Thanks to Matt's Uncle Marvin & Aunt Janece, we had our own private tour guides & a very comfortable place to stay.
After an easy drive down on Friday afternoon, and a gourmet dinner of homemade pasta reheated in a gas station microwave, we made it safely to KC. Matt & his family headed out for a couple drinks while Steph & I got organized for our race the following morning.
Since we had arrived late on Friday, Steph & I were one of the first ones to arrive on race morning to pick up our race packets. It was a chilly morning, but it smelled like spring, and birds were chirping! Ahh, what a nice change of scenery!!
After a few trips to the porta potty & leaving our drop bags, we were ready to go! In typical trail race fashion, all the racers were hanging out near the start line, and somebody says "Go" and we're off. At least this time I didn't face plant!
The course consists of 3 10 mile loops. The first loop felt good - footing was good, found the course surprisingly hilly, & rocky. There was still some frost in the ground, so it wasn't muddy...yet... Just over 2 hours later, we had finished the first loop, and found that the back half of the loop is much harder than the front half.
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| Navigating the hills & rocks |
We finished the 2nd loop in 2:20 or so - not bad given how sloppy the trail was. I wasn't ready to drop another layer just yet, but it had warmed up enough that I was very comfortable in capris and a long sleeve top.
On to the 3rd loop & I was feeling great! I continued to set the pace & Steph & I continued to put one foot in front of the other. We passed a few folks early on, and settled in to a comfortable pace. Shockingly, the footing had improved. There were still some mucky spots, but overall it was better. About half way through the final loop, a root reached up and grabbed my toe, and I took a digger. Lucky for me, the footing was soft, but not sloppy there! There were a few folks behind us that we'd see as we left the aid stations, but no one really in front of us.
We came out of the woods at one point, to a paved road, up a hill to an aid station. We ran up the hill (probably 24 miles in) and the guys at the aid station said "We haven't seen anyone run this hill in a while." I laughed and responded with, "Well, it is only a 3 loop course! We don't have to run this hill again!"
After the final aid station, Steph & I agree that we haven't seen anyone in quite awhile and were probably good to comfortably run to the finish. We were so wrong!! Shortly thereafter, we were passed by another couple.... Where did they come from??? That lit a fire in me, and I put the hammer down. We quickly came to another steep, sloppy, hill & the girl that had just passed me was covered in mud & she was struggling to get up the hill. I scampered by her and just kept running. I looked over my shoulder to see that Steph was hot on my heels. That was all it took, I just kept pushing, no way were they going to re-pass us! After a day on the trail, I wasn't going to be out run in the last 2 miles!
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| Sprint finish |
I kept pushing, and Steph was right there & the other couple was no where to be seen. I was not willing to back off though! All the way through the finishers chute! It was such a blast!!
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| Happy Finishers |
What a fun day on the trail! 50 degrees, blue sky & sunshine, and good company, made for a wonderful adventure.
Matt was on the course, but not able to track us this time & sadly missed our sprint to the finish. That's ok, since we were eager to recap our adventure immediately!I'm excited for another year of ultra running with my trail buddy, Steph & #1 crew member, Matt!!
Happy trails, y'all!!
