We started right at 6 along with the people running the 10K. Started at the back of the crowd and took it real easy to not get caught up in the faster pace of the short race. The ladies next to us are running the Monument marathon next weekend (one said for redemption) so I said I'd run for redemption tomorrow. They looked puzzled and I told them I was doing the marathon tonight and a 30-mile trail run the next morning. They shook their heads, but the guy behind me pipes up "You too??" His name is Steve. Along the park trail, a few volunteers are dressed up in their best goth moaning and carrying on (one is a friend of my youngest two boys). We continue along in the fading light. After the turn around (maybe 15 minutes into the race) I ask a couple people passing us if this was their second loop (they laughed). We trot along and walk every uphill, letting anyone faster get ahead of us. This can be a bit of a challenge for Natalie, but she holds back and we jog along together. Along the top of the loop, I stop to take a picture of the sunset and Natalie just shakes her head...this is the most unusual "race" she's attempted. The first loop we have a lot of company with a few relays and all of the 10K'ers who started right at 6 also. As we hit the downhill by the mausoleum, there's a 15-mph speed limit sign, so I joke that we should slow down to avoid a ticket. We get a few comments as "the tourist" passes people in the last half of the loop (it isn't like we were speeding along, just a steady pace). Nothing eventful until we leave the cemetery and a volunteer in a gorilla suit jumps out from the woods.

The second loop there are still some relay runners nearby, but obviously the 10K'ers are nearly done. It's now D-A-R-K. We continue to jog along, walking all of the uphills. The weather is great. I'm wearing a t-shirt and hawiian shirt which is just about right for the weather and the pace. As we walk up the big hill towards the main entrance, a couple of ladies pass us and overhear us talking about this being our second loop and the rest of the night. They admit that as they came up behind us, they looked at both of us and thought "they're so fit, why are they walking??" We tell them it's our strategy, and they say how smart we are. Natalie tells them I'm doing a 30-mile run the next day, and the one lady says "I recend that last statement!" They're telling us they thought Natalie was so fit and thin, and I had huge calves and we shouldn't need to walk. We laughed as they get ahead of us. We catch up to them after the top of the hill, and they comment on what a cute couple we are. Um...we're not married to each other, we just train together...This isn't the first or last time we hear this statement tonight.

The third loop is pretty lonely. Everyone is pretty well spaced out, and the people passing us now are the people who started much later and run much faster. The run out is the last time we see the volunteer actors (they creeped Natalie out quite a bit). We trot along, noticing that it's a bit cooler than before, but still a great evening. Walk the hills, run otherwise, and don't worry about the pace. I'm confident we're still right in the same ballpark as the first loop, so I figure we'll finish around 11:15-11:20 instead of 11:00. It's nice to not have pressure about being behind pace or anything. We see Steve starting his 4th loop as we come in on our 3rd. Natalie wonders if we can catch him, and we decide we're not going to try (not good for me). Natalie has been a bit concerned that we're getting dangerously close to a midnight finish, but I reassure her we're doing fine on time. The only real difference loop to loop is the time we spend at stops. We figured this would be the toughest loop.

We head out on our 4th loop and it's dark and mostly quiet. We hit the turn around after the aid station and Steve is 50 yards ahead of us. We pick him up and the three of us "run" to the hill. Steve agrees to walk the hills with us and I offer that majority can deem anything a "hill" if needed. We laugh and shuffle along the upper loops. We talk a bit about marathons and ultras. Steve has run 78 of these things, and did both the screaming pumpkin and 30-mile trail run last year. He said the screaming pumpkin was his favorite marathon. We continue to trot along and my knees and feet are starting to complain a bit. We did walk a bit during a few of the flats, but nothing much different. I commit in my head that we'll run all the way from the aid station to the finish line and we see the "12-mile" mark on the ground. As we come up the trail, Steve says "this is a hill" and Natalie tells him I've already set us up to run this one anyways. He says we could walk and nobody would know, but the three of us continue to jog along. We round the bend and make the final little up-n-back to the finish line, waving at the spectators/participants gathered for the festivities. The live music is done, but people are lively.

The three of us cross at the same time. A friend gives us the tiera and wand and snaps pictures.

Train more, but really given the back-to-back events this weekend, NOTHING!!

Grabbed some mac-n-cheese mixed with chili. Posed for a couple pics and chatted for a bit, but I needed to get out of there to get ready for the trail run in a few short hours. A bit of stretching.


I really expected we'd come in close to 5 hours (11 PM), but to run 4 1:19 loops on the training we've done is pretty darn good! I'm glad we didn't try to start any closer to midnight as that would have put a bit more pressure on us.


They were pretty much out of food when we finished (45 minutes before the "goal") Otherwise, a well run race. They said they doubled the number of glow sticks marking the route this year compared to last year's inaugural race. The walking event returns to the S/F where the runners make a turn-around. They had a volunteer there to help, but the route had to be marked both ways, and a few runners I know went all the way back to the gatehouse since they didn't see the marks on the pavement. Once the volunteer leaves, they should "close off" the walk route.

Lots of pretty interesting costumes. I was surprised as many people on the second and third loops recognized "the tourist."