The Hills of Hollywood

Today, our tiny Summer Team combined forces with some of the bigger Spring Team to do our famous Hollywood Cemetery Run. Two members of this team, Debbie and David, are off to Nashville next week for the Country Music Half Marathon, a year after I did this race.

Only three of us from the Summer Team showed up, plus three coaches. Nancy walked with the Walk Coach Betty, and Lelia and I did our walk-run combination together, at times joined by Coach Chuck. We did a six mile route that went through the Fan, past VCU, looping through Hollywood Cemetary (sometimes called the Arlington Cemetary of the Confederacy), and then returned the way we had come. At the end, we added over a mile by going over to the VITA course and doing a lap. It was a pretty good morning for a run, and great to have a teammate doing the walk-run combo, like me. Here are some photos from the morning.

Lelia and I were terrified to enter the cemetary. "Why?" asked Coach Chuck. "Is it the rumors of ghosts?" "No!" we said. "Is it the rumors of a vampire that lurks there?" "No!" we shouted. "Then what?" asked Chuck. "There are hills there, Coach! Big hills! Lots of hills!" we said as we trembled in fear.

Chuck stands at the crest of a hill with a great view of the James River and the downtown district in the distance.

Striking a pose reminiscent of the great Confederate General Nathaniel Pierre Ambrose "Wrong Way" Overhill III, I order Lelia to take the hill!

Lelia takes the hill!

There is a great view from the hill of the Hollywood Rapids and Belle Isle, another favorite training spot, in the distance.

David from the Spring Team looks over the grave and memorial area of Confederate President Jefferson Davis.

Poignant grave marker for a family's pet.

Lelia points out a beautiful rhododendron.

We tried to stage this photo so that it would look like we were holding up the pyramid by its point, but we were too close. It is a monument to Confederate women.

Kristi, Debbie, David and Chuck pose with the famous black dog of Hollywood Cemetary.

We were scared of the black dog at first, but once he sniffed our hand, he was pretty friendly and let us pet him.

Azaleas are so beautiful this time of year.

Lelia makes friends with a polar bear in the Fan. We know that the polar ice caps are in trouble, but this is ridiculous.

As I will explain in a future post, at some point in the future, I will be setting a new world record for the marathon. When that happens, Runner's World will want me on the cover. So we practiced getting some action photos. At the speed I was running in this one, only Lelia's lightening fast reflexes managed to get the photo as I flashed by near the Vita course.

This pose is the triumphant end of race pose. I think that Runner's World might like this one better.