Thrill in the hills trail half/full? (Page 2)

How does the course compare to Twisted Ankle marathon and the Red Top Rumble?

btw, I'm very jealous.  It sounds like a fun race.

Here is my take:

I can't speak for RT but compared to TA this was much, much easier. There were some hills but nothing too terrible. For me the hardest part was how twisty the trail was--it really made me work all the muscles in my legs--like the upper outside of my quads is sore, I'm never sore there. Also, I had a bit of a time with the little dips built in the trail for MT bike--at least that is why I think they were there. I think a taller person could just leap some of those parts but my legs are too short and I was worried about jamming my knee when I'd run the quick steep down then up. So I had to be a little cautious there and had to slow. I did do a lot of leaping over roots and stuff--just seemed easier but I feel this trail was less "technical" then some I have run on. It was a lot like the runs Kate and I do at Kennesaw but I think Fort Yargo had more climbs than what we run.

Also, like everyone said the first mile was pretty slow and I was at the front of the pack. I started off the line like maybe 5or 6 people back even still my first mile was my slowest at 8:5x. I think the pace finally dropped for to sub 8's by the 3rd or 4th mile. Also, the significant hills, if I remember correctly were around 8-11 miles. I think there were 2, maybe 3. Everything else was little hills and I didn't notice them much. But I remember being worried after the first and didn't want to kill my legs so I walked part of the 2nd big hill and then decided I could run it--so it was as big as the first. Again not exactly sure when they were but they seemed to show up after the first hour.