The Gettysburg "Marathon" Run

- An Epic Run Around an Epic Battlefield -

We Did Something Crazy (the short, Reader's Digest Version)

My best friend and I are both very serious Civil War buffs as well as runners. We came up with an idea: run the entire Gettysburg Battlefield. On February 1, 2006, we set out to do it.

We were blessed with good weather. We ended up successfully running over thirty miles in under six hours; we also climbed all three of the War Department towers; we had loads of fun and gained a great appreciation and understanding of both the battlefield and the men who fought here.

Anyway, the rest of this will probably be of no interest to anyone other than Civil War buffs (mainly, this page is for placing in my running log). But if you are history buff too, maybe you would enjoy reading about our journey. There's even pictures. You can click on the pictures to view them expanded. The pictures were taken in March '05, June 05, and December 05 as I didn't take my camera with me today. (But obviously Gettysburg doesn't change THAT much!) There are some cool post-run pictures of me at the end, though.

The Idea

Most runners are not Civil War buffs. Most Civil War buffs are not runners. But occasionally, there is an intersection of the two interests. My best friend and I are very serious Civil War buffs AND pretty serious, dedicated runners.

By far the nearest battlefield to us is Gettysburg. In fact, its roughly located between us. We've been to Gettysburg many times and know the roads of the park very, very well. It was during one of our trips that we came up with an idea: to run the Gettysburg Battlefield. Not just part of it. The whole thing. After breaking out the maps and considering the routes, we decided to nix running the East Cavalry Battlefield as too dangerous (its also at least three miles removed from the main battlefield -- you can kind of think of it as to the rest of the battlefield what say Alaska would be to the continental US). We eventually settled on a route that was 30.2 miles long and that encompassed all of the major sites on the battlefield. We began to call it our version of a Gettysburg Battlefield "Marathon." (Of course, we had to do Phidippides a few better and make ours thirty miles!). Neither of us had ever run the marathon distance before. Although we called it, jokingly, a "marathon" we had no interest in racing it. This was simply going to be a run at a comfortable pace; the goal was to simply finish it.

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Preparations for "Battle"

Our preparations obviously included a lot of running to prep for the task of tackling a 30.2 mile run. Although we had no plans to race the distance, still running thirty miles is a big deal. Not something to be taken lightly. I won't bore you with the details. Suffice to say, it included several 50+ mile weeks for both of us. My friend, living in New Jersey at the "Shore", had more of a challenge to prep for the hills. But at least having grown up in hilly country in New York he at least wasn't totally unprepared. Ohio luckily isn't flat; I ran the hills in the local metropark to help get ready for the "mountains" of Gettysburg. But still we figured the hills would be a challenge.

The original plan had been to make the run in March. But work schedules, the weather, and good training afforded the opportunity sooner. After studying the forecasts, we settled on the last week in January/first week in February as our run period. After studying the forecasts, Feb. 1, 2006 turned out to be our date to run the whole battlefield.

The day turned out to be absolutely perfect for running. Mostly overcast skies, around 40 degrees, with very light winds coming out of the west. We awoke early (6:00 AM) and prepped for the run. I ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, drank a bottle of water, slathered on some sunscreen (just in case the sun decided to come out -- better safe than sorry), and watched some TV. Debated what to wear; settled on my favorite pair of shorts (a pair of Mizuno Mustangs), my blue Mizuno shell jacket, a long-sleeve mock turtle tech shirt from the Cleveland Fall Classic, my warm Columbia hat, and a pair of gloves. And, of course, my trusty Wave Riders. Grabbed my sunglasses (oppps almost forgot those!) even though it looked like it would be pretty overcast. At 6:35 we met in the lobby of the hotel. The sun rises here at about 7:15. We wanted to see the sun rise on our run so the plan was to get started at 7:00. We quickly stashed our stuff in the back of my friend's car and then we were off driving to the battlefield. We chose the National Park's Visitor Center as our starting point. The Visitor Center is located along Cemetery Ridge approximately at the center of the Union lines and very close to the famous "Angle" where the Pickett-Pettigrew-Trimble charge culiminated. That made it a very good starting / ending point.

We stopped briefly to use the bathrooms at a local store, then at precisely 7:00 AM, with light starting to peak through, we took off with thirty miles of battlefield ahead. We both carried a 20oz bottle of grape gatorade (it has to be GRAPE!!). I had a bag of pretzels and my friend had a package of chocolate chip cookies. We also both carried two cups of honey nut cheerios in plastic sandwich bags. The plan was to stop at least twice (perhaps three times) to reprovision and to use the bathroom.

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The Run

Mile One

Mile one was really a "travel" mile and there isn't much historical to note about it. The battle of Gettysburg began on the morning of July 1, 1863 when Confederates under the command of A.P. Hill ran into Union cavalry posted on the ridges north and west of town. Thus to get to the first day's battlefield, we had to run through the town first. We then carefully proceeded down the Fairfield Road, and then into the actual battlefield park.

