Heck, it was my first EVER half marathon -- on-road or off -- and I finished! Michaux has some of the best singletrack in the state and it's just as awesome to run as it is to ride on mountain bike. (Actually, it was easier to run.) The half marathon was part Michaux Mash, part Tour de Cure, and part Ironcross, and maybe parts of other races but those are the events I recall riding and recognized the trail. It was a little over 13. 5 miles and we started on the climb for the Ironcross that takes you up WIGWAM! I was SO excited to be able to go up that thing WITHOUT a bike on my back for a change. There was a gal sitting on a rock half way up Wigwam and she says to me "are you ok?" and I said, "yes, are you??" She was having a bit of an anxiety/asthma attack and needed to catch her breath. She started climbing behind me, and was
glad to hear the top was minutes away. About an hour later, she came up behind me and said, "it took me awhile to catch you!" And then we traded spots and talked the remainder of the race. She was SO nice. Christine drove 6+ hours from upstate New York to race "something shorter." She's an ultra runner, and recently lost 90 pounds through running. She said her longest run was 53 miles. Wow! She's also a vocal music teacher who plays clarinet and piano. Lovely girl. She finished just in front of me by about 30 seconds. When she left, she gave me a hug. Camaraderie amongst off-road runners is the same as mountain bikers. What an awesome group those off-road enthusiasts are. The overall winner was a GIRL! She was from Carlisle, in the 40-49 age group, was totally ripped without an ounce of fat, and her name was Kelly _____ (can't recall her last name). She was very inspiring and finished in 2:27. My time was 3:12 which I'm dang proud of cause I was mid-pack at 17th out of 33 overall, and only 45 minutes behind the winner. Compared to mountain biking - that's a
huge improvement for me. I was nearly always a back of the pack (or DFL) in mountain biking. It's really, really nice to be mid-pack for a change. Maybe I should switch to trail running? ZACH put on a good race and I hope there are more trail run races. He had a plentiful swag bag with an aluminum bottle rather than yet another t-shirt. And since I made podium for a change, I picked up a box of Hammer bars. It nearly paid for my entry with swag. Thank you Zach! And nice meeting you Christine and all the other cool trail runners I met today.
Heck, it was my first EVER half marathon -- on-road or off -- and I finished! Michaux has some of the best singletrack in the state and it's just as awesome to run as it is to ride on mountain bike. (Actually, it was easier to run.) The half marathon was part Michaux Mash, part Tour de Cure, and part Ironcross, and maybe parts of other races but those are the events I recall riding and recognized the trail. It was a little over 13. 5 miles and we started on the climb for the Ironcross that takes you up WIGWAM! I was SO excited to be able to go up that thing WITHOUT a bike on my back for a change. There was a gal sitting on a rock half way up Wigwam and she says to me "are you ok?" and I said, "yes, are you??" She was having a bit of an anxiety/asthma attack and needed to catch her breath. She started climbing behind me, and was
glad to hear the top was minutes away. About an hour later, she came up behind me and said, "it took me awhile to catch you!" And then we traded spots and talked the remainder of the race. She was SO nice. Christine drove 6+ hours from upstate New York to race "something shorter." She's an ultra runner, and recently lost 90 pounds through running. She said her longest run was 53 miles. Wow! She's also a vocal music teacher who plays clarinet and piano. Lovely girl. She finished just in front of me by about 30 seconds. When she left, she gave me a hug. Camaraderie amongst off-road runners is the same as mountain bikers. What an awesome group those off-road enthusiasts are. The overall winner was a GIRL! She was from Carlisle, in the 40-49 age group, was totally ripped without an ounce of fat, and her name was Kelly _____ (can't recall her last name). She was very inspiring and finished in 2:27. My time was 3:12 which I'm dang proud of cause I was mid-pack at 17th out of 33 overall, and only 45 minutes behind the winner. Compared to mountain biking - that's a huge improvement for me. I was nearly always a back of the pack (or DFL) in mountain biking. It's really, really nice to be mid-pack for a change. Maybe I should switch to trail running? ZACH put on a good race and I hope there are more trail run races. He had a plentiful swag bag with an aluminum bottle rather than yet another t-shirt. And since I made podium for a change, I picked up a box of Hammer bars. It nearly paid for my entry with swag. Thank you Zach! And nice meeting you Christine and all the other cool trail runners I met today. 
2 comments:
You are awesome! Congrats on a great race. And cool swag too.
Congrats!! Glad to hear you had a great time!! Sorry i left you high and dry....i'll call you later! D:)
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