RunningAHEAD - Topic: Stevie Ray in the Land of the Lost (Grasslands Marathon report)

xor

posted: 4/6/2009 at 4:51 PM

On 3/21, I ran a fairly obscure trail marathon in North Texas called The Grasslands Marathon. Or in my case, The Land of the Lost. Read my long report here. I came in 28th. Might have come in about 15th without various misadventures. Hard for say. As always, I am not a good trail runner. In this case, it was more in my brain than anything else. (reports for various other races can be found via my race schedule)

JimR

posted: 4/6/2009 at 5:09 PM

Okay, that report made me chuckle. Thanks, Stevie!

modal

posted: 4/6/2009 at 6:26 PM

Wish I could of done at least the half, but I had other things to do that afternoon. Thanks for sharing your experience. Big grin

Vim

Runnerjohn

Certifiably Insane

posted: 4/6/2009 at 6:55 PM

Nice writeup, Stevie! You kept your sense of humor well during the run. That would be a difficult thing for a lot of us. I had a race like that, but it was only a 5K. RD had no idea where the race went, and was riding a bike with the lead runner. I was in 2nd place, until I lost sight of them. Nobody was behind me, either. After accidently following the actual course, I hit the 2-mile mark, turned where I was told, and ran smack into the trailing end of the race. A course marshal, who was not present when I went through the intersection the first time, was having everyone turn where I had seen the RD go straight. I was now in the back 25% of the field. Roll eyes

I think everyone in the race except me and the winner ran something closer to 2.25 miles. It was kind of funny, because everyone was giving ME a hard time about getting lost, but none of them had seen the guy reading the 2-mile splits. Would I run it again? I don't know. I like the town it was in, and most of it was a good course. I used to think the Great Equalizers were time and stoplights. Now I know RD's can be included. Big grin

On the road since 1978! "To be good is not enough when you dream of being great." I am not obsessed! I'm just INTENSE! "Nothing is foolproof to a talented fool." Why? Because race results stay on Google forever! (Reasonably recent) PR's: 5K - 16:40 10K - 35:04 HM - 1:18:30

AmoresPerros

Options,Account, Forums

posted: 4/6/2009 at 9:12 PM
modified: 4/6/2009 at 9:20 PM

That was a pretty entertaining race report -- and pretty nutty race apparently. PS: Your reference to Leadville wasn't hyperlinked, nor is the Leadville entry in your calendar. Do you know how to get to a Leadville review - I mean, I'm assuming you wrote one? I'm curious to read your review of it Smile

It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

slimbo

posted: 4/6/2009 at 9:21 PM

Liked the report and the pixs ...souds like a pretty wild experience. I can't imagine counting down miles to a finish and then realizing the distances were wrong ... I think my head would blow off.

2012= under-goaled

xor

posted: 4/6/2009 at 9:51 PM

Quote from AmoresPerros on 4/6/2009 at 9:12 PM:

That was a pretty entertaining race report -- and pretty nutty race apparently. PS: Your reference to Leadville wasn't hyperlinked, nor is the Leadville entry in your calendar. Do you know how to get to a Leadville review - I mean, I'm assuming you wrote one? I'm curious to read your review of it

I don't recall mentioning Leadville in this report, and I couldn't find "Leadville" in the report, so I'm confused. However, here you go: http://srlopez-maniac111.blogspot.com/2006/11/070106-leadville-trail-marathon.html

JLeonard

Just Happy to Run

posted: 4/7/2009 at 8:45 AM

Great report! For some reason the craziness of the race and course makes me want to run it some time... does that make me crazy too? Confused

Jason

2010 Goals
• M PR (Current: 6:27:00) • HM PR (Current: 2:13:14) • 5k under 25:00 • 10k under 59:00 • Weekly Milage of ~25 miles

smalcolm

posted: 4/7/2009 at 11:16 AM

You are a great story-teller Robert! I have a tendency to get lost on trails and I would have certainly lost it in the Land of the Lost. I don't deal with uncertainty very well. Smile

~Sara
It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great. ~ Jimmy Dugan

Econo

posted: 4/7/2009 at 11:59 AM

keeeripes! How annoying! Sure, you warmed up to it afterwards, but I still think it sounds like the course route was poorly conceived and signage poorly executed.

gumbee

posted: 4/7/2009 at 1:49 PM

getting lost? see if i ~~stalk~~ er, follow you at any more races

"Famous last words" ~Bhearn

Phidippides

posted: 4/7/2009 at 2:12 PM
modified: 4/7/2009 at 2:21 PM

Good Report Steve --- I can tell you that I dont think I would have been so philosophical about the race as you were.....I do (of course) know the country and imagine a trail run in that area, this time of the year should be a nice day out... Really enjoyed it.. By the way, I have been to Earth, TX also............and Turkey, and Happy and all the other weirdly named towns in Texas.. I also just read your Leadville report ---- GEEZZZZ --- I can't even imagine a race in Leadville. My parents live in Colorado, and I come every summer to visit them and we always drive through Leadville (I think it's a really cool town). I have commented to my wife a number of times that there is a marathon that run thru some of the mountains but I have to tell you that I cant even conceive of actually doing it.... Did you ever run the Silverton Co race??? (I was actually born in Silverton).......

Champions are made when no one is watching

Ileneforward

#artbydmcbride

posted: 4/7/2009 at 11:41 PM

Thanks Stevie Ray! It is good to see the difference a little distance makes. Thanks for the reminder to enjoy the good parts while you are in them. Smile

Runners run

AmoresPerros

Options,Account, Forums

posted: 4/8/2009 at 12:10 AM
modified: 4/8/2009 at 12:15 AM

Quote from xor on 4/6/2009 at 9:51 PM:

I don't recall mentioning Leadville in this report, and I couldn't find "Leadville" in the report, so I'm confused. However, here you go: http://srlopez-maniac111.blogspot.com/2006/11/070106-leadville-trail-marathon.html

I think you said that the first time you ran it, you considered it your hardest marathon, but now Leadville and Volcano are orders of magnitude more difficult (I'm going by memory here). Anyway -- thanks! MTA: Wow. Great report, sounds like an overwhelming race.

It's a 5k. It hurt like hell...then I tried to pick it up. The end.

xor

posted: 4/8/2009 at 4:11 PM

Quote from AmoresPerros on 4/8/2009 at 12:10 AM:

I think you said that the first time you ran it, you considered it your hardest marathon, but now Leadville and Volcano are orders of magnitude more difficult (I'm going by memory here). Anyway -- thanks! MTA: Wow. Great report, sounds like an overwhelming race.

OH! I know what you are talking about now. I said that about Bataan... not Grasslands. I linked my Bataan report in Grasslands. I see I see. Yes, at the time, I thought Bataan was super-hard. In retrospect, it really isn't. It's a blast too. Leadville, Volcano (RIP), MidMountain... all harder than Bataan.

Stevie Ray in the Land of the Lost (Grasslands Marathon report) (Read 664 times)