Mile Two

This mile took us down Reynolds Avenue. It runs along the length of McPherson Ridge and marks the location of the main battle line of the Union First Corps, commanded by Major General John Reynolds. Reynolds was a native of Lancaster, Pennsylvania which is only about fifty miles from Gettysburg. A stellar horseman and Lincoln's actual choice for command of the Army of the Potomac (Reynolds turned him down), Reynolds was killed leading his men into battle to relieve Buford's cavalry in the opening stages of the battle. Our run took us past both Reynolds' equestrian monument along the Chambersburg Pike and past the stone which marks where he fell.

Mile Three

During this mile we ran past the famous McPherson Barn and then down along Meredith Avenue past the monuments to the famous Iron Brigade. It was while deploying the Iron Brigade that General Reynolds was killed. The Iron Brigade was perhaps the Army of the Potomac's finest brigade. It was made up of almost all of the Army's midwestern troops -- men from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Indiana. They engaged here in an epic fight, in particular with North Carolina troops under the command of J. Johnston Pettigrew, and lost nearly 75% of their numbers. The Confederate troops here also suffered very heavy losses. The 26th North Carolina in particular lost its brillant young colonel, Henry Burgwyn, who was shot down carrying his regiment's colors.

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Mile Four

The fourth mile took us over the infamous railroad cut and then up towards Oak Hill and Oak Ridge. Oak Ridge is actually part of Seminary Ridge (more on Seminary Ridge later).

Mile Five

Mile five took us to the top of Oak Hill where the Peace Light Monument is located. This tall white monument has an eternal flame of peace on top. It looks really neat flickering at night from US 30. It was dedicated during the 75th Reunion which was attended by FDR and some of the last veterans.

After stopping to look at the Peace Light, we descended Oak Hill and onto Oak Ridge. We stopped to climb the shortened "Robinson Tower" and paid our respects to General Robinson (known as the most hairy general in the Army of the Potomac -- that's saying something!). We jogged down Doubleday Avenue -- Oak Ridge -- and then doubled back.

The run was going great, by the way. We hadn't had any problems and were really enjoying sucking down gatorade and munching on honey nut cheerios.

Mile Six

From Oak Ridge, we proceeded across to the line held by the Union XI Corps. A bit of battle history might be helpful. After Reynolds was killed, the Federal troops (under the command of Abner "Forty Eight Hours" Doubleday -- yes of alleged baseball fame) basically fought where Reynolds had placed them facing west on McPherson and Seminary/Oak Ridges against the onslaught of A.P. Hill's Third Corps (CSA). The Confederate commander, Robert E. Lee, had the extreme luck to have his II Corps (under command of Richard "Baldy" Ewell) arrive from the north (and therefore on the flank) on the afternoon of July 1. This gave Lee a considerable numbers advantage. The Union XI Corps -- a notably unlucky group known mainly for its large number of Germans -- ended up to the north of the town to face Ewell, leaving a gap in the lines. Grossly outnumbered, the Federals had no chance.

Mile Seven

The Confederate troops on the afternoon of July 1 drove the XI corps back from its position on Barlow's Knoll and north of the town. A.P. Hill's troops also succeeded in finally pushing back the stubborn First Corps. The Federal troops fell back in disorder through the town of Gettysburg and back towards Cemetery Hill. Eventually there they rallied. But day one had clearly gone to Lee.

Mile seven included a stop at a local groccery store. We purchased more gatorade, used the bathroom, and generally just took a breather. Obviously we still had a long way to run and a lot of battlefield to see.

We ran back into the town of Gettysburg, roughly following the retreat of the XI Corps.

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Mile Eight and Nine

We headed south on Stratton Street. We decided to stop and view the mural -- very few people even know its there -- along Coster Avenue before cutting across some sidestreets back up through the center of town towards Seminary Ridge and the lines held by the Confederate Army. On July 2 and 3, the two armies faced each other on two roughly parallel ridges. The Confederates were on Seminary Ridge while the Union occupied Cemetery Ridge.

Mile Ten

We began down West Confederate Avenue, a one-way park road that runs down the spine of Seminary Ridge and past the positions held by the Army of Northern Virginia on July 2 and 3. One of the first monuments we past was the North Carolina state monument. Executed by the same fellow who did Mount Rushmore, it is my favorite monument on the battlefield. Astoundingly, one in four Confederate soldiers killed or wounded at Gettysburg was from the old North State.

The Tennessee state monument is also located nearby, as is the cannon marking the location of General A.P. Hill. I have a website on A.P. Hill, so of course I had to stop and rub the cannon. For good luck.

We didn't seem to need luck, though. It was a beautiful day, the run was going great, there was very little traffic in the park. At this point we started munching pretzels.

