Gunpowder Keg Ultra Trail Race (FatAss 50k)

I attended this race last year (2011) and it was my first ever experience at an ultra event and my first time at this park. Being that it was a FatAss we went and ran only half of the race. It was held only 2 weeks after flooding of the area so there were lots of downed trees and debris all over the trails. Some of the trails even had to be rerouted. It was quite an experience and I couldnt wait to come back in 2012 to do the whole course!

Fast forward one year and I have a marathon and several ultra distance runs including a 45 miler two weeks before this race under my belt now. I am even more excited to run it this year as a training run for my first 50 miler coming up in November.

Gunpowder Keg Ultra is a FatAss run put on by Baltimore Road Runners club. It runs along the Gunpowder Falls River in a huge park consisting of over 18,000 acres. The race consists of two 15.5 mile loops with two aid stations that are pretty nicely stocked! Plus you pass your car at the start/finish as you head out for the second loop incase you need to stop for anything. It is basically all single and double track. I should mention that it is actually a 10.5 mile loop and a 5 mile loop that makes up the 15.5 mile loop. Get it? Good. Oh, and one more thing...the course is short. Everyone measured short last year and this year anywhere between 26-30 miles I think. Meh, who cares....its a fatass!

Typical Gunpowder Falls trail

I talked two friends into taking the trip down with Rik & I to run it this year. We all car pooled for the 45 minute drive down and got there nice and early. Signed our names on the paper and got ready to run! Weather couldnt have been nicer...chilly at the start and tank tops in the afternoon. Sun all day long!

It started at 8am with the RD giving us directions for anyone who wanted to run a shorter race, which I think just confused people not familiar with the park. He said, "ready, set, go" and we were off. Right away my friends and I let pretty much everyone go ahead of us onto the single track. We knew it was going to be a long day...why rush it.

Running was going well. Feeling good. I wore my hydration pack because I just wasnt sure at the start what all the AS would have and wanted to carry everything to be sure. The first section of trail is very nice single track with a couple of small ups and downs. We crossed a road onto a gradual uphill double track. Then down again. It pretty much went like this until we came to a creek crossing that we were able to pass with dry feet thanks to low water and stepping stones. We hit our first AS and went down onto a new trail that I have been on before but was closed in last years race because of the flooding.

This trail had two pretty big climbs that were followed with pretty big descents, the second one being a short section of road. Of course, as were are coasting down hill, three girls would chat and not pay 100% attention and we missed our turn. I knew we had missed it when the road started to head up again. I knew this was to much road for a trail run. Luckily a passerby stopped and he reoriented us with where we were in the park and we knew we need to turn around.

Before we even got to the bottom of the hill we could see the red flags AND spray paint! How did we miss that?! Only 10-15 mins and less then 1/2 mile later we are back on track. I will pay better attention from here on out! About two miles later we hit the flattest trail section of the race and can really cruise. Just make sure you pick up your feet because the trail is fairly narrow with alot of growth on either side and rocks and roots that pop up out of nowhere.

We get out to the road which is where the second (bigger) AS is. We refuel and stretch. Then head across the road for the 5 mile loop. This loop is more difficult and hilly then the previous trail. You can go either way on the loop so we have people coming at us several times on some pretty tight trails. We are still unsure of how far we want to run today and these hills arent helping the decision making process! Here are my girlfriends running through one of the very short field sections...

Sue

Sheri

We finally decide that we are going to run this 5 mile loop a second time now and then decide later about doing the big loop again. Sheri decided that she had had enough and left Sue & I to do the loop again. We decide to do it in reverse. Good choice! I dont know if it was true or not but counter clockwise seemed easier. We passed Rik coming at us at almost the end of this section which meant that he was almost done the entire race.
These are some of the pretty flowers that dotted the trails along the sides...

SO pretty!

We crossed back across the road again for the two mile trek back to the start/finish/car. During these miles we decide that we want to keep going and see how we feel. We have another 10ish miles. Can we do it?!

We spend a couple of minutes at the car to refuel, take some Ibuprofen and say Hi again to Rik who is now done with his race. Then we head back out unsure if we will do the whole big loop or not. See, I am now sticking with Sue the entire race because this is the furthest she has gone since double knee surgery two years ago. I will go as far as she wants to. She is feeling good and wants to keep pressing on. So we do. Here we are crossing the bridge that takes us back to the flat running section and we can start counting down the miles to the end...

