I always get to races super early, and today was no exception. I love just hanging out and watching all of the people do what they do. And what, do you ask, do they do? Well, let me tell you what I saw...
1. The people walking around with their hydration belts fully loaded and their headlamps on their heads at 7pm for a 9 pm race start.
2. The group of ladies who poured out of a van wearing matching shirts and glow in the dark necklaces.
3. The dad with two bananas stuck into the corner of his windshield, helping his daughter pin her bib on for the 5k they're running together.
4. The older guy and his wife sitting in camp chairs beside their truck-he keeps tying and re-tying his shoes and she's working on a knitting project.
5. The guy wearing flip flops, sprawled out in his driver's seat with a trucker's cap over his face, catching a quick nap before the race start.
6. The lady with the matching black Yorkie puff ball dogs, walking laps around the parking lot, left me wondering what happens to the dogs when she starts her race.
7. One strange woman wearing a tank top with an attached dog collar around her neck and a leash hanging down was quite a sight to see.
8. The local high school cross country team who are mostly here because their coach told them they'd better show up.
9. The people who wander the parking lots, searching for familiar faces.
10. The token guy in the kilt.
Amid all of this action, I headed to the tent to pick up my bib and pins. There I found fellow runners, Megan, Jennifer and Bernie, who were there volunteering. Very cool! We chatted awhile about this race and future race plans and then I headed back to my car to get ready. Soon, I flagged down Steve and Matt, two internet friends I hadn't met in real life yet, and Jennifer, who was there to run the 15k, a distance PR for her. We hung out a while and then I ran into fellow runner Sharon, and her husband, who were both there to work the aid station. I had no idea I'd know so many people there!
The 5k was set to start at 9pm, which included Matt, and the rest of us hung out while they assembled in the woods and listened to final instructions. Before the 15k and 25k crowd headed into the woods for our own start, we were able to see the winner of the 5k come in at under 17:00! That is FAAAAST for trails in the dark!
As we gathered near the start line, we received our final instructions, which mostly consisted of not squatting in the woods because there was poison ivy everywhere and no one wants THAT you know where! Noted! I turned around a final time before the start and faced a sea of headlights. This was going to be fun!
The race consisted of five 5k loops for the 25k, with the end of every loop passing through the start/finish tent. I decided to settle in and the the speedier 15k runners take off ahead of me. I had started the race with Steve but soon I let him go on ahead of me as well. I hadn't anticipated so much of the trail to be sand, and if you've never run in sand before, well, it's an experience. These sandy trails were extra-special because they were filled with the roots of the trees in this Midland City Forest and after tripping a couple of times and then watching the girl in front of me totally crash, I trained my headlamp in on the trail and paid very close attention. Every 5k loop, runners passed through the one and only aid station twice. I said hi to Sharon every time I passed and the volunteers were all having a rocking good time. Along with water, gatorade and gels, there were also cookies, chips and two kinds of beer. What more could you ask for? At the finish if the first loop, I came through the tent, and the crowd was huge because most of the 5k runners were hanging out and cheering us on. It was a huge boost for me and I waved to Matt, and carried on back into the woods.
Back up along the sandy trails, dodging roots and occasional low-hanging limbs, and then through the aid station once, and then again, and I was feeling good. In fact, I was thinking about how good I was feeling when all of the sudden, WHAM. I hit the ground. Hard. I seem to have a habit of falling once per race, but I'm usually able to just roll with it and pop back up. Not this time. I had landed on my whole right side and it took me a minute to recover. Two people watched it happen and they helped me to my feet and brushed me off. I thanked them and sent them on their way, shook the cobwebs off and took off again. My hip didn't feel quite right, and my knee might be bleeding, my right arm was throbbing and I was sooo dirty. I finished that loop a little down in the dumps, but still came through the tent smiling and headed out for loop three.
My confidence was a little shaky and I was definitely going much slower this time around. When I got to the aid station, I asked Sharon to dump water on my hands and I cleaned myself up a bit. Then I decided to get my head out of my butt and get back in the game. I headed out into the darkness and got my groove back. By the time I finished loop three, I was ready to rock.
I knew loop four would be the quietest loop. A lot of the 15k runners had finished, complete darkness had settled in, and it was pretty peaceful. I realized at this point, that I had passed several people but no one had passed me. I didn't know how many people were even ahead of me running the 25k distance. When I finished loop four and came through the tent, most of the crowd was gone, but I didn't care. I had one loop left and I was going for it. Back into the woods I went, through the sand, over the roots, following the little LED lights that now, by this fifth lap, were just random dots of light along the trail. Through the aid station once, and then again, and I started thinking that maybe I could place in this race. Where was everyone? I couldn't be that far back, could I? I told myself I had a chance as long as I didn't fall again. I was being very vigilant, never taking my eyes off the trail right in front of me. And then, a mile from the finish, WHAM. I did it again. Are you kidding me?! This time, I was able to roll, which was mostly a good thing, except I had tucked my water bottle into the back of my belt and that did NOT feel good to roll over on top of. I felt like I had been kicked in my kidney. And if I had gotten a little dirty during my first fall, this time I was FILTHY. Oh well. One mile to go and I wasn't going to let someone pass me at this point. I came into the tent and across the finish line and I was done. DONE! And there was Megan, putting a medal around my neck.
Matt had stuck around for the finish and Steve had finished a little bit before me and was there, too.
An Instagram friend, Aidalys, had also mentioned that she would be there, and she came up and introduced herself. We took a pic, because of course we had to-that's Instagram protocol, right? And she also offered me an ice cold beer which I happily accepted.
I kept apologizing to everyone for being so dirty, but they didn't seem to mind. If you think I'm exaggerating, check me out:
After a long wait for the awards ceremony, it was finally announced that I had placed second female overall! I couldn't believe it. I had signed up for this race as a night training run, and I had never expected to do this well. There weren't that many other runners, but hey, second place is second place, right?
I was so thankful for Steve and Aidalys for sticking around so late with me. I'm pretty sure I'll be bumping into them at many more races in the future! I had brought clean clothes to change into before my drive home, but I was soooo dirty with no way to clean up, so I just threw myself in my car and sat in my own filth for the hour drive home. I pulled into my driveway a little past 2am, and when I stepped onto the porch, I took one last look down.
And then, I took the most glorious shower ever. Post-race showers are pretty darn hard to beat! The next day, my muscles weren't sore, but my hip was hurting enough to be annoying and my right elbow is bruised and there's a bruise on my forearm. My right knee ended up faring better than expected and aside from a little gravel rash on my thigh, my leg looks pretty good.
After the Mohican 50, it was a little hard to get back into my training plan and my long weekend runs were getting a bit monotonous, but this race was just what I needed to feel like myself again. Up next: North Country Trail 50 in less than two weeks!
Congrats Amie, would love to take 2nd just once!
ReplyDeleteThank you! It was completely unexpected. A small perk of running a tiny race!
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