A bit of battle history here so you can kind of understand what we were looking at. On July 2, Lee determined to attack the Union army located on Cemetery Ridge. He determined to attack en echelon. What this means is (in a very basic nutshell), the very right of the Army would attack first, then each brigade in succession. So, actually, the first fighting took place at the very southern end of the line. West Confederate Avenue runs north-south; we were heading south towards the Round Tops where the first fighting on July 2 actually occurred.

Mile Eleven

We continued trotting down West Confederate Avenue, running past the monument to Virginia. Yes, that's General Lee on his famous horse "Traveller" on top. Virginia's monument, erected in 1917, is the largest and most expensive Confederate monument on the battlefield. I think a good argument could be made its also the most impressive. From here, you have an excellent view across the fields where Pickett, Pettigrew, and Trimble charged (in fact this is probably where Lee himself watched the fateful charge). We stopped briefly to take a look across the fields. Then we're off again. Lots of field to still see.

(Plus, let's be honest. Its easier to eat pretzels when you're not running than when you're running! And we were suddenly hungry!)

Mile Twelve

Mile twelve took us further south down West Confederate Avenue. We passed first the Florida monument, then both the Mississippi and Louisana state monuments. The ground here was quite rolling. First it felt like we were going up, then down. Definite "rollers."

I personally really like the Louisana monument. It features St. Barbara, the patron saint of artillerymen.

It is during mile twelve that we do one of our crazy things -- we climb the Longstreet tower. There are currently three metal towers dotting the battlefield. They were placed there by the War Department during the late 1890s when the battlefield was used for training young officers. Of the remaining towers, the Longstreet is the tallest. Its named the Longstreet tower because of its location near General Longstreet's headquarters.

Our quads of course protested climbing the tower some (as did my calves), but the views from it are spectacular and well worth it. You can see the Eisenhower Farm (President Eisenhower retired to Gettysburg after his presidency), South Mountain, and the battlefield.

After enjoying the view for a few minutes, we descended the tower (quads still protesting) and began our trek down Seminary Ridge towards Warfield Ridge, still following West Confederate Avenue. We passed both the Georgia and South Carolina monuments. South Carolina's includes the inscription "there is no holier spot of ground / than where defeated valor lies / by mourning beauty crowned." Its a quote from a poem by Henry Timrod.

From this location Confederate troops under McLaws division started forward into the terrible Wheatfield.

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Mile Thirteen

Starting to feel like the Energizer bunny. We keep going and going and going and going and going. We drink some gatorade for energy.

We're now running along what's sometimes called Warfield Ridge. "Warfield Ridge" is the southern extension of Seminary Ridge south of Pitzer Woods and the Millerstown Road. From here, troops went forward to fight at Devil's Den and for the Round Tops. We cross the Emmitsburg Road and then proceed down South Confederate Avenue, past the Texas and Alabama monuments and then around the right of the Army of Northern Virginia. There's some great views of the Round Tops.

We're now entering the Union lines. As the Union commander intended it, the line was supposed to run on July 2 down Cemetery Ridge to the Round Tops in the south. However, one of the corps commanders in this vicinity, Dan Sickles, decided to move his troops off Cemetery Ridge forward half a mile. His new line stretched from Devil's Den through George Rose's Wheatfield, then formed a salient with the point at the Peach Orchard before continuing down the Emmitsburg Road.

Mile Fourteen

Onward ho. We ran along the base of Big Round Top, then onto Wright Avenue which runs roughly between Big and Little Round Top. Wright Avenue basically goes back out towards the Taneytown Road, crosses it, and then becomes Howe Avenue, a cul de sac. This was a double back part of our run. It took us past the monument to the Vermont Brigade. Grant's Vermont Brigade suffered no casualties at Gettysburg, but for the entire war it lost more men than any other brigade in Union service. The monument is neat because it features the lion.

After running down Howe Avenue (there are some Sixth Corps monuments here), we circled back up Wright Avenue. This took us past the monument to the 20th Maine.

At the end of Wright Avenue and facing Big Round Top, you'll find the monument to the famous 20th Maine.

After the movie Gettysburg came out, pretty much everyone has heard of the 20th Maine, the regiment that during the afternoon of July 2, 1863 defended the Union army's left flank, and its colonel, Joshua Chamberlain. So I figured I'd include a picture. Among the rocks here, the 20th Maine engaged in an epic struggle with the 15th Alabama of Law's Brigade. Both sides suffered heavy losses. Amazingly, the 15th Alabama entered the fight AFTER surmounting Big Round Top and coming across to attack the 20th Maine.

Mile Fifteen

Mile fifteen took us up Sykes Avenue -- George Sykes was the commander of the Union Fifth Corps -- and onto Little Round Top. Of course, we had to pause to explore rock-strewn Little Round Top at least a little. For one thing, the view towards the Union lines is spectacular.

The stop on Little Round Top also afforded us a chance to take in more fluids and eat a little. We also celebrated being half-way done with the run at this point.

We also stopped on Little Round Top because we needed to make sure our good luck on the run continued. So we rubbed the nose of Colonel Patrick O'Rourke.

