Tiger Mountain 25K FAT ASS - Run

FAT ASS = No Fees, No Awards, No Aid, No Wimps


"The 2016 Fat Ass will be remembered as the snow year. No record times this year and most decided that one loop was a sufficient workout for their first run of the year.

The re-routing using the Main Tiger Road avoided the deepest snow up Bootleg. At least three runners did use the Bootleg and plowed through 4 foot deep snow up and over West Tiger #1. There were a number of extra credits earned with various planned or unplanned trail options. Generally everyone working their way through the one foot of snow on the tower road admitted it was tough going but accepted it in the spirit of a Fat Ass event."

I ran with a couple friends for the first 4 or 5 miles. This was the portion of the race that wound around the base of the mountain. It was nice, easy running and a great way to warm up on a very chilly day. Is you can guess from the above quote from the "organizer" it had snowed an exceptional amount but the day was clear and cold and beautiful!

Finally we crossed over to the High School trail, one I am very familiar with, and started our first long climb (about 3 miles.)

I broke away from our group pretty quickly on the climb. I put my head down and one foot in front of the other. Gradually the snow got deeper and deeper. The trail also got steeper and steeper and finally the combination of compact snow and steep terrain forced me to stop and put on my micro-spikes. I did this relatively quickly then jumped back on the trail.

We continued ascending then finally crested the final hill and continued along the broad ridge before descending down into valley along the TMT trail. Descending into the valley in the deep snow was a blast. We crossed a few icy-snow-covered bridges and then made a medium long climb up another ridge before descending into another valley.

I was running pretty hard at this point because I wasn't completely familiar with this part of the trail due to the reroute. I caught up to a group of guys and made the turn up onto the service road with them. The snow was deep here, at least a foot. Someone had post-holed their way through here ahead of us so I really tried to stay in their tracks but they had a much longer stride than I so it was a challenge. It was veeeeerrrry slow going here as we climbed our way up, up and up!

I had chatted with a few of the guys as we worked out way up the mountain. We decided it was such a beautiful day, we should take a little detour up to Tiger Mountain #1 (the range has a series of peaks.)

It was about a half mile (one way) out of the way and 500' gain but it was SO WORTH IT. What a view (see photos)

Descending was fun too as the deep snow had been softened by the sun.

We descended back to the main route and then climbed up to the next summit. (Tiger #2.) After this summit you run across a short ridge section, in the middle of it was a two man band playing (and singing) jingle bells on the ukulele! It was awesome. We passed the duo and headed across the last part of the ridge to finally hit the third summit of the day (Tiger #3)

Now it was time to descend! I am not usually a fan but snow changed the game a little. You can run a little more recklessly. We whizzed through the woods in knee deep snow, weaving through the trees. I had a huge smile on my face. We descended very quickly and finally were out of the deep snow. I quickly took off my microspikes and then kept going, dropping some fast miles (sub 6) on a nice, gentle descent all the way to the finish.

I ended up 3 woman overall with a *extra credit designation because I did the detour up to Tiger 1. So I won the * category lol.




This was so much fun, I though I ran it well and really enjoyed myself

BEER