Pretty pleased that we are now on the flat trails and we are cruising at about a 12mm pace which is awesome after twenty-some miles! It was probably the most enjoyable part of the entire race.

I know we are getting close to the last AS so I keep up the pace and figure she will catch up there. But I stopped to snap one last picture from the road looking down onto the trail...

I get into the AS and am so excited to see that they are still there and that there is food left! I immediately grab an Oatmeal Raisin Cookie and it is the best cookie I have ever eaten!! What is even better is that one of the volunteers asks me if we are going to do the little loop and I tell him NO that we already did the little loop twice and that we are almost done. And EVEN BETTER YET is when he tells us there are a couple of people still over in that loop. WE ARE NOT IN LAST PLACE!

We take off from there for the two miles left to the end. They were pretty uneventful until we were hiking the last hill of  asphalt to the finish when I see someone running towards us from behind on the trail below. I tell Sue that I think someone is coming. At the same time we see Rik ahead and he says that someone is running behind us. Oh heck no...someone is not passing me at the finish now. I yell at Sue to run! I dont know where either of us found it in us to run the rest of that hill after 7 hours out on the trails. But we did. I wasnt going to let them pass me at the end, lol. It made for a fun finish!

We got done and were ecstatic and exhausted. We also decided that we didnt want to walk back down the awful hill to the bathrooms to change. So in the car it was.

Great, great race and volunteers. Its one of those FAs that are just as nice or nicer then a paid event. Very well marked. Will be back again next year.

Happy trails!

Bear Attacks, Burritos & Sesame Noodle Recipe!

RUNS: Rik & I decided we were going to run 10 miles today and then follow it up with burritos! We headed to Codorus and started our run as per usual. Only a couple miles into it I was not feeling so good so I looked at my Garmin to see what an awful pace I was running only to be surprised to see that it was a great pace and figured I must be pushing it to hard so I backed off. My running slowed and I began to feel worse. Here is a picture of the lake that the trails go around...

Lake Marburg

Usually we run a loop clockwise that ends up about 1/4mile from the car. Turn around and run it counter clockwise. Since I was feeling so bad I decided to cross the road at the end of the loop and head back to the car. As I was walking/running I continued to feel worse. A bear attack was imminent. (If you dont know what a "bear attack" is...it is that rumbling you get in your stomach when it isnt feeling to good and you need to find a bathroom or comfy spot off trail asap.) I was searching for nice area off trail and all of a sudden I see a port o' potty. I was never so glad to see one of those nasty things!

Inside on the door was a sign that said something about donating money to sponsor the port o' potty. If you donate $80 that covers one month and they will advertise you or your business for the whole year. I told Rik that I seriously need to donate to cover that port o' potty. It saved the day!! Afterward I continued back to the car and ended up with 6.5 miles instead of 10. I still wasnt feeling to good but I was just glad to be done!

Codorus trails

Lake to the Right

Of course the boys still wanted burritos so we decided to go home and shower first and then head out for dinner. Roburritos is the best local place to eat after a good workout. I get the mini Bean Burrito. Awesome. Even with an upset stomach...

Mini Bean Burrito. Chips. Salsa.

EATS: Other dinners of the week include...
PIZZA!!

Mexican Pizza

SESAME NOODLES AND VEGGIES (adapted from Two Peas & Their Pod, Last Minute Sesame Noodles)
6 servings

8oz Soba Noodles
1/4cup Soy Sauce
1Tbs Sesame Oil
1Tbs Canola Oil
1Tbs Rice Vinegar
1/2tsp Red Pepper Flakes
1 bunch Green Onions, sliced
1/4cup Cilantro, chopped
1 Red Pepper, chopped
1/4 head Red Cabbage, sliced thin
2 whole Carrots, shredded
1 1/2cups Shelled Edamame, cooked
1/4cup Toasted Sesame Seeds

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain. Rinse under cold water.

To make dressing, whisk soy sauce, sesame oil, canola oil, vinegar, crushed red pepper in a bowl.

Combine noodles, veggies, green onions, cilantro and sesame seeds. Add dressing and toss to coat.

Enjoy!



Leftovers make good lunches...eaten cold or warmed in the microwave...

Lunch

Peace.

RUNning & Cleaning out the fridge

RUNS: Well it is onto week 11 training for Stone Mill 50M.