O'Rourke was commander of the 140th New York Infantry. First in the class of 1861 at West Point (the class George Armstrong Custer finished last in, by the way), O'Rourke led his regiment down the hill into the advancing men of the Texas Brigade. He was shot through the neck and instantly killed.

The fighting on Little Round Top cost the Union several promising young officers -- O'Rourke, Strong Vincent (who has rushed his brigade to defense of the hill when called upon by chief engineer G.K. Warren who's staute is in the first view of Little Round Top on this page), Stephen H. Weed, and Charles Hazlett.

Mile Sixteen

We ran down Little Round Top and down the Wheatfield Road on into the Valley of Death. Lying in front of Little Round Top, the Valley of Death -- as its colorful name suggests -- was the scene of intense fighting. The slow moving stream called Plum Run that runs through here literally ran red with blood from the wounded and dying on the afternoon of July 2. The area in front of Big Round Top that is full of boulders is specifically known as the Slaughter Pen. Here, hundreds of Southern soldiers fell trying to take the giant boulders of Devil's Den. Many of the Rebel soldiers who fell here were not properly buried for weeks after the battle.

It is strange how peaceful a place this is now. At one time it was the scene of horrors beyond description. Its almost hard to believe.

The major feature of mile sixteen is, of course, the Devil's Den. I've tried but its difficult to capture in a photograph this massive pile of demonic diabase boulders. Some of these boulders are literally the size of a small house.

The road here winds up hill. It doesn't feel like THAT steep a hill, but it actually did a pretty good job on us and we were sucking wind once we reached the top of the boulders. We stopped near the monument to the 124th New York Regiment. Known as the "Orange Blossoms" (they were mainly from Orange County and wore orange ribbons on their jackets for identification), this regiment tangled with the Georgians and Texans of Benning's and Robertson's brigades. The 124th's colonel, a stern man named Augustus van Horne Ellis was shot through the forehead and killed leading his men in the thick of the fighting. The regiment honored Ellis by placing him on top of their regimental monument.

(An interesting side-note is that the 124th New York may have been the regiment that Stephen Crane based his book "The Red Badge of Courage" upon. Crane probably based it on the regiment's experience at Chancellorsville two months prior to Gettysburg)

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Mile Seventeen and Mile Eighteen

Fatigue was starting to set in somewhat, but we were now running through some of the most interesting parts of the entire battlefield. That braced us for continuing our journey.

We now entered the area known simply as "The Wheatfield." Charge and counter charge left this field and the nearby woods strewn with more than 4,000 dead and wounded Union and Confederate soldiers. The fighting became so confused that at one point, an officer shouted "by God, I'm not even sure we're facing the right way." To give you an idea, soldiers from three Union corps ended up fighting here.

Perhaps nowhere else at Gettysburg did death hold such high carnival as it did here.

The Wheatfield is one of the more creepy areas of the battlefield. Its colder here and darker here and monuments seem to appear out of nowhere like apparitons.

Two generals were killed here, as was brigade commander Edward Cross. Cross, a hard-nosed officer from New Hampshire had been wounded at least eleven times prior to Gettysburg. Nevertheless, on the march towards Pennsylvania he had a premoniton that he would be killed. Rather than wear his customary red hankerchief around his head in battle, he wore a black one instead. Seeing this, his commander, Winfield Scott Hancock, called "Colonel Cross, this day will bring you a star." Cross replied, "too late General. This is my last battle."

Leading his regiment into battle, Cross was struck at close range by a bullet through his abdomen at the spot where his regiment's unusual monument now stands. He lingered until near midnight.

When, at the end of the War, they tallied up the numbers, Colonel Cross's Fifth New Hampshire was found to have lost more men killed in battle than any other Union regiment.

On one of the roads that wrap around the Wheatfield known as the "Loop" you will find the unique and impressive monument to the Federal Irish Brigade.

This brigade, outfitted with impressive emerald flags, fought with great distinction and great gallantry in the battles leading up to Gettysburg. By the time of the battle, however, it was greatly reduced in numbers. It only took about 500 men into action on July 2. The Irish Brigade lost about 200 men at Gettysburg.

In addition to a Celtic Cross, the Irish Brigade monument features an Irish Wolfhound, the traditional Irish symbol of loyalty. Father William Corby, the Brigade's chaplin, is honored with a monument on Cemetery Ridge. Prior to the battle, the future president of Notre Dame granted a general absolution to the catholic members of the brigade.

There are many interesting Union monuments located along the Loop. There are so many monuments clustered together here because so many regiments ended up fighting here at one time or another. The nineteen acre Wheatfield was something of a whirlpool of death that seemed to keep dragging in more and more units.

Mile Nineteen

We're getting somewhat tired. Stop on the edge of the Wheatfield to grab some food and liquid. Then its back at it. We run a loop around the treeless Peach Orchard (apparently they cut down the peach trees due to disease -- they're planting more in 2007), then we briefly headed down the Emmitsburg Road, then back onto United States Avenue. We're now heading towards Cemetery Ridge.

