Little River 10 Mile Trail Race
Last weekend we ran in the Little River 10 Mile trail race. When I signed us up, I didn't realize just how cold it would be.... Yeah I know it's January, but in North Carolina it's entirely possible to be comfortably wearing shorts one week and a heavy parka the next week. You just never know.
The morning of the race, when we left, it was about 25 degrees. They warned us to arrive early, drive slow (potential ice) and anticipate getting our cars stuck in the mud once the ground thawed some. Luckily the second part didn't happen!
As we stood in line, freezing our butts off, I swear the song Cold As Ice by Foreigner was blaring. Well played, race organizers. Well played.
Us at the start, freezing our tails off. It was a small race with only 300 or so people. It was also the first time we had run this course.
They warned us of ice and mud on the trail... we had no idea. Wow. Most of the little wooden bridges over boggy areas were a sheet of ice. Then as things warmed slightly (actually more to do with the fast runners tromping over the ground) the once icy ground turned into a mud pit. There were multiple spots where I walked, just to keep from busting my butt.
Heck there was a fairly long section along the river that was so muddy they had volunteers along the sides to help people get back up when they wiped out... it was like grease!
The volunteers were great - they were everywhere warning of slick spots, helping people, cheering and yelling. Someone dressed as Gumby kept showing up at different spots. I wish I'd taken pictures of him!
As I made it through the 1/4 mile of greased muck by the river I heard music in the distance! I, along with a group of runners that paced along with me, made our way up a treacherous one track path that went steeply up the side of a hill (using trees to keep our footing) - we found a very cold musician at the top!
And here's the exciting part - I had a PR! Ok, maybe it's not one that people usually celebrate. For the first time ever, I was DEAD LAST! Ha. I've never been a fast runner, and I'm totally cool with that. But usually I have a number of people behind me. My theory is that it had to do with it being such a small race to start with and that only the "hard core" people showed up for the icy/freezing conditions. But, who knows. In my defense, I was only .1 sec behind another woman from that running group.
Here's a terrible picture of me on the course, my warm pants and layers make me look HUGE!
All in all it was a fun race & we definitely felt accomplished. Neither of us actually fell (although I honestly couldn't tell you how many times I slipped and almost fell.) The organizers and volunteers were great. The only complaint really was that the course was loopy and back and forth a lot. You kept passing everywhere you had just been. Really, that didn't bug me too much, since I was mostly staring at the ground. :)
The morning of the race, when we left, it was about 25 degrees. They warned us to arrive early, drive slow (potential ice) and anticipate getting our cars stuck in the mud once the ground thawed some. Luckily the second part didn't happen!
As we stood in line, freezing our butts off, I swear the song Cold As Ice by Foreigner was blaring. Well played, race organizers. Well played.
Us at the start, freezing our tails off. It was a small race with only 300 or so people. It was also the first time we had run this course.
They warned us of ice and mud on the trail... we had no idea. Wow. Most of the little wooden bridges over boggy areas were a sheet of ice. Then as things warmed slightly (actually more to do with the fast runners tromping over the ground) the once icy ground turned into a mud pit. There were multiple spots where I walked, just to keep from busting my butt.
Heck there was a fairly long section along the river that was so muddy they had volunteers along the sides to help people get back up when they wiped out... it was like grease!
The volunteers were great - they were everywhere warning of slick spots, helping people, cheering and yelling. Someone dressed as Gumby kept showing up at different spots. I wish I'd taken pictures of him!
As I made it through the 1/4 mile of greased muck by the river I heard music in the distance! I, along with a group of runners that paced along with me, made our way up a treacherous one track path that went steeply up the side of a hill (using trees to keep our footing) - we found a very cold musician at the top!
And here's the exciting part - I had a PR! Ok, maybe it's not one that people usually celebrate. For the first time ever, I was DEAD LAST! Ha. I've never been a fast runner, and I'm totally cool with that. But usually I have a number of people behind me. My theory is that it had to do with it being such a small race to start with and that only the "hard core" people showed up for the icy/freezing conditions. But, who knows. In my defense, I was only .1 sec behind another woman from that running group.
Here's a terrible picture of me on the course, my warm pants and layers make me look HUGE!
All in all it was a fun race & we definitely felt accomplished. Neither of us actually fell (although I honestly couldn't tell you how many times I slipped and almost fell.) The organizers and volunteers were great. The only complaint really was that the course was loopy and back and forth a lot. You kept passing everywhere you had just been. Really, that didn't bug me too much, since I was mostly staring at the ground. :)