After a week of no Garmin wearing, riding my bike, walking and shuffling around the trails a few times....its time to do some real running again!

Monday I ran 5.5 miles around Lake Williams. There were several trees down and trail 2 was closed because of downed trees and power lines. Overall a good run considering it was my first run over 3 miles in a week. Felt good but later I felt like I had run many more miles and many more hills then I actually did! I did alot of stretching and rolling to try to help with that.

Tuesday I was still feeling really sore (muscles only) so I decided to add some hills since thats what my body felt like I did the day before anyhow! Ran 6.5 miles around Rocky Ridge. My right knee was tight at the start so I was going to just do a shorter run but then it loosened up and was fine. My pace is still pretty slow but I can tell it was better then even the day before. Muscles still sore...especially the glutes. More stretching and rolling!

EATS: Breakfasts have been the usual...Rolled oats. Dried fruit. Coconut almond milk.

Breakfasts

Of course, Dakota wont eat that so he talked me into making some Banana Nut Bread for him for breakfasts. And I ended up making the Vegan Banana Hawaiian Muffins into a bread this time as well. Breakfast and snacks are covered!

Banana Nut Bread

Lunches have been the typical...Dips (Kale butter) & Hummus. Veggies. Fruit. CHOCOLATE!

Lunch

We have avoided the grocery store this week by using up things in the fridge and freezer! Dinners have included this awesome new addiction of ours...Trader Joes Vegetable Masala Burger. It is so delicious! I have seen them for years but the package is unappealing and have avoided trying them. I have heard reviews about how versatile and good they were so we finally tried them a few weeks ago and they did not disappoint.

This time we cooked them up in a pan on the stove and Rik broke them up as they were cooking. Then added them to pitas with hummus and lettuce. Rik added A1 sauce to one of his. He claims it was pretty good as well.

We also had leftover Carrot & Chive Quinoa patties (made with only a few mods) from our camping trip over the weekend. I didnt have anymore lettuce to wrap them so I just had them plain, eaten with a fork! I added some sweet potato fries because I am on a HUGE sweet potato kick lately. Especially the fries. I would have had just the fries...again...but wanted to use up the patties before they went bad. I think I am good with the beta-carotene dont ya think?!

Leftovers for dinner.

Peace.

Susquehanna Super Hike - Volunteer Edition

As it would go, I ran my race last week of 45 miles so there was no way I would be able to run again this weekend. Especially not 28.4 miles on the Mason-Dixon and Conestoga Trails! No way! So Rik decided he was going to run and I would volunteer. It ended up that I ho-hummed around at registering to volunteer when I saw my good friend Leon at the race the week before and he said he could use some help at his Aid Station that he was manning with Backcountry Edge. I was in!

The Super Hike is a point to point race that starts on the York side of the Susquehanna River at Otter Creek Campground. Follows the Mason-Dixon Trail down to Holtwood Dam and crosses Norman Wood Bridge and then follows the Conestoga trail north to Pequea Campground. It draws a good mix of trail runners and hikers with a max of 500 people.

We have camped at Otter Creek several times so we opted to stay at Pequea campground this weekend. Got there Friday early evening and was pleasantly surprised to see so many other people that were setting up for the weekend. Since this is the finish for the race, it is also where people would be parking Saturday morning to be bused over to the start. So there were many people in a group parking area that seemed to be just sleeping in their cars and trucks for the night. There was a very cool vibe in the campground because of this!

We headed to bed at a decent hour but the alarm went off at 4:30...way to early! Got ready and made our way over to Otter Creek before 6am. It was so awesome to see so many people catching the buses for the ride over but glad I wasnt one of them!

Rik got signed in and we met up with a bunch of friends that were all running that day. There were predicted storms for the day and this morning it was indeed very overcast, humid and just generally ominous looking.

The crowd at the start.

Fast guys up front.

They got started right on time at 7am! The race starts with about a 5mile loop on trails around the campground. Here is Rik and Brian finishing up the first loop.

Still smiling!

After that I headed down to Lock 12 to where I would be volunteering. This is also Checkpoint 2 and about 15.5 miles into the race. I got down there before 8:30 and we werent expecting runners until after 9 so I helped set up the tents and get things ready. Then I set up my chair since my job for the day was to check in runners as they passed.

Sure enough, not much past 9 and the first runner comes in! No surprise it was my friend Jesse who was the favorite to win this day. He refilled and quickly moved on his way. The next runner to come through was another friend and favorite of the day, Josh. He was about 12 mins behind the leader and looked great too.