Mile Twenty

Twenty miles. Taking it as a good sign we haven't dropped yet. Still running back towards Cemetery Ridge, we pass the famous Trostle Barn. This old barn is very cool because not only is it a neat looking barn colorwise and architecturally, it also features a big hole where a cannon ball struck it on the afternoon of July 2. (Enlarge the picture and look below the two diamonds)

It was here the extremely flamboyant General Dan Sickles lost his leg when a cannonball struck him. The leg was amputated and Sickles -- who outlived nearly everyone, dying in 1914 -- visited it at the Army Medical Museum in Washington. And, to be honest, that isn't even the most strange or noteworthy thing about Sickles. Need I say more -- his biographer titled his book "Sickles the Incredible."

Say what you will about Sickles -- but he did do a lot as a Congressman post-war to preserve the battlefield. Too bad he stole from his own monument fund and thus has no monument!

Back on Cemetery Ridge we pass the monument to the New Jersey Brigade, but decide we're too tired to make the brief climb up the knoll to look at it. We start heading south again, back towards the Round Tops along what was known as the Plum Run Line. This is where the Union was finally able to repulse the Confederates on the afternoon of July 2.

The road we're currently heading down is named Sedgwick Avenue. Commander of the Sixth Corps, Sedwick's troops made an amazing march of 32 miles to reach the battlefield, but saw very little fighting as they mainly composed the Army of the Potomac's reserve.

Sedgwick, a Connecticut bachelor known for his solitare playing and affable nature, was loved by his men who referred to him as "Uncle John." At the battle of Spotsylvania, less than a year after Gettysburg, Sedgwick was out on the front lines joking with his men about the aim of Confederate sharpshooters. "Boys," he said, "they couldn't hit an elephant at this distance."

Sedgwick was shot underneath the eye and died instantly. His men were heartbroken.

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Mile Twenty-one and Twenty-two

These miles were spent working our way through the back roads towards Culp's Hill. There's no really easy way to get back to that part of the battlefield and we had to run along some busy major roads. Fortunately, as had been the case for our whole run thus far, we had actually not had a problem with seeing many cars or people. These were still tough miles though. We spent them mainly talking about non-history things, especially music and baseball.

Mile Twenty-three

We enter Culp's Hill. The Union position is often referred to as a "fish hook." Well, Culp's Hill was the barb of the hook. Located to the east, its a little off the beaten path and even though its technically part of the National Park Service's tour, its probably the least visited area overall on the main battlefield. Nevertheless, it played an important part in the battle and the repulse of Lee's Army. As part of his plan for July 2, Lee had the Second Corps, under Richard Ewell, launch an attack on Culp's Hill and its neighbor, Cemetery Hill. The attack did not commence until nearly twilight. After some desperate fighting in the growing darkness, the Union troops on both Cemetery and Culp's Hill were able to repulse the Rebel attack.

Like many areas at Gettysburg, Culp's Hill is studded with huge boulders.

The road we are now following winds up and away from the Baltimore Pike back into the hill. There are not many monuments to see until we reach Spangler Spring. Here supposedly Union and Confederate soldiers held a truce so as both sides could get water.

We had decided to now leave the main hill area to circle back down East Confederate Avenue, then back up the hill again.

Mile Twenty-four

We head down East Confederate Avenue. East Confederate runs along the base of Culp's Hill back towards the town. As its name suggests, the road follows the positions held by the Confederates when they launched their attack.

Unlike along West Confederate, where the Southern states placed their state memorials, East Confederate is pretty devoid of monuments and markers, except for the War Department markers which tell where each brigade was positioned. There are areas of woods and large pastures. In the summer, we saw tons of cows here, but today we saw no cattle.

Having run the length of East Confederate, we stop briefly in the town to get more gatorade and to use the bathrooms. We are now about to begin the last part of our journey.

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Mile Twenty-five

Our brief break for fluids, food, and a restroom helped a lot. We had only about five miles left to run and the excitement of finishing the run was starting to take hold. I think we were probably running most of the rest of the way with big smiles plastered on our faces.

We now head out along the base of Cemetery Hill on our way back to Culp's Hill. Of course, Cemetery Hill is interesting in its own right (in fact Cemetery Hill is one of the premier landmarks of the battlefield). Even if you've never been to Gettysburg or don't know much about the battle, you've probably seen the famous gatehouse to Evergreen Cemetery for example.

The Baltimore Pike bisects Cemetery Hill so there's basically two parts: West Cemetery Hill is where you'll find both Evergreen Cemetery (the town's burial place which gives the hill its name) and the National Cemetery for the Union dead of the battle as well as other wars. This area mainly suffered artillery fire; the heavy fighting did not take place here.

