I started out at the back of the pack. I need to stop doing that. I got behind a bunch of people who were, evidently, planning to walk every up hill. I didn't want to do that, but because the trail was single track, I couldn't get around them right away. In the grand scheme of the race, this probably didn't cost me a lot of time, but it was still frustrating.

During the Triangle portion, I got behind a group of 10 people. It was great. This was probably one of the best parts of the race for me. We had a lot of fun. I told the runners I was with that we probably looked like a conga line snaking through the trees, single file, all running. The pace was perfect and it was fun to be with people. We also saw a herd (?) of deer run through the forest. It was a really beautiful part of the course.

We ran a few more miles, and spread out quite a bit. I was a good Samaritan in this portion because a woman running in front of me, missed a turn. At first I thought I was wrong, but I soon realized that she was going the wrong way, I called up to her, "Hey! I think we're supposed to turn here." She was horrified. She said, "OMG, I never would have noticed; I would have just kept going and wondered why I wasn't running into anyone." Maybe the trail gods would look after me for my good deed. I think they did.

"Fall Down Hill," was just that. I didn't fall, but I could see how someone could. The RD had posted signs all along that section saying, "Slow Down." It was steep, and muddy, with a very sharp turn at the bottom. In his pre race email the RD said, "Slow down when it says to 'Slow Down'; otherwise, you could have a section of the trail named after you." Seriously. You would go flying right off the hill and down into a valley.

I think I may have fallen at "Nicely Broken Leg Turn" or maybe at "Speed Demon Ridge." We running along the side of a ridge, and the mud was deep. There was no traction at all. My left foot just slid right out from under me, to the side, and I kept slipping down, onto my left side. There was no problem, and I jumped right up, but I got a little dirty.

I think it was at (or near) "Misery Ridge" where we came to the first rope. I turned a corner and was faced with an incredibly steep, muddy up hill section with a rope. The only way up was to hold onto the rope and pull myself up, while my feet were slipping the whole way. I thought one was bad, but then we came to a second. Going down after those sections was not easy, either. But I managed both without completely falling.

During the early part of the race, I kept hearing people say, "Wow, this is bad. The last two miles are going to be impossible." I didn't believe them because I didn't see how the trail could get much worse. I was wrong.

During the last two miles, we ran the "Three Hills Section." It is as described. The hills are steep, muddy, and no ropes. It was just slow slogging all the way up. I thought I should be able to run down, but that didn't really work because of the rocks. I ran as fast as I could, but often had to slow down to climb off rocks.

After climbing the third hill, we came to a flat limestone top, which was great to run on because it wasn't muddy, but I was also a little fearful that I would slip. I didn't. Hurray!

There was also a water crossing in there somewhere (the whole race is kind of blurring together now, just two days after). The water wasn't deep, so I decided to run through it with the hope that I could clean off some of the mud from my shoes. I think that worked, but then I was very quickly back in the mud, so it was a short lived reprieve.

I carried my own water (just an 8 oz bottle) because I didn't want to have to waste time at the aid stations. I made a critical error at the Dam Hill Aid Station. I reached that station (maybe at the 5.5-6 mile mark) in 1:25. I was pretty pleased with that, and not realizing how tough the next four miles were going to be, I elected not to eat anything or refill my water. I should have grabbed something. I can usually run in training for 1:45 without food, but at that point, I am ready to eat something. The next aid station was at about mile 8, so I should have been okay, except the trail deteriorated, and I got tired. At one point, I was running on a relatively flat section, maybe just a little incline, and I stopped running and started walking. There was no reason. I told myself to start running again, and I did, but I think I was really losing energy in my legs because of the lack of food.

When I hit the 8 mile aid station at a little over 2 hours, I was desperate for some quick energy. The worker offered a snickers bar, but that kind of made my stomach roll, so he offered this muffin thing that was amazing. I must find out what these were and make them -- they had all kinds of grains in them, maybe sunflower seeds, nuts, mini M&Ms. They were just incredible. I also drank a cup of Gatorade, but still didn't fill my water. That was probably a mistake, as I didn't have water at all for the last mile of the race.

It took about 10 minutes for the muffin to get into my system. I had to keep talking to myself the whole time, "I know you aren't feeling too energetic right now, but you will be okay. Give it five minutes or so. You will be fine." And I was. I felt back to my old self with about 1.5 miles to go. Still tired and ready to be finished, but I felt strong enough to get it done.


Eat something at mile 6.

Start in the middle, not at the back.

Hubby greeted me at the finish, showed me where the Lentil soup was, got me some hot cocoa, helped me sign up for a massage, carted all of my junk to the car while I got my massage. And then I started to be really cold. It was still barely 40 out, probably closer to 37. I hadn't noticed it while running. I had even taken off my gloves and jacket and had considered taking off my ear warmers.

But once I stopped running, I was freezing. I was actually still cold all day yesterday. I'm only just now beginning to feel like I'm warm again.

My left knee was bothering me a bit, so the massage guy worked my left IT band. Ouch. But it hasn't been bothering me at all since.

Every single thing on my body, except my face, hurt yesterday. Upper body, back, and hands from pulling on the rope; legs and feet from running. Today, just my quads are screaming at me.

Age group was 0-92, but in my normal age group of 50-59, I was 3 out of 5. Even though I was aiming for 2:00 - 2:15 for this race, I am satisfied with my placement.


Mud and gunk.


I will be back. It was amazing. This is allegedly the largest trail race in Kansas, and I believe it. There were hundreds of people out there. We were not kind to that trail, and I feel bad about that.