I checked a couple of more runners through that I knew...Scott, Chad, etc. And then came Rik along with Brian and Paul! There were two girls running together who were doing pretty good but cant remember if they were before or after Rik. Either way, they were doing pretty awesome! My friend Cassie was the third female to come through...and she even ran 50 miles in the race last weekend with me! Badass chick!!

Once those front runners came through things started to get busy! With 400 runners coming through our check point it got quite busy at times! It was most busy when they came in groups which made it difficult to make sure we were able to get all their correct numbers before quickly sending them on their way. Thank goodness a guy named Adam came over to chat and ended up staying with me for hours and helping check people in! I would have been in trouble without his help. As time went on we started fielding DNFs. And alot of family members asking if so and so came through yet. We even had the HAM (?) radio guys there who we were working with and communicating to other points throughout the race. It was all very well organized.

Busy Aid Station/Check point 2

The forecast was different then expected in that many people were worried about rain and storms during the day and instead they were dealing with a very humid day. The skies began to clear and the sun came out. It heated up even more and the people coming in were looking more ragged. Many continued on but many decided to call it a day here at the 15.5 mile mark.

Our cut off for this check point was 1:30. And by 1:30 I realized that I was extremely hungry and thirsty. There was no shade left where I had been stationed...we kept moving to find more until there was none left. Until I was done I couldnt see straight from looking at so many numbers! I could only imagine how those runners and hikers were feeling. By the time I left, there were over 19 people waiting for rides back to the finish area to their cars.

I headed back to the finish area to find Rik. When I got there I was surprised to find out that Jesse was hurting and dropped which left Josh to take home the win for the day. Josh, Scott, Chad and Rik were all standing together when they told me that they (all York guys that often run together) had taken the top 4 spots!!!

I didnt stick around long. I head up to the campsite to grab something to eat. I came back down just as the rain started. It cleared out alot of people. Good thing the pavilion was pretty big and had garage doors on the side because it stormed pretty hard. Yes, there were still people out on the trails and coming in to the finish! In fact, by the time it started storming and raining, I believe less then 50 people had finished. Which means there were alot of people out in that storm. We cheered even louder for them as they came running in!   Many of them said that the rain was a nice relief from the heat of the day.

Overall it was a great day. Things seemed to go well for the race and the runners. The heat and humidity seemed to be the worse and there was just one area that runners were saying that they really could have used another water stop.

After party the runners got to enjoy fruit smoothies and iced coffee drinks from the Sheetz truck as well as hot dogs, hamburgers, kale & bean soup, macaroni salad, brownies, drinks from Turkey Hill, etc. They seemed happy :-)

Since it was still raining and it was getting crowded in the pavilion we headed up to the campsite and a couple of friends came back for a bit for a couple of cold drinks and to share stories about the race.

Rik, Gary & Greg- proud finishers!!

If you are thinking about doing this race...do it! It is tough but the rewards of saying that you did it are just awesome! You could just see the sense of accomplishment on every persons face that crossed the finish line. You have a whole 12 hours to do it. You can do it. I hope to join in the fun next year!

Vegan Hawaiian Banana Muffins

RUN: 3.3 miles on trail 3 at Lake Redman.

Where was everyone at today?? Trails were closed to bikes and everyone must be tapering or recovering because they sure werent running! I ran around 7pm and I was eating webs! I usually only need to worry about that at 7AM!

Run was okay. Felt a little bit of soreness at my right ITB or quad...not sure which. I could tell a HUGE difference between the trail shoes I wore tonight and the Hokas I wore the other night. I dont care what anyone says...those Hokas are an awesome shoe for recovery.

Rest day on Friday and not sure about the weekend yet...

EATS: Every day this week for breakfast has been the same. These Vegan Hawaiian Banana Muffins!

Breakfast

They are delicious with the coconut and macadamia nuts! I adapted this recipe for a bread.

VEGAN HAWAIIAN BANANA MUFFINS
12 muffins

2 mashed bananas
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
5 TBS vanilla soy yogurt
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup chopped macadamia nuts
1/4 cup shredded coconut
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 and grease muffin pan.

Mix together-sugar, applesauce, vanilla and yogurt.

Add mashed bananas.

Then add flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix.

Finally, fold in the nuts and coconut.