On the other side of the road, East Cemetery Hill which lies closer to Culp's Hill was where most of the fighting actually took place. There are several Union monuments and cannons located here. There are two equestrian monuments: one to General O.O. Howard (commander of the XI Corps) and one to General Winfield Scott Hancock. This is Hancock's monument.

If the Union Army had a single hero at Gettysburg, it probably was Winfield Scott Hancock. Sent by the commander of the army, General George Meade who was with the bulk of the army miles away, to Gettysburg on July 1 to determine what in blazes was going on, Hancock arrived as the shattered I and XI corps were falling back. A man of presence -- his nickname was "The Superb" and his officers noted had he shown up without uniform people still would have obeyed him such was his nature -- Hancock rallied the beaten Union troops and formed defensive positions. On July 2, his Second Corps was in the thick of the fighting in the Wheatfield and on Cemetery Ridge, and Hancock was pretty much everywhere directing the fighting. Finally, on July 3, Hancock's men successfully repulsed Longstreet's final assault that became known as Pickett's Charge. He was severely wounded in the leg during the final attack.

We cut down a park service road and then up Stevens Knoll a small rise between Cemetery and Culp's Hills where the monument to the XII Corps commander, Henry Slocum (on July 1, Slocum refused to come take command though senior after John Reynolds death, leading to the nickname "Slow Come"), stands. The ground gets steeper; we're headed to the summit of Culp's Hill.

Mile Twenty-six

In short order, we reach the summit. I say in short order, but Culp's Hill is actually quite steep and quite a prominent hill. It just hurt so much to be running up hill that we picked up the pace considerably. Needless to say, we were sucking wind at the top of the hill.

As you've probably figured out by now, however, we are two insane history buff / runners. There's an observation tower at the top of Culp's Hill and, still sucking wind, we are crazy enough to climb it. If you want to hear your quads SCREAM, I recommend this course. Here we were, at marathon distance (and we've both never run that far remember), climbing a huge metal tower. How crazy can we be?

Obviously we're pretty crazy.

But as you can see from the picture, the view from the tower towards the town of Gettysburg is definitely worth it. In this picture you can see Oak Hill, the Gettysburg courthouse, Gettysburg College, etc. etc.

If you turn and look out another way, you can look down the Union lines towards the Round Tops. The view is just great. We were blessed with great visibility for our trip.

We spent a few minutes up in the tower, but we dared not to sit down or linger too long to avoid cramping. It did afford a nice chance to get in some fluids and pretzels while not on the move, however.

From the tower, we began our descent down towards Spangler Spring. In addition to boulders, Culp's Hill is thick with tree cover. Its somewhat cold back here. Cramping is a worry, but we seem ok.

The winding roads here take you past many monuments, including one Confederate Monument. This monument is to the 2nd Maryland, CSA. Near here was a very large burial trench where the Confederate dead from this part of the battle were buried.

Also near here is a feature that sets Culp's Hill apart from the rest of the battlefield -- earthen breastworks. Now just "bumps," they were constructed by Union troops during the battle. The breastworks stretch from the summit to the knoll above Spangler's Spring.

Mile Twenty-seven

Just three more miles to go. Wow. Its almost assured now that we're going to finish. There's some pep in our step even though we've travelled by foot nearly thirty miles.

We've now descended Culp's Hill and passed back out onto the busy Baltimore Pike. Of course, in our trip down Culp's Hill we passed many beautiful monuments. This is one of the most beautiful; to the 123d New York it features Clio, the muse of history, recording a description of the battle.

Most of this mile is spent again cutting across the side roads, heading back towards the famous Angle on Cemetery Ridge and, eventually, back to the Visitor Center where this madness began. Oh, and ice cream. Can't run without icecream (even if it is only 45-degrees haha).

Mile Twenty-eight

Back into the main park and along Cemetery Ridge, we are in the very home stretch of our run. We're now also in the most popular part of the Park. We even pass one of my friends who is out giving a tour as a LBG.

Although we're supposed to be touring mainly day three of the battle now, we stop briefly at the Pennsylvania and Minnesota Monuments.

On the afternoon of July 2, members of the 1st Minnesota Regiment were in position here. General Hancock, as mentioned, was very active in moving troops around from place to place to meet each crisis. Suddenly, Hancock found himself staring at a large number of Confederate soldiers coming straight for a huge hole in the line. Looking around, Hancock only found the Minnesota regiment -- all 262 of them. Hancock, desperate, ordered the Minnesota troops forward. Without hesitation they charged. They plugged the gap in the line; but it cost them 82% of their numbers to do so. Gettysburg is a battle of incredible sacrifice.

Near the Minnesota Monument is the largest monument on the entire battlefield -- the beautiful, newly refurbished Pennsylvania State Memorial. Built by the commonwealth in 1909-1910, it features bronze statues of Pennsylvania-born generals as well as Governor Curtin and President Lincoln. Around the base of the monument are bronze plaques that list the Pennsylvania regiments and batteries that participated in the Battle of Gettysburg. The plaques also list the names of Pennsylvanians in each unit who were present during the three day battle.

