![]() Heading down the stairs on the other side, I’m passed on the second to last step by the girl with the back tattoos. Remind myself I’m near the finish and pick up my feet and pick up the pace!! I caught myself and stumbled again about 100 feet later. ![]() I started catching my shoe on a root (ouch!) then something else. Around mile 24 it seemed like I was tripping over everything. ![]() The stairs going up are railroad ties set into the earth, I took those one at a time instead of two. At the picnic shelter aid station I passed the girl in the blue shirt easily – I guess she really was trying to get rid of me before! I ran my best on the summit loop and during a flat section looked at my time – no chance of making 4 hours but still doing pretty well. At least with a trail race, I dare not look at my GPS, lest I trip over something. Around mile 19 the mile markers stopped for the next 4 miles, thankfully in my opinion-as I start to obsess about the miles. ![]() I set a moderate pace, but was still passing quite a few walkers. The threat of being lapped was over (I made it!). I thanked her for pacing me and stopped to walk, take off my shirt and eat another Gu. Although, I think she was burning the candle from both ends trying to shake me! Towards the end of lap 2, I looked down and saw blood spots. I was feeling awesome letting her pull me along. I came up on one girl in a blue shirt around mile 5 where I felt like was really in tune with her running – I didn’t look at the trail, just at the way she was running and I didn’t hit anything and we were cruising – I think we were hitting 8 minute miles. The first couple made me a little uncomfortable because I couldn’t see the trail around them. The second lap the race thinned out considerably and I was finding myself behind some really fantastic runners. I didn’t have any really bad landings in the first lap but I felt like I was taking a beating when I had to really pick up the pace to pass people. With my race goal in mind, I started taking a few riskier passes. I ended up behind Blanca for a couple of miles until the top of the Summit loop where the trail gradually turns downhill, there aren’t many roots and rocks so I could open it up. I mostly sat in behind people, passing when there was a good opportunity. I passed a few people on the half mile section of road and we headed onto the trail. With that in mind, I decided my race goal was “don’t get lapped by the marathon leader.” Still, I’m not the best trail runner so I took my usual position at the end of the starting lineup. Charles West was working registration and warned I wasn’t allowed to start early this time (Wrightsville Beach allowed people who declared a 5+ hour finish time start 30 minutes early), Ben Dillon who was running Marathon #32, Billy, Anjela, Charles and Blanca, Jim and Jade, Elizabeth, Bobby, Cindy, and Benjamin.Īs they say don’t set your expectations too high and you won’t be disappointed. I arrived early, got my number and chip pinned on and said hi to a lot of Raleigh friends. At the end of opening day, I signed up for the marathon. The marathon takes much longer to fill up. The fall races have two options, a 10 mile race and a full marathon. When the registration for the Medoc Fall Races opened, I figured I would stand my and let the dust and malay settle down and if there were still spots left at the end of the day, I would sign up.
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