WOW, where do I start? Well, back in the fall of 2014, I joined in on some beginner friendly weekend trail runs. This was a “No Runner Left Behind” group which waited at all the intersections, and also had a designated sweeper. I was only able to join with them one day per week because it’s a little too far for me to drive too many times during the week. It was after the very first time, that I seemed to feel rather comfortable doing this. And each successive time, I became more engrossed in this new passion. I like cold weather more than the hot, and I also like being in the woods, so it seemed very fitting. There was soon talk of racing, with a few upcoming events. I signed up for an Xterra 15k, and somewhere, some of my new trail running buddies convinced me to do this 3 day stage race. What the heck, why not?

So they posted a ridiculous registration fee of $60 for all 3 days, with a single stage being $45, I couldn’t pass it up the savings, so I registered. Little did I know that this was going to be a really great experience that would put me through a real test. It wasn't a test of speed, but more of a test of strength, endurance, will power, heart, guts, and a little luck. It also induced some physical challenges and mental anguish that would need to be overcome in order to complete this task.

  The challenge was to run 3 days for a combined total of ~43 miles. Stage 1 was ~13 miles, Stage 2 was ~16 miles, and Stage 3 was ~14 miles. My Garmin was a little off each day, but I think you loose some distance running switchbacks coupled with the watch cycle times. My total Garmin miles added up to 42.65.

Stage 1 was 12.75 miles, 1421’ in elevation climb, completed in 2:35:35, for a 12:12 pace. I fell once and bruised/scraped my left shin, thigh, hip, and hand. I didn’t hit too hard, so bounced right up and kept moving. One of the highlights of this stage, well, not really a highlight, but more a quite remarkable memory, is there was one section called RailRoad Bed. It was nearly impossible to run, hell, you could barely walk on this crap. It was a full mile of solid rocks that ranged in size from baseballs to basketballs, and every single one of them had an irregular shape. Every time I tried to speed up, I damn near fell and just about twisted my ankle with every step.

Stage 2 was 15.25 miles, 1423’ in elevation climb, completed in 3:06:58 for a 12:15 pace. I finished 24th of ~65. One fall going downhill in mud with no damage except getting some mud on the spout of my water bottle. The highlight of this day, was a climb up a trail called Waterline. It was very steep, and with the rain from Friday night, made it very treacherous. In one particular section, they tied off some ropes for us to use as hand rails. I’m hoping to get a pic of this one since the photographer was right there.

Stage 3 was 14.65 miles, 2176’ of elevation climb, completed in 3:29:04 for a 14:16 pace. I finished 17th of ~55. DEATH TRAIL! This was the last climb just before the finish line. It was very hard, super technical, yet the most beautiful place of all 3 days.

Total time was 9:11:11, 19/43 OA, 15/26 Gender, OA Pace 12:57. Friday’s run was about what I expected, except for RailRoad Bed. My left leg and hip were bruised, but I wasn’t too sore. On Saturday, it took a few miles to get loosened up and things felt okay until about mile 12. I started feeling quite fatigued and tired. I wasn’t hurting, but was starting to get sore and achy. On Sunday morning I woke up feeling a little stiff, you know, like you had just run 28 miles up and down a mountain. Again, it took a couple of miles to get loosened up and I was running pretty good for the rest of the day.

There was also a challenge put out in mid January, that if you completed a series of trail races, you would earn a beer mug, and bragging rights to be called a Trail Boss. The events were Xterra 15k on Jan 10, McKay Hollow Madness 25k on Mar 28, Grand Viduta(all 3 days)Stage Race on April 24-26. And for shits and giggles, I did the Tick Ridge 25k trail run on Feb 7.

It has been exactly one week since I finished this mayhem, and I’m already looking forward to next year. Thanks for reading, enjoy some of the pics. This first one is my favorite!

Sounds like a blast.  You just look so happy in all of your trail running photos.  Congrats!  And #17 on day 3!

Yowsers.  That looks and sounds brutal.  Good stuff, Mitch!

Great job, Mitch!  Proud of you.

Those pics are just beautiful.  You are the trail BOSS!

Awesome job!! Really pretty scenery too, sounds like it was a lot of fun in a crazy/really hard sort of way!

Very Cool!

Cool!  Great pics, Mitch (well, except for the "climbing up a cliff on roots" one.  That would suck.)

Do you usually eat black walnuts in the shell with your beer?