Long closed for repairs, you can actually ascend to the top of the Pennsylvania Monument now and look out; fortunately for us, the Park Service had the top closed for the winter. Otherwise -- screaming legs or not -- you know we would have gone up!

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Mile Twenty-nine and Thirty point two

Triumph! Our running was nearly over. Amazingly, both of us commented that we didn't want it to end. There was a feeling that we were doing something special; something we'd probably never do again. So we seized the moment, slowed down, and drank it all in.

We were now running along Hancock Avenue. This area is known as "the Angle" or "the High Water Mark." Located on Cemetery Ridge, it was roughly the center of the Union lines on day two. When Lee launched Pickett's Charge, this is where he was aiming. I have included a couple views looking back from the actual Angle. That's what the term "High Water Mark" refers to; this was said to be the High Water Mark for the Southern Confederacy. The Angle refers to the stone fence that bends to the west and then southward. It was here that Confederate soldiers under General Armistead breached the wall.

This area was obviously an area of extremely heavy fighting on the afternoon of July 3. Pickett's Division lost all three of its brigade commanders; Garnett was killed out right, Armistead was mortally wounded, and Kemper was severely wounded.

The commander of the Union cannons in this picture was a young man by the name of Alonzo Cushing. A graduate of West Point, Cushing was badly and painfully wounded by shell fragments during the bombardment that proceeded Pickett's Charge. Nevertheless, he stayed at his guns. The 22 year-old Wisconsin soldier was killed at the height of the Charge.

Pickett's Charge lasted approximately one-hour. When it was over, it was clear that Lee had been repulsed. For the first time, the Army of the Potomac had defeated the seemingly invincible Army of Northern Virginia.

If you look out from the Angle, just to give you an idea, you're roughly a mile straight away from the Virginia state monument on Seminary Ridge. In fact the location for the Virginia Monument was chosen because it was here that General Lee witnessed the disastrous charge. Lee refused to blame his soldiers, telling them that it was "all my fault."

Having passed the Angle, we stopped briefly to look at the monument to the Union commander at Gettysburg, George Meade. Nicknamed "a damned old goggle eyed snapping turtle" because of his temper, Meade is depicted on his trusty and oft-wounded horse, Old Baldy. A Philadelphian, Lincoln ordered Meade to take command of the Army after Reynolds turned him down, on June 28, 1863. Despite being in command such a brief time, Meade managed to defeat the heretofore practically unbeatable Robert E. Lee. Although often maligned by historians for not following up the victory at Gettysburg, Meade was the only commander during the Civil War to defeat Lee in a large stand-up fight (Grant eventually ultimately defeated Lee by siege at Petersburg).

Success. We trotted past Ziegler's Grove and on into the parking lot to the Visitor's Center. We stopped inside to use the restrooms, then grabbed some more pretzels out of the car. My friend was feeling cramping in his legs and didn't want to just stop.

Thus, we followed up the run with a slow walk through the National Cemetery. I was glad at this point to have thrown a pair of wind pants over top of my shorts. Amazingly during the run I was never really that cold; but once we stopped running, I felt like I got cold very fast.

The walk through the National Cemetery turned out to be a good idea. It prevented my friend's legs from cramping (which is good because he had to drive!) and it let us quietly reflect on our run.

I couldn't help thinking of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address as I walked. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. I also couldn't help thinking how the country might have been different had Lincoln lived.

We finished walking around the National Cemetery, then got back into the car, and drove back to the hotel. I found I had an overwhelming craving for a milkshake. So did my friend! After a shower, we went into town and got milkshakes.

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Summation

This was a run I think if I live another 75 years I will never be able to top. There was almost no one there -- as you might guess for mid-week in Feb. Gettysburg is beautiful, haunting, and impressive and it was even more so on foot. We truly obtained a feel for the topography that we could have done no other way.

We're planning to do this again one more time during the 150th anniversery year. My friend is in his late 40s and we looked like a father-daughter team. We talked about the battle, about decisions of certain generals, about the war in general. We talked about running. We talked baseball. And music. And about law (we're both attorneys). And of course sometimes we didn't talk at all.

In the end neither of us wanted the run to end. And aren't those the best runs?

Anyway if you read this far, thanks for reading.

Pictures of Jenny!

You can enlarge these pictures the same as the others on this page (other than the last picture). Enjoy!

Ready to set out, fearless Jenny in her Cleveland Fall Classic longsleeve shirt and favorite Mizuno shorts. Jenny is thinking ....... and we have to get up this early why??

Oh yeah. That run thing.

Thirty miles ahead. That's a looooonnnnngggg way to go. I have never even raced further than a 5K though I have done many, many training runs that were much longer than that to help prepare for the battlefield run.

The mental toughness instilled through having to train through a very tough December of Cleveland weather and through a lot of wind both this fall and winter did actually come in handy especially over the hills. I felt like a really strong, tough runner.

