And thus began the adventure. We got ready, me in my cold gear and Ben and kids in coats, and took off along a snowy and a little slick version of the roads toward where the race was supposed to start.
Anyone hear anything ominous in that sentence? There was a change of plan because of the snow, and they started the race from the finish and made it into an out-and-back rather than a point-to-point. This nearly made me cry, as I was convinced that when I got to the new starting line AN HOUR LATE they wouldn't let me run. Luckily, they were planning for those few of us who drove up to the REAL start (I guess since they didn't send out any notification they expected miscommunication....go figure). I gave my bib number and name to an accommodating young woman with a blue clipboard, and a very nice man named Rick and I were off. He kept a really fast pace, and had interesting things to talk about. It was a nice first 8 miles, though the slickness of the packed-down snow made things interesting. After that, he took off and I dropped back and, for most of the rest of the race, was alone. I passed people, both those who were far ahead of me coming back after the turnaround and those who were slowing up, and occasionally would swap a joke with someone, but that was about it.
The woods were beautiful....the snow was the wet sticky kind that settles on individual branches. And quiet. I could hear the snow falling. It was eerie in a good way, ethereal...I did lots of praying and talking to myself.
Things were MUDDY for the second half of the race, coming back. What do you expect when 500 people or so trample snow on the way out, and then do it again coming back, right? The best part was a hill with ropes strung along the trees like banisters to help us go down and then (coming back) pull up along. I think my favorite part was the really big spruce trees....I think they were mile 9-ish going out (so then mile 17-ish coming back).
The runners were awesome. Everyone was courteous about the trail conditions, getting out of each others' way so people could pass, cheering each other on. At one point three of us backed up on one side of a stream crossing and two other runners were on the other side. It was WAY too wide to jump, and there was no way anybody wanted wet feet. So we took turns, one from each side, until we all made it. Just stopped and waited like good little turn-takers! I said to the guy in front of me "It's so nice that people are nice!" He said "Yeah, it's good that people are nice." That, to me, is a testament of the better parts of human nature.
Oh, and I finished it in 4:51:40....unofficially. I just took an hour off the clock time at my finish, since I started an hour late. We'll have to see how I did for real once they adjust for everyone and post results. I was shooting for 5 hours as a "hooray, wouldn't it be nice if it's nice weather and I can do really well!?" So I'm proud of myself.
I'd love to do one on the road after this....I bet I could kick the crap out of it.
3 comments:
You should be really proud; that's awesome! Especially in such conditions and with a false start to speak of. That always messes with the head. It defeats some of the beauty of a trail race to have it double back, but at least it was still beautiful. Congratulations!!!!
I can't believe you ran in that! I don't even like walking in that.
You... are... my... hero! Enough said!
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