Started out a little too fast (8:10 first mile) which came back to haunt me a bit. Really struggled on the steep uphills and probably walked 5% of the course. Just about rolled my ankle several times on the rough terrain (I never run on trails, so I'm not used to it). Hit mile two @ 17:00. Third mile was the single-file path area through the woods, plus another uphill section. Didn't see any mile markers after the second, but obviously my times really slowed down as I went along. I desperately just wanted this race to finish.

I didn't kick at all and was very happy the lady who finished behind me didn't force me to sprint. :-)

Final time of 44:31, which I'll take given the difficulty of this course.

Nothing really, maybe slow down a bit the first mile, though I doubt that hurt anything.

Milled around watching my wife's aunt finish. Noted that no one looked happy finishing; they just looked relieved.


No trail running and didn't really prepare for the race.


This is the final race of the year for me. Since the HM last month I haven't done much running and have been focusing on swimming for the most part. I also haven't run any trails and haven't raced a cross-country run since high school.

This course is freakin' brutal. Uphill, downhill, sidehill, gopher holes, grapevine branches, roots in the woods. I would have much rather hiked it than run it. Very pretty, though. This is also a pretty competitive race with almost 600 runners.

Howard County Striders did a good job running the race. Nice t-shirt which I didn't get because I signed up day of race, but I got a discount on the entry fee because of this. Good post-race food, etc., and everyone hit the tasting room afterward.

My feet and legs are killing me next day from the brutal assault.