Post-run, Jenny is so tired she can't even smile. haha.

Or am I just sad about no more Gettysburg run? Who knows?

I was worried about how to dress for a thirty mile run. The high was 45 and it was in the low 30s when we started and very cloudy and overcast. Although I had a lot of practice doing longer length runs, the temp on the battlefield changes from area to area depending on the woods, rocks, and where the sun is. Sans hat and gloves, this is how I went out: shorts, longsleeve shirt, and my Mizuno jacket. I was dressed appropriately. Occasionally I took off the gloves; occasionally I partly unzipped my jacket. No big deal. I think I could have also just worn a vest and have been ok too.

No blisters, no chafing, no wet feet (thank God for no rain).

My legs. And my feet. That carried me thirty point two miles without nary a real complaint. They deserve a picture. Not because they are anything special (they aren't), but because they are the real heroes of the day. Go legs! Go feet!

[ok, a bit of honesty here. I was trying to re-set my camera's flash and I accidentally took a picture of my feet. OPPS! Then, of course being lazy, I didn't bother to delete it. Then, more laziness. I accidentally typed in the picture's id number into my webpage. And then I was too lazy to delete a line of code. Ehhh I was REALLY tired!]

But hey, if you were ever curious what "learned feet" look like, here you go!

My Mizuno Wave Rider 9s. These are my regular training shoes. Amazingly these shoes are this clean and yet they have over 225 miles on them already. Needless to say, I don't wear them trail running. I have regular trail shoes and save my road shoes for the road.

But eeppp. They are CLEAN. I really like the Mizuno Wave Rider and I'm on my third pair of them. I just Mizuno doesn't change the shoe and mess it up because its a really great shoe right now for someone like me who forefoot strikes.

Having showered and gotten cleaned up, Jenny is ready to go drink a huge milkshake. But yes, I was really tired. Eeepp that's one bad picture! Face is a little bit wind-burned even though there was virtually no wind. Not sure what was up with that. It certainly wasn't from the sun because we had very little of it.

This pic is so bad you can't enlarge it.

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What's Next?

We're considering the fall Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon. Or maybe we will just do a solo run somewhere else on a battlefield. We've toyed with Sharpsburg, for example. Part of the problem is no battlefield is quite as big and sweeping as Gettysburg. We may have created a Civil War battlefield ultra monster ...

Our Run by the Numbers

• Miles Run: 30.2
• Time Out: 5 hours, 44 minutes
• Towers Climbed: 3
• Chocolate chip cookies eaten: 4
• Springsteen songs sung: 5
• Times my friend broke out into Pearl Jam's song "Nothingman": 4
• Times my friend broke into the Civil War song, "Bonnie Blue Flag:" 8
• Ounces of pretzels eaten: 6
• Cups of honey nut cheerios eaten: 4
• 20 oz bottles of grape gatorade drunk: 6
• Red-headed woodpeckers spotted: 12
• Deer spotted: 4

Tips (And things we learned)

Here is some advice if you're planning to do something crazy.

• Weather-wise: Spring and fall are probably the best times to attempt a run like this. Gettysburg does get a lot of snow in the winter; it gets very hot and humid here in the summer.
• Know the roads! We knew the roads very well from prior experience at the battlefield. Its more fun if you're not trying to carry a map . . .
• Plan your route ahead of time, but be flexible enough to change if necessary.
• I wouldn't recommend climbing the War Department towers like we did (!!!!).
• Be very careful when running along major roads such as the Taneytown Road, Baltimore Pike, the Chambersburg Pike, etc. We ran against traffic, single-file. A lot of these roads don't have much shoulder. And the locals drive FAST.
• The Visitor's Center is a great central location. It opens at 8 AM and closes at 5PM. No food or drink (other than drinking fountains) but they do have restrooms.
• The restrooms on the battlefield are closed and water fountains are turned OFF this time of year. Be prepared and carry food, fluids, etc.
• Read up on the battle! What's the point of going if you don't know what you're looking at?
• Train for hills and rolling terrain. Gettysburg is NOT flat. It has real hills.
• Be observation of traffic when on the roads. Many are one-way and most people driving on them are touring. In other words: they are driving slow but not necessarily paying all that close attention to things like runners.

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Helpful Links, Books, etc.

Recommended reading:

• Edwin Coddington, "The Gettysburg Campaign" (more advanced; would recommend as your second or third book on the campaign)
• Glenn Tucker, "High Tide at Gettysburg"
• Michael Shaara, "The Killer Angels" (fiction, but may be the best intro for non-Civil War buffs)
• Stephen Sears, "Gettysburg"

Helpful Links:

• Gettysburg Local Forecast
• National Park Service: Gettysburg (massive, invaluable resource for planning your trip)
• Gettysburg Visitor's Guide
• Wikipedia: The Battle of Gettysburg

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copyright 2006 by Jenny Goellnitz | Send email to: jgoellnitz AT gmail dot com