Fill muffin tins 3/4 full with batter and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Let cool and enjoy!

Hawaiian Banana Muffin

Lunches have been pretty much the same all week as well. Detox Salad. Fruit and yogurt. PB Nutty Spread on graham crackers or apple.

LUNCH!

Im going camping this weekend which should be a blast! See ya on the flip side!
Peace.

Recovery & Kale Butter

RUNS: I did a 2.5 mile walk/run yesterday to check things out and I felt pretty darn good during the workout but was more sore after then before I started...go figure. Today I rode my bike 15 miles to give my toes a break yet. They got pretty beat up running 45 miles, wet, in the wrong shoes for the trails.

Eww!!

It gettin' dark so early!

EATS: Super Summer Salads for dinner!

Tis the season for some fresh corn on the cob! I stopped at one but trust me...I wanted more!

Another dinner...I was able to get Dakota to eat tempeh because it was broke up pretty fine in this dish and mixed in with pasta, beans, diced tomatoes and spices.

Tempeh Chili Mac

But he was not interested in trying this...

Kale Butter

Trust me. I had trouble thinking it looked good enough to eat too. But I caved to peer pressure and made it. I put it on sweet potatoes and it was great! It was surprisingly sweet and nutty. The idea is that I want to use it as a dip but wanted to try it as a topping first to be safe. I dont know where they get the idea of it as a "butter" but that is what gave me the idea to put it on a potato. So it worked, lol.

Kale Butter on Sweet Potato

Just some of my dinners this week. Hopefully I will post more meals tomorrow and report of a first "real" run since the ultra....we will see...

Peace.

Labor Pains 12hr Endurance Trail Run

Labor Pains is a 12 hour run in which you run a 5mile loop as many times as you want to or can in that amount of time. Most of the course is single track with a tiny bit of road to connect trails. And an aid station at the half way point.

I had thought about doing this run for months and was even thinking I might go for 50 miles at one point. But if you have been following along you know that I have been dealing with some stupid health issues and never seem to know if I will have a good run or not. So I finally committed to the run and my goal dropped from 50M to 40M and finally I just wanted to finish a 50k. I figured it would be a good training run and then I could hang out, watch the other runners and cheer them on! Rik signed up to be my pacer and use it as a slow training run for himself as well.

Sunday morning we got to Reading bright and early. Signed in. Met up with a few friends. And got ready to RUN! This is a picture of Lori, a friend of mine from York!

Lori & I

And they are off!

Blurry picture of Lori & I headed out...

It was only about 70* or so at the start but it was very humid. The forecast was small chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon. So it seemed like a nice day for a run.

The first loop was going good. My breathing was sucking but I wasnt surprised because of the humidity. I just kept it slow going. Poor Lori was trying to stay back with me but I knew she needed to get moving because her plan was for 50M that day. She actually stopped and waited for me at one point to make sure I was okay. I was good so she took off again!

Onto loop two! Breathing still sucking and now I rolled my ankle. I didnt go down and it actually felt okay after a couple of steps. This course was more rocky and technical then I thought it was going to be. I dont know why I would have thought that. I have run some of these trails before. Towards the end of this loop it started to drizzle...or more like a mist. It felt good and I was hoping it would help with my breathing.

Loop 3...I pick up my pacer! I was anxious to run with Rik since I already run the course twice and was excited for him to check it out. Not long into our run Lori comes up behind us. She had stopped longer at the AS and was catching back up. This would be the theme through out the race! Then it started to really rain. It felt good. I love running in the rain.

Loop 4...Still raining off and on. The course is getting quite muddy in some areas and just wet in others. I started having some GI issues on the second half of this loop. I think because I was only taking in GU and bananas at this point. I had tried my usual salted potatoes but they were raw. I've never eaten raw potatoes and wasnt sure what I thought of them so I think I only had two pieces of those. This loop sucked so bad. I was already calculating and fearing that I wouldnt even finish a marathon...thats how bad I felt on this loop. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that my feet were hurting. I wore my Montrail Bajadas and they just werent enough shoe for the rocks. The bottom of my feet were on fire.

Loop 5...So at the beginning of this loop I ate part of a cliff bar and drank some Mt Dew. The rain was tapering to an off and on sort of rain. Lori came running up behind us again for I think the tenth time, lol and zoomed past. I slowly started feeling better. The breathing was settled down-thank you rain. And the gut was calming as well-thank you cliff bar and Mt Dew! I feel like Im back on track for my 50k. Towards the end of the loop our friend Scott passed us and Rik sped up some to run with him. And I actually was running not far behind! Rik said he looked back at one point and couldnt believe how close I was. I couldnt believe how well I was feeling and running!

Loop 6...The rain has stopped and it is still overcast. It is starting to warm back up again. This would be my final lap for my 50k but I was still feeling good and now thinking of my friend Sue who was going to run the race with us but was out of town instead because her brother died unexpectedly the week before. I told her I would run some miles for her and her brother. We decided that since you have to run a bit more after the end of you 6th loop to get the 31miles in for the 50k that we would just do the whole 7th loop and have those extra miles be dedicated to Sue and her brother.

Loop 7...I was still feeling really good. But poor Rik was cramping in his legs from running so slow! I was just enjoying the run but everytime we came to the halfway aid station I was getting harassed by Greg to continue with additional laps! See, Greg is an experienced ultra runner. So he knows how to get inside your head and push runners to go more. He was there the entire 12 hours of this run...not to mention the fact that he was there at sign-in as well. So of course after we left his AS I started thinking that maybe I could do another loop. Maybe I could get that 40 miles in today. Maybe that would be a whole extra loop for Sue and her brother. Coming down the last hill before the wicked up hill I mentioned to Rik that I was going for one more but that I was more then happy to go it alone. I knew he had already run more then he wanted and the slow running was wearing on him. He told me to GO! So I did!

Loop 8...Just me and the trails. Well, and the other runners out there. I didnt see any runners that I knew but I still saw lots of runners. At this point it is getting later in the day and people are still so encouraging. Still smiling and congratulating each other. Love it. Because it was getting later in the day you could start to feel the temps on their way down. I was power walking the hills but still running the rest. Before I got to the end of the loop I was already sure that I wanted to do one more if there was time. I got to the end and Lori's friend Ken said that she should be right behind me. Behind me? I thought she was lapping me...dang! I asked Ron if there was enough time for me to do one more lap and he said , "SURE"!! I looked around quick for Rik but didnt see him anywhere so off I went!

Loop 9...It was probably my best loop all day. I know it was faster then loop 8 buy 7mins or so. I felt like I was cruising! I just could not believe how great I felt after running for 11hours! My friend Dave caught up with me less then a mile left but he kept cruising...he was ready for a beer (after 55 miles)! I very slowly and carefully climbed my way up the last short steep hill to the finish. When I got to the top there were three little girls cheering me to run. I told them I couldnt run anymore. So the one girl told me to pump my arms to make it "look" like I was running, LOL! That gave me enough to shuffle it in the last couple of feet to the finish!

As I came in to the finish I couldnt believe Rik wasnt there. One of the first people I saw was Jo and she said she hadnt seen him. Then I saw Kelly. He snapped a picture of me and said he thought Rik might be out pacing someone else. Then I saw Ken and asked if Lori was still out. Indeed she was. Come to find out I had some how passed her at the aid station and she saw me up ahead on lap 8 but couldnt catch up and then on lap 9 I was gone (I told you I was moving that last lap!) Eventually Rik & Scott came into the finish. Rik had paced him his last two laps to finish out his 60miles for the day. Rik ended up with 35 miles as a pacer for the day.

What a great day of running. Especially when it started out so crappy! It was so awesome to see how many people came away from the day with new PRs for distance. Huge CONGRATS to my friend Jo who is now part of the Ultrarunner group...as well as all of the others who passed that milestone this day!!! What an accomplishment! You can check out, Jo's husband, Kellys' blog to see more about the race too. Scott, Lori & I all came away from the day with medals for our age groups! York was well represented in this run!

After- Medals!!

Today is the day after and I feel stiff and sore. Remember that ankle that I rolled way back on loop 2? It didnt bother me at all the rest of the day but when I woke up this morning...oh my!! Ouch! Really stiff! I have MUCH more confidence in myself and my running after this race. I cant wait till Stone Mill in November now!

Here is my Garmin link of the elevation. I just think it looks really cool with the hills represented with each loop! Garmin says just over 6000ft elevation for my 45miles.

I just wanted to finish this up with the BIGGEST THANK YOU TO ALL of the volunteers and workers out there. It is an awesome thing to volunteer with these races and a whole other thing when these people are out there ALL DAY LONG! Thank you!

Happy Trails! Peace.