19 miles on the trails

Started off the week with a strong 19-miler this morning. Met my brother early to get in an early 6 miles before the rest of the large group of runners (roughly 13) showed up. After a quick change of socks, since we caught the tail end of a rain storm, we took off again and ran the usual 13-mile loop on the Northern Boundary Trails in Oak Ridge, TN. Overall the group averaged less than a 7 minute pace on the 13-mile section, with the pace definitely picking up in the latter miles. Then like clockwork with one mile to go, everyone took off, some with hopes of taking down Stewart Ellington and his last mile record of 4:48. A couple of young guys took off at the one-mile-to-go bridge, and Ellington, who was running with us, waited patiently. Then he went after them and caught the last guy in the last quarter mile, breaking his own record with a powerful 4:45. Then the other 12 guys filed on in to the finish, all wth times under 5:30.