcement Laura had posted a Beaver Meadow/Bragg Hill run. I have heard that the Bragg Hill section is sometimes referred to as the “Sound of Music Run”, and Laura confirmed that Maria von Trapp/Julie Andrews was still singing in the meadows. Geoff and Nancy were also alive in the hills of Norwich. Alex elevated himself over a thousand feet in Thetford. Rob logged a UVRC classic, climbing Sunset Rock. I labored up King Hill in Etna, only to find two other UVRC runners doing it the same weekend, only faster and better. And Pam found a loop around Eastman Lake which looks more like a roller coaster than a run. But perhaps best of all, Sara ran up the Dartmouth Skiway and then sledded back down!

FUTURE?

I am a runner who hopes the finish line is a round the corner, but knows it is a long ways off and plans my pace accordingly. I expect it will be a long time until we gather together and run the rail trail side-by-side. But I am not willing to let you slip from my thoughts. So every week, expect a challenge, and please share your runs and joys. Tell us about the hill top moments of delight, and the hours of slogging through the mires.

I may not see you out on the roads and trails, but I’ll be looking for your footprints in the mud.