Or to run one of the oldest ones! The Trail of Fears started not long after the Big Dog Backyard, and it is now a Golden Ticket event for Big's. The winner automatically qualifies for the world championship next October.
I'd sure like to run in Big's backyard again, but I have a ways to go before I'm back to that level. Training has started! And the Trail of Fears was a good next step.
Because let's face it, any LMS race that is at all technical in the dark will be hugely challenging for me overnight. I've been spoiled by laz's race (pavement at night) and the 4MPH Challenge (mostly flat and rails-to-trails courses). Coming into an event of this type where I don't know the course at all is bit of risk. Good to remember for future race selection.
Hey, it might not even matter! I had a quad muscle giving me a weird issue the week before the race. Getting more than a couple laps would be great. Running the whole day would be wonderful. Lasting until 12 hours (50+ miles) would be spectacular. So we shall see.
I've never had to sign a bunch of posters before - one for each runner with everyone's signature on it. It felt a (very tiny) bit like being a Star Trek actor. After a few of these, I can say with certainty that they deserve to get paid for doing this!
The race director gave each of us a humorous nickname and even put them on our bibs. I liked mine - "Marcy Day Parade":
There was rain in the forecast for the whole weekend, yuck. And no tents or easy-ups allowed, double yuck. One more reason I doubted my ability to both run fast enough and put up with the elements overnight. But maybe I can last through the daytime hours, wet or not.
John and I set up a spot with a chair, a small box, and some drinks. I'm playing with a switch from fruit/chocolate snacks to more salty items. Trader Joe's has a ginger miso broth that was really good all day, in a thermos to keep it warm. Thank you TJ's!
Before the race started, we met Chris from Memphis. He was fun to chat with in between loops:
Lining up for last-minute instructions and a group photo (I was always too far back to be in the picture):
John came around to fix that problem - thanks John!
And we're off!
Low light action shot of me starting loop 1:
Streaming into the woods to start a roundabout circuit of bike trails:
I like bike trails! The more I run on them, the more I appreciate them. And the people who built and maintain them. Fun running, entertaining swoops and curves and loops through the woods. They packed a lot of miles into a small area.
The trail was mostly quite runnable, not too rooty and no rocks. A couple sections contained several short steep down-up-down-up parts. There were some things to trip on, and people did. The markings were great, which is good because otherwise there would be runners scattered everywhere. As far as I know, everyone stayed right on track.
Being singletrack, occasionally there was some bunching, but mostly people figured out their pace and made passes in places where there was extra room. For the first lap I was in the middle of a group, making notes of time marks as I went. Having really no idea how long this should take, I pushed more than I might have liked. At least my legs were like, "sure, why not!"
And before you know, we were back to the start/finish in just over 50 minutes. OK, this will be doable! At least as long as it's light out.
Hi again John!
Getting ready for loop 2:
Yay, this is fun!
John followed for a bit to get a little walk in:
John's view of the runners on another part of the trail - it was entertaining watching pieces of the "snake" over there, then that way, almost coming together, splitting up again. Gotta love the mountain bike trails.
And a shot of me, not knowing John was just right over there:
I purposefully slowed down, added on some time to my splits, and paid attention to places where it was easy to maintain a faster pace vs. where I should ease up and walk the hills. This put me almost at the back of the pack, which was perfectly fine with me. I was pleased to have time to work with. And super happy that my quad issue, while still nagging slightly, wasn't a show-stopper.
One of the race's starting line photos from one of the many Day 1 starts:
One funny item of note - we could hear the clock bell from the university across the street. At the 15 minute mark we were quite close to it, so I could always tell how I was doing in that section when the "quarter-past" chime sounded. We were far away for the half-hour alert and I almost never caught that one. The 45-minute bell was the important one - learning just how far back I could be and still make it to the finish in the next 15 minutes. Or if I was running too fast and should kick it back a notch.
iPod time, yay! Always a good motivator to just keep on running, so many good podcasts and books to listen to.
Another hour, and hey, not only is it not raining (yet), the sun actually came out for a while. The tree cover was great, the temperature was perfect, and I couldn't have asked for a better day.
The day was uneventful and any further details (if I could even remember enough to write about it) would just be boring. So let's move on. I ran, I enjoyed it, it eventually became more work, all normal.
The start of the lap where it would get dark near the end (loop 10):
Not everyone carried a light (especially the faster runners), but I felt it would be dumb for me to time out simply because I couldn't see well enough to get to the finish, so I had my handheld Fenix with me:
#10 was straightforward, only a bit dim near the end. I was glad to have the light.
Loop #11 was dark. I kicked a root once and put a knee down on pine needles. I had to push but be careful at the same time. Everything slowed down. And took longer. To be honest, I'm sure I was also getting tired.
My splits were way longer than normal but I kept pushing. When I heard the 45-minute warning I calculated that I might still make it. Parts of the course were certainly easier or harder than others in the dark. Sure enough, I had over a minute to spare. I called for John, he brought me the Spiz to drink right quick, and I was ready to run again. Good practice on the quick turnaround thing.
Loop 12 got even slower, I got more tired, and it was clear in the first third that I wasn't going to make it. Hey, didn't I say I would be ecstatic to get this far? Well yes, I surely was. 50 miles, sweet!
I was about 3 minutes late getting back and that was that. And then it started to sprinkle. Timing could not have been better.
Chris stopped running at the same time - well done, Chris!
Getting my photo with the poster and finisher medal - it's not a Golden Ticket, but it was a satisfying run:
We boogied back to the RV park to clean up, eat dinner, and listen to the rain. It rained all night. It rained all the next morning. Those poor people.
The last 2 hardcore runners - in the rain. Mark Beggs (I believe the guy on the right) ran 26 loops for the win, with Kevin Lashley bowing out after 25. Amazing, y'all!
In summary - it was a way better experience that I thought it might be :) and a good next step in my training. Fun times!
