Saturday morning began with me needing to work at 6am...luckily I was working from home, and just kept my fingers crossed that I wouldn't run into any problems. Anything short of a a flawless release would have jeopardized my ability to make it to the race - so I was very happy when everything went without a hitch. My brother Aaron decided he was going to be running in the race with our wives coming down later for the BBQ, so I picked him up at his place and we headed down.
When we got there Jun was sitting in his car with his brother, Brent, and a few people started to trickle into the parking lot. I stuffed my belly with a throw pillow I had brought, and I looked significantly more than just half pregnant. We gathered around as people continued to show, and we ended up with a good little group. Leslie and Jeremy called and said they would be a little late, so we decided to just get going and Craig would hang back to start with them. We gave a couple of quick tips and then had a very non-sequential countdown, and then we were off.
Dan was immediately out in front, and then Eric, who had hung back to ask Craig a question, caught up and passed to second place shortly into the run. They quickly moved ahead. Josh hung behind me for a couple of miles, until after the first climb I mentioned that it had really drained my legs, and that I'd hoped they'd come back by the time we got to Canyon Hollow. He took that as a hint, and when I stopped for a moment to make sure a junction was marked, he took his spot in front and was quickly way out in front of me. The concern about the condition of his legs he had said before the race seemed to be completely unfounded, at least to me! Matt VH was shortly behind as we had come up the climb, and I kept expecting to see him come up behind me, but it wasn't until a little after passing the 10K turnaround that he caught up to me, and seemed content to fall in behind me (I think he didn't want to get lost!). I chatted with him for a few minutes and then realized he had his headphones in and didn't hear a thing. Ha.
We made our way to Canyon Hollow and just plugged our way up. Shortly after starting our way up, I noticed that Brent and Cameron were running up the Ghost Falls trail, Brent noticed Matt and I at about the same time, and we had a little shouting match to try and get them back on track. I was going to tell them to just keep going and meet up with this trail, but that would have been a little harder to explain, especially shouting across the canyon - so I just told them to head back to the road and up Canyon Hollow, so then at least they're following the marked course. I caught back up to Matt and we kept on running - slopping our way through the mud. As we got to the top I stopped to pee and Matt continued on. The mud on Corner Canyon road up to Clarks was just a sticky mess. It reminded me a lot of the way the road looked for Craig and Davys skyline run. I can't imagine doing 50+ miles in that.
Once I got to the top of Clarks Matt was there scraping off his shoes and finishing off a gel, so we joined up again and made our way down Clarks. That trail was an absolute mudfest! It was super fun to just fly down the trail, pretty much completely out of control! I think Matt was running behind me so he could have a good seat if I fell, but unfortunately he slowed down for a minute and then I actually did fall! Funny, I didn't slip at all, I just caught a toe and landed in the nice soft mud - made for a nice landing! At the bottom of Clarks Matt caught back up to me and we headed down the road back to the trail to take us back. At this point Jeremy came running down from the direction of Canyon Hollow and fell in behind us. We were both wearing our Lone Peaks, with Matt in Cascadias in the middle. He called out to me - "We've got a non-believer among us...we need to convert him" I laughed and let him know that Matt had joined the Altra club, and was just transitioning into them - so we were among friends. :)
At the junction that puts you on the dirt road for a couple hundred yards Matt pulled ahead and really started to put a little gap on me. I figured he could smell the finish and knew his way back, so he was off. What I realized as I crested the hill before crossing Corner Canyon road, was that it was the bathroom he was smelling, and not quite the finish. I continued on, not seeing anyone in front of, or behind me. I had worried the whole race that Craig was going to catch up to me, and I was really surprised that I hadn't seen him. I even entertained thoughts that he might have gotten delayed at the start and just decided to run the 10K. With about two miles to go, however I hear "MAAATT! I'm comin' after your A!!". Ahh man. At this point my energy was feeling really low, but I still tried to hold him off as much as I could. He caught me a little before the trail starts to turn east up the canyon before the climb. At the bridge I was feeling really low on energy and let him pass me after the bridge. I didn't want to hold him up on the climb. That was one of the few times I've ever hiked that hill, but I just had nothing left in the tank. I hadn't eaten enough and was really feeling it. At the top I could still see Craig near the bottom, and I could now see Matt below on the other side making his way towards me. Dang! I gotta keep pushing!
That last mile and a half was brutal. I just felt like I was going SO SLOW - Every time a leaf would rustle I would look back expecting to see Matt right on my tail, but he never did materialize. I made a complete mess of the couple of little climbs that it throws at you near the end and just tried to push hard once I crossed the bridge. I ran as hard as I could down the paved part to finish in 2:15 and change. Josh was there waiting, Craig was running around doing something and Dan was around as well, with Leslie hanging in her van waiting for hubby Jeremy to finish.
We hung out as Matt, Jeremy and Cameron finished out, and then Craig and I began to wonder where our brothers were! Craig had a voicemail from Brent saying that he was lost, but when Craig called him back, Brent reported they were back on track and only about a mile out and that my brother was with him as well. We were relieved that they were close (and not lost) and watched as we could see them on the trail far away and then as they took the higher trail (which a lot of people seemed to do) to add a little extra to their already high mileage! From what I understand Brent took quite the detour, amassing nearly a mile and a half extra, and amost 700 feet more vert! Aaron also took a detour, but not quite the same magnitude. It was fun to see them finish and we were both stoked that our brothers got the job done - neither of them have done any running quite like this, so it was a great accomplishment. I don't think there are too many half marathons that are tougher than this one.
Afterwards we headed over to Craigs for a tasty BBQ where we had a great time just hanging out and getting to know each other better. It's so fun to have good running friends, most of which I've just met through the blog and eventually (hopefully) out on the trail! Great group of people!
Thanks to all of those that braved the elements and made it out, and for those that missed it - there will be more to come! Craig and I have got some good ideas for organizing more of these 'unorganized' runs - So be ready! :)
