It is called the Snake Trail, because of the shape of the trail. You are turning somewhere almost all the time. The temperature was in the 50's at the start with it being in the 60's at the finish with a prediction of rain, which it did. The course is a 2 mile out and back for a 4 mile loop. My goal is to better the 28 miles, that I ran here last year and maybe even get 32 miles in. I have a tendency to fall down a lot on trail runs, that is the main reason I do not run more of them. I hope to run the first 4 laps at or under 45 minutes and the rest under an hour. As usual at a trail run I go out fast to not get trapped behind a lot of slower runners. Most of the way there is not much passing room. I am able to run the first loop under 35 minutes and the second one under 37 minutes. I fall down for the first time near mile 7. I fall hard, but I am able to shake it off and run off the pain. The third loop goes well running it in 41 minutes. Doing fine after 12 miles and feeling well. It started to rain lightly around mile 10 and it will continue to rain off and on through the run. It is still just raining lightly when it does rain. My fourth loop is the one that causes me a lot of trouble. I am still running well as I turn around for the final two miles on the loop. During the next two miles I fall down 4 times all of them hard. My the time I finish this loop, 48 minutes, I am sore and bleeding from both legs near the knees. I feel very badly. I slow down to stop falling so much. Brain, the RD, is a friend of mine. As I am leaving he asks about how I am feeling. Someone has told him about me falling hard. I assure him, that I have slowed down and I will just take my time the rest of the way in. He asks about Donna too. Loop 5, 1:04, is rough for me too. I fall two more times. The sun is still not out, which is a plus for me. I like it cool. My body is very sore from the 7 hard falls. Usually I get some falls, that do not bother me much. Loop 6, 1:09, is the wettest loop. It comes down hard for 20-25 minutes then it all of a sudden just stops. It will rain light a little more, but not for long. Now I need to better 1:06 to get 28 miles in. I do feel very good about my chances for my last lap on runs like this is rarely my slowest although I have to better it my 3 minutes. Loop 7 goes well I run the first two miles in 32 minutes. I need to just run steady but not to fast so I do not fall down. My right knee is really starting to hurt. My upper body is sore too from the falls. I keep going a steady slow speed. As long as I keep running I will make my objective. As I finish the last loop I can see that I have nearly 5 minutes left. I finish in 5:55:20. Just 11 seconds faster than last year, but the same amount of distance. As last year I beat everyone older than me. Last year I was 13 the out of 48 runners. This year their were 120+ runners, but I am not sure how I finished. I stay for the awards. Only the first place male and female get awards. The first place Male was 41.5 miles and Female was 34 miles. She was third overall. Now 4 days later my body is still very sore. My knees are healing nicely, but my upper body feels like I am carrying a heavy load on them. Next is the Olathe Marathon in Olathe, Kansas, only 10 miles from our home. It is the city that Donna is from. She has always lived here in Johnson County. The runners on Saturday will be welcomed with 30 degrees at the start and only a few degrees warmer at the finish. It is to reach a high of 38 in the afternoon with snow and rain mixed in the morning. It will be bad weather, but I will be near Donna. Donna of course will be home with friends. I cannot remember meeting someone with more friends than Donna. TomD

Incredible!

Tom, I've never done a trail run, but I've always been confident I would fall down a lot if I did, since I tend to stop picking my feet up as I get tired. Great job for you, in spite of the falls. I hope you've recovered from them now.