Black Mountain Marathon

I know that a lot of you are wondering how the Black Mountain marathon went so I will give a brief update. Friday, the day before the race was basically a lesson in what not to do before a race. I was unorganized, behind schedule getting work done, still needed to get the RV - and oh wait, de-winterize the thing, cook food to take with, pack, take care of the dogs, write instructions for the pet sitter. The race meeting was at 8 that night. Brad was going to go with me to watch Willow and Pepe' while I raced. We arrived at the race site at 8:20 - we missed the meeting. Oh well, I mean it is just a mountain marathon on some wicked terrain. I guess I just needed to follow everyone. There was nothing I could do about it at that point so I just got my number, my cool hat and socks and off we went to walk the dogs. But wait, the one guy asked us why Brad wasn't running. The only reason he wasn't running is because the race was full and he could not get in. BUT now the weather was taking a turn for the worse and a lot of people were not there so it was decided that Brad could run. Great! So we go and walk the dogs who go crazy walking around the lake and then will not calm down in the RV. There was no way we could possibly leave them in the RV for 5 hours alone on Saturday. So at 9:30 we turned the RV around and drove back down the mountain to my house. I had a small meltdown around 11PM and then was able to go to bed. Back up at 3:30 to leave the house at 4:15.

Race Day

We get there in plenty of time to get a prime parking spot about 40 feet from the finish line. The rain is already coming down and no amount of water proof anything is going to keep us dry today. Storm socks, Gore-Tex shoes - you name it we had it. Extra gloves, hats and hand warmers, food, water - since we were told we would need to carry everything we would need. At the race start everyone is mulling around. I am a little worried since it is the first race I have ever been to without port-a-lets at the start. Of course these are all hard core people! The race starts and my Garmin tells me it has no battery. Brads doesn't work either. Not surprising considering the way the last day has gone but it really doesn't matter now because I am running this darn race either way. My old Polar at least keeps the time for me.

The first few miles were on the road. I really tried to resist my temptation to push to the front during the first few miles. There were not any mile markers the entire course which was great at first but drove me nuts the last 3-4 miles. After a steep incline we hit trail and I was in heaven. I LOVE trail running. I took off like a fool running a 5K but was quickly reminded that it was a long trail run as I hit the next incline - actually it was all a slight incline. The terrain was good for the first 5 miles or so and then all of a sudden we hit some fire roads which seemed to be a good thing until they became absolutely covered with big jagged rocks. Oh and water was flooding down the fire road like a stream bed. A lot of people tell me the views are great up there but honestly all I could do was watch where I was putting my feet. Later in the race I purposely ran through puddles to cool off my burning blisters - which felt good until I got sand in them too. oops. Going up the mountain was interesting. We passed some redneck shacks where people actually live, we passed a bear hunting club as well as some crazy looking mountain men who I actually talked with. They were having a good laugh at all of us and could not wait to come "rescue" us on their 4-wheelers should the need arise. Call it crazy meets crazy. Sorry to digress from the story. Going up the mountain I was alone a lot which was ok. I needed to focus on not breaking my neck :o) When we started to get close to the Blue Ridge Parkway it started getting really cold and the wind started howling. I was really glad that I was not going all the way to the very top (The Challenge they call it). I made a quick stop at the top for some chips and Coke and then started back down the trail. I saw Brad making his way to the turn around so I stopped to see how he was doing - basically he was freezing but otherwise ok. I love running down hill but somehow the combination of wet rocks and cold did not work well for me. I kept twisting my knee so I had to slow down and walk the tricky parts for fear of really getting hurt. I talked with some people on the way down and shared my ibuprofen with many. The last 3 or so miles were on the road which was great because all of a sudden I felt like I could run again. I was really glad to be done...4 hours and 44 min. I have never ever run that long in my life. The funny part was when I looked at the results today I found that I was the 5th woman and the 33rd person to finish the marathon - so really I did well is what I am trying to say. Brad was right behind me in 4:56 (4oth) and smiling all the way to the finish. It was a great adventure. We met lots of new people and made new friends with Elana & Mo from Canada (pictures above). We got really nice North Face fleece jackets when we finished and the awards dinner was amazing. The entire organization of this race was 1st class. I highly recommend doing this to anyone who loves a challenge.