The Reverse Ring
The Winter Massanutten Trail Circuit Run

February 21 - 22, 2009

Please Enter online beginning January 21, 2009

This late February tradition is back again to haunt a handful or two of trail runners this year – the Reverse Ring. The 2009 Reverse Ring will be the fourth running of this semi-invitational event. The Reverse Ring is a roughly 71-mile counter-clockwise circuit of the Massanutten Trail, and it will be held this year on February 21-22. The “semi-invitational” label means that there is only one requirement to get in the Reverse Ring: a runner must have successfully completed a fall running of The Ring and be a member of the “Fellowship of The Ring.” Very simple. (List of Fellowship Members)

We have barely dodged the winter-weather bullet the past three years – in 2006, 2007, and 2008, the daylight hours have been great for running in the mountains, with mild temperatures and sunshine (and a bit of fog and ice early in 2008). Everyone – runners and volunteers – had a blast being out on the trails. In both 2006 and 2007, with the coming of the night came also some treacherous winter weather. In 2006 the main enemy was the cold and the wind, while in 2007 it was snow. In 2008, the runners clearly had no complaints when it came to the winter weather, since all 10 who started the run went on to complete it!

Those eligible to run (see first paragraph) should enter on-line by February 16, 2009. If you have questions about the run, e-mail Mike Bur (mjcbur@yahoo.com) or Quatro Hubbard (quatro.hubbard@gmail.com). We will also be looking for a small handful of volunteers to help on Saturday, so if you would like to come out and play for a few hours please let us know.

The Details

2009 Participants
Runners
Volunteers
Mike Bur
Quatro Hubbard
Need More

The Reverse Ring is a Fat Ass run – there is no entry fee required, there will be no awards. It should also be noted that any whiners will be heckled unmercifully by the RDs. However, as the runners are all members of the Fellowship of The Ring already, we are confident that there will be no wimps or whiners in the group. Again, the only qualification needed to run the Reverse Ring is a previous completion of The Ring. Some things in life just are what they are. If you can't do it this year, just go do what you need to do to run this in the future: finish The Ring in the fall. Those who have run the Reverse Ring in the past are of course welcome to return for future Reverse Ring runs – in fact, two of the finishers in 2008 (Mike Dobies and “Billy-Bob” Losey) have finished the Reverse Ring all three years years that it has been held.

The run will start at 7:07 am on Saturday February 21 at the Signal Knob parking lot trailhead. Since the runners will all be repeat offenders, there is no need for additional directions here. Each runner will be allowed a single, sturdy, well-marked drop bag, which will be collected prior to the start in the parking lot. Please try to keep the size of your bag within reason! We will shuttle that single bag around the course for you. There will, of course, be aid available to the runners over much of the course – see the checkpoint list below. For runners who think that they may need more time on the course, there is an early start option. Contact Mike or Quatro to discuss this if you are interested.

Check Points on the Ring

Powells Fort Camp (maybe?) 8.4 miles	Woodstock Tower 14.2	Edinburg Gap 22.4	Moreland Gap 30.4	Chrisman Road 36.8	Camp Roosevelt 46.1	Finish 71.1

The access road to Powells Fort Camp is closed at this time of year, so there likely will not be aid at that point along the Massanutten Trail. We may have a volunteer on a mountain bike make his or her way into that area to provide some aid, if one is available and willing. Otherwise, first aid will be after 14 miles at the Woodstock Road crossing. The same situation will apply to the traditional halfway point on the orange trail, the Chrisman Road crossing aid station, as the runners descend from Kerns Mountain section of the trail. Chrisman Road is closed at this time of year, and aid will only be available if volunteers can bike it in. If not, runners will be doing the 15.5-mile section from Moreland Gap to Camp Roosevelt without aid. And of course, the notorious 25-mile long night section along the east ridge of the Massanuttens, from Camp Roosevelt to the finish back in the Signal Knob parking lot, did not have aid in the past. This year we plan to pitch a tent at the junction of the Veach Gap Trail and Massanutten Trail, about 8 miles from the finish. There will be aid in the tent, and it will provide shelter in case any is needed during the night-time hours.

Resources

For full information about the Ring, go to the Ring page.

• 2008 Results
• Mileages on the MT Trail (these mileages are counter-clockwise -- the way the Reverse Ring goes
• Wil Kohlbrenner's Report on the Massanutten Trail (PATC Site)
• Massanutten Trail Dedication
• Get Map G from the PATC

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Sun and Moon Data for One Day

Courtesy of the U.S. Naval Observatory
Astronomical Applications Department

The following information is provided for Front Royal, Warren County, Virginia (longitude W78.2, latitude N38.9):

        Saturday 
        21 February 2009      Eastern Standard Time          

                         SUN
        Begin civil twilight       6:29 a.m.                 
        Sunrise                    6:56 a.m.                 
        Sun transit               12:26 p.m.                 
        Sunset                     5:57 p.m.                 
        End civil twilight         6:24 p.m.                 

                         MOON
        Moonset                    1:45 p.m. on preceding day
        Moonrise                   5:05 a.m.                 
        Moon transit               9:52 a.m.                 
        Moonset                    2:45 p.m.                 
        Moonrise                   5:37 a.m. on following day

 

Phase of the Moon on 21 February:   waning crescent with 10% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated.

New Moon on 24 February 2009 at 8:35 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

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