Tales of the trail race........................................

Before I begin sharing race details I will fill you in on a few basics of the race.

The race is a distance of approximately seventy-eight miles through a very beautiful, very hilly forest. We camp at the end of the race and get up before the sun to drive to the beginning of the race well before the six AM start time. The race is limited to fifty teams, each having six runners and two drivers/navigators. The legs vary in distance and difficulty but each runner MUST complete a minimum of ten miles. The race is ran as a relay, as one runner completes a leg, they "tag" the next runner (or in our case pass off the bracelet) and off they go. There are a total of fifteen legs, and handicaps are given based on gender and age (and though I know they are the standard handicaps I can't explain it further because I wasn't listening when someone explained it to me beyond knowing I was good for the team because I am old).

We got word the Monday prior to the race that one of our teammates had to drop out and so after a mad scurry she was replaced. Throughout Friday all the teammates and drivers made their way to camp with the last three of us arriving just in time to head to bed around 9:30 PM. After driving for three hours and then trying to relax and sleep I will just say I ended up only getting about two, two and a half hours of actual sleep. That is why God invented coffee I guess.

My first leg was a distance of 7.3 miles and was one that I had done last year. Once one is on the trail, the way one keeps from getting lost is to keep track of the blue (painted) spots or diamonds on the trees. Unfortunately, due to going north rather than south when driving from the previous leg, our new teammate arrived at my starting point SIX FULL MINUTES before I got there! This is totally and completely amazing because his 7.1 mile leg was one steep hill up and down after another for a minimum of five miles and he ran these at a 7 minute per mile pace! OMG!!!!!

Shortly after I took off I was passed by two women that appeared to be running together. Over the next twenty minutes or so I was passed again and again until I was sure I had been passed by at least twenty teams. In one area, the path is a bit wider than your foot with a complete drop off on your left and tree after tree on your right. I moved over to let someone pass and had it not been for a well timed arrival of a smallish tree I had gone over the Cliff. Instead I was able to grab the branch and hang on long enough to let the runner pass me and then jump back onto the path. Talk about a rush!

Just as I reached the place on the trial where I had nearly gotten lost last year another runner passed me and kept going. As I was about to tell him he needed to head up the mountain I caught on that they had built in a sort of long winding stairway that you were suppose to run back and forth on instead of clawing your way straight up as I had done the previous year only to NOT SEE THE DAMN BLUE SPOTS to slide down, still not see them and claw my way back to the top TIMES THREE! MUCH, MUCH easier this year now that I know the secret!

About fifty minutes into my run I started getting passes again. "How odd," I thought, until I recognized the first two women that had passed me at the start of the race. Apparently many people got lost on that leg this year!

I finished my leg really strong in 1:23 and am thrilled with this as my goal was to do the 7.3 in under an hour and a half. I cut more than fifteen minutes off my last year's time. How cool is that?

Five legs later it was my turn again. This was a short distance of just over four miles. It also happen to be the leg that my oldest got lost on last year. Again this year the trail for this leg had been modified from it's original route, so I pinned the trail directions onto the front of my shirt and off I went, water bottle in hand.

The first part of the leg passed quickly as I sailed passed blue diamond after blue diamond. The course was pretty flat so I was on pace to make my goal of forty something minutes. The directions read, "at 1.6 miles you will cross a two track road, and then at 1.8 you will come to a second two track road at which time you will leave the trail and travel down this road for .2 and then need to stay to the right, travel an additional .something at which time you will meet up with the original trail and travel the remaining 1.4 miles to the end". Or something along those lines...

First let me say that around my home I have distances marked out so I know about how far I am running. I do NOT have these distances marked out into tenths of miles. I also have not yet learned to gauge how far I have run by the time (though I am getting better at this) as my times vary depending on how I am feeling. To make a long story short I wasn't for sure how much time should pass to reach 1.6 and then how much longer to get to 1.8.

At around fifteen minutes, a guy passed me and when I said, "Okay. You are my incentive to run fast enough to keep up with you so I don't get lost." He yelled back, "We will be turning left in just a couple of minutes." Of course I lost sight of him, but in just a few minutes I came to the second two track and turned left. In the next five or so minutes the road split off and I headed right per the directions. About five minutes later here comes the guy that had passed me, HEADING TOWARDS ME, and not towards the finish line.

For the next forty or so minutes he and I ran up and down that stretch of two track road and every little distance would go off about .2 to try and see if we could pick up the trail. We were smart enough to know not to wander too far into the woods to keep from getting turned around and really lost.

At one point he said, "Well, let's go back to that first place you went and see if we can get around the water that was there. Since he ran faster than I did, he would take off and I would follow until he decided to turn back and then I would meet up with him. When I caught up with him after we took the water hole path he said to me, "Did you find a faster way around the water?" My reply, 'Nope! I just went through it." After a not very well disguised look of "Lady you're nuts." he headed (the long way around) back to the two track (I went through the water again...call it energy conservation), and we decided it was time to go back to where we had turned left and see what we had missed.

As it turns out, we were to follow the trail another .2 and then we found the REAL two track road (apparently the first two track was not really a two track????) and from there the rest of the run was a piece of cake. The guy I ran with was nice enough that when he found out we were heading in the right direction ran back a ways to be sure I knew this, and that I was doing okay before taking off for the finish line. That was so nice of him, and I know he probably lost a little time keeping me with him when we were lost and then when he made sure I was on track. A prime example of true sportsmanship.

A few minutes after I lost sight of him, unbelievably, I was passed again! I was sure all the other teams had already finished. This guy ask how I was doing as he was passing me, and I quipped, "Fine! The only problem is my shoe is untied, but since I can't bend over (my pirirformis were so tight I was sure if I bent over I would cramp and then be stuck in that position) I am just going to run with it like that." He stopped, turned around and came back to me saying, "Would you like me to tie it for you," and proceeded to do just that! Double knot to boot! With a smile and wave he was off promising to let my team know I was not too far behind him. Can't get more nice than that now can ya?

After several minutes I was no longer lost, having been "found" by both my oldest and youngest daughters. They had ran out from the finish line to bring me back. Having the two of them was just what I needed to keep me going and get to the hand off point.

About fifty yards from the finish I think I got that "hit the wall" feeling I have read about others having when they do long races. All at once every single cell in my legs hurt and I wasn't sure I would be able to keep putting one foot in front of the other for the remaining distance. I DID IT THOUGH! I made it to the end and handed off the bracelet to the next runner.

Last year, when my oldest had gotten lost on the same leg, she was VERY upset, believing that she had somehow let the team down. My attitude when I came out of the woods was, "If anyone is pissed at me for getting lost you are doing dishes for the rest of the weekend." Of course no one was pissed, just relieved that I was okay. They understood that I did not get lost on purpose, and that I had ran my heart out trying to find my way and get to the finish line. I ran for a total of 1:49 with maybe 3 to 5 minutes of walking during that time. If you include that running I did on the other legs to go out onto the trail and scout or bring a runner in I am being conservative in my estimate of running about eighteen miles total. That is a damn fine accomplishment, and leaves no doubt in my mind that I will be able to finish the marathon come October.

When I caught my breath I took off my wet shoes and was rewarded with not one, but two blisters (not to mention ten VERY sore toes). See...

We ended up finishing the race in:

And yes, that is thirteen hours! An amazing, amazing day! I am so lucky to have been able to take part in that!

After celebrating at the finish line for a while we headed back to camp and my youngest and I decided to go soak our legs in the river to help prevent next day soreness. It was very cold and very pleasant, once my legs got numb!

I can't wait for next years race!!!!!