Started out feeling smooth and quick. My strategy was to do 5mi/5mi/5k and pick up the pace at each and that worked quite well. Autumn informed me we were running sub-9's in the first couple of miles but I wasn't worried as my HR was in check. My strategy was to do 5mi/5mi/5k and pick up the pace at each and that worked quite well. There was a bit of a slowdown as we got to the bottle neck trail that takes us into the park. Miles 2 - 4 were pretty uneventful. Just trails, some mild hills, and an ass slap for Autumn. Mile 5 (I think) had a great downhill. Autumn had warned me to take it easy on the downhills as she'd witnessed and heard of some people getting hurt the last two years. I thought about that and then realized the trail was in great shape so I absolutely flew down that hill and passed a whole lot of people in the process. I was able to get my HR back down just in time to face a very hard hill somewhere after the 6 mile marker. It must be nearly .25 miles steadily up a steep hill (at least that's my perception). I felt pretty strong going up and walked only a few seconds at the top. Miles 7-9 were gentle rollers with generally good trail. Mile 9 has the hardest hill up which most were walking (including me for about half of it). Its shorter but steeper than the one in mile 6 and I was definitely starting to feel the fatigue in my legs. Somewhere about mile 10 I tried to kick it up again but it wasn't as fast as I'd hoped. My legs were getting awfully fried. At about mile 11.5 there's a shortish but very steep downhill over a creek bed and back up hill. I'm thinking, who puts a hard hill at mile 11.5?!?! Finally, we exit the park and are back on pavement. As we take the turn to go the last mile to the church, I realize that its uphill the rest of the way. No wonder that first mile felt so damn easy. I was able to notch up the effort a bit more in the last mile and was just pouring sweat. I was cooking to the finish line and about 100 feet away when I hear sprinting behind me. WTF, we're 100 ft. away and you're gonna try to out sprint me. No way, buddy! I kicked it hard and beat his ass to the finish line.

I might've tried a little different strategy on the hard uphills to conserve my legs a little. Perhaps I'd have had more in them for the flats where I needed the speed. I definitely needed to dress with my level of exertion in mind. I was dressed for an easy effort run and ended up having to ditch the vest about an hour in.

Stood around and had some apples, bananas, powerade and water and waited for Autumn to come in. Stretched for a bit and then went into the church's fellowship hall for Alphabet Soup, PB&J sandwiches, and cookies. This was such a great small town event. All the church ladies serving lunch. The guys out on the course on their 4 wheelers and coveralls. So very, very different than most of the events here in "The Cities". I also got drawn for a door prize: Homemade Grape Jelly and a bag of apples. I didn't quite understand the little old lady handing them out but I think I might've been able to get a fire escape ladder, too. How random is that?


Hills? Trails? I'd be interested to see how a flat-ish pavement half mary would go for me...


If you don't mind only 3 or 4 aid stations over 13 miles, this is a perfect event. The venue's fantastic, the people are super nice, and its small and low-key. There's a 5K, 10K, 1/2 Mary and a Kid's 1K so it could literally be a whole family event. I'd highly recommend it to anyone.