Race Report - MRTC Winder Corss Country Series - 8K (Read 425 times)

This is the 3rd in a series of 4 trail races. The weather was a perfect 44F out and although we had some rain earlier in the week, the ground was fairly firm. The field was about 265 runners of varying ages and abilities. We started out on the street and entered the single track trail in a big, walking bottleneck. After a few minutes, we thinned out and I got into a nice pace chatting with the wife of an ex-co-worker. At about ¾ of a mile in, I rolled my ankle on a tree root. BAD. Not good, but no real pain. So, I kept running. The trails were bike trails with a lot of ups and downs, twists and turns, over creek beds on rolling hills. After about 2 miles, my ankle started to complain, and I took a walk break to assess the situation. My ankle wasn’t swollen