January
24
Now living in Huntsville gives me the perfect opportunity to explore a
new set of regional races that I would never have traveled to from
Virginia. The race I have heard the most
about in Huntsville is the Mountain Mist 50k.
Rick Gray highly encouraged me to run this race when I saw him at the
Barkley Fall Classic, so I signed up as soon as possible. I am not sure how many runners started, but
the race entries were capped at 500.
 |
| Darin before the start |
My daughter, Amy, has volunteered to come out and crew for me. As we reach the top of Monte Sano, there is a
covering of snow in the woods. It looks
like a half inch or so, and it is very beautiful! I think the temperature at the start is
around 30. I decide to wear tights with
a couple of shirts, hat, and gloves. I
see Rick Gray and Clark Zealand before the start. It is good to see them, and I never see them
after the gun goes off.
Mile
6.7 1:04:33 (9:38 avg./mile)
O’Shaughnessy Point
These
first few miles are on clean surfaces (roads, smooth trails) without much
change in elevation. This feels a little
quick for me, but I want to push things a little to find out my true fitness
level. My hands were cold for the first
mile, and then I warmed up nicely. The
early road portion allowed everyone to spread out well. I feel good at this point.
Mile
11.9 1:01:05 (11:45 avg./mile) Aid
Station #2
Nearing
this second aid station, Charlie Taylor is close by me. I hear him talk about beating cancer in the
past year. He seems to be a determined
and lucky individual. He has also
completed the Volunteer State 300 a few times.
Right after the aid station, I talk with him briefly asking if he knows
Rita Barnes. Of course he does as she
has also run the Volunteer State 300 a few times. He also knows John Price from Virginia. At this aid station, I grab a cup of water
and a handful of potato chips. My pace
feels comfortable, and I think I am moving well at this point.
Mile
17.3 1:07:41 (12:32 avg./mile) Fearn
Road
The
course becomes more interesting as we traverse through the stone cuts and up
and down several small climbs. The trail
has become muddier in many places. My
feet are doing okay, but my shoes are completely caked with mud. Near the end of this section, I chat with
Chris Redman, who is Rick’s brother-in-law.
We swap a few Rick stories before the aid station. Amy is at this aid station so I trade out my
Camelbak for a full one. Then I drink a
pint of chocolate milk, and drop off my hat and gloves. In place of the hat, I put on a Buff. It is still cool, but the temperature has
warmed to the high 30s. While this is
more than halfway, most people consider it the halfway point for this race as
the second half is apparently more challenging than the first half. I hope I am able to maintain my effort.
Mile
21.0 57:36 (15:34 avg./mile) Old
Railroad Bed
Challenging begins with a descent into an old
railroad bed. The trail is either a
quagmire of mud or pointy medium size rocks.
It has my complete focus! And,
despite this section being mostly downhill, I am not able to keep up a quick
pace. Although part of this section is
on the “Old Railroad Bed,” at no point could I image there being a railroad
through here. Apparently, old means it
ceased operation in 1896! Most of it is
just a pile of rocks that we are forced to endure. This type of trail is not conducive for
making good time, and my pace suffers because of it.
Mile
25.0 1:09:10 (17:18 avg./mile) Hiker’s
Parking Lot
I
get into a better rhythm after the last aid station, but the trail is no
better, and it is still slow going.
After a couple of miles though, things change, for the worse. The course starts climbing up waterline
trail. It is a good hearty climb, very
steep. Then we continue up, climbing
hand over hand up a waterfall. It is a
good, fun challenge, especially after 23+ miles. Finally, I arrive at the road crossing just
before the aid station. Amy is at this
one, but I don’t need much at this point.
I drink about half a pint of chocolate milk, and then wash it down with
a cup of Coke. I also eat another
handful of potato chips. The chips at
this race are very good, kettle cooked, and well-salted.
Mile
29.5 1:15:39 (16:49 avg./mile) High
Bluff
I
leave the last aid station expecting to pick my pace back up. The trail is nicely rolling for the first
mile, but I am not moving very well, and the Coke hasn’t kicked in yet. Then the course descends down a very muddy
and steep trail. I get passed by a
couple of people before things started clicking for me. I literally slide by the last person that
passed me, managing to keep myself upright.
Then I pass the other person that passed me at the start of the
downhill. When the trail finally bottoms
out, I am determined to stay ahead of them.
I push hard up the first part of the ensuing climb. Then I run hard along a rolling section until
the final climb starts in earnest. I
pass four guys powering up this final climb, almost catching a lady that I had
seen about 10 miles ago. At the aid
station, I grab only a cup of Coke and have my eyes locked onto the two runners
just ahead of me.
Mile
31.1 16:34 (10:21 avg./mile) FINISH –
Lodge
The
course is now back on top of the bluff, and it is mostly flat to the
finish. I always think that we must look
like a bunch of geriatrics at this point—shuffling, huffing, and puffing—trying
to finish strong and beat the other runners.
Despite my efforts, I am unable to catch the two runners in front of me
until the finish line is almost in sight.
With a final effort, I push on past them, and run to the finish line.
Official
Finishing Time 6:52:18
 |
| After the finish |
162nd
out of 327 finishers
I am pleased
with my overall effort today. My time is
not as fast as I would have liked, but given the mud on the course and my first
time running this race, I guess it will have to do. The best parts of today are that this was an
interesting and challenging course that gave me an excellent workout. My right ankle also held up very well despite
the mud and technical trail.
At this
point, I am not sure what my next race will be, although I have my eye on
Cheaha 50k on February 28. It is run on
part of the Pinhoti Trail in central Alabama.
Never stop
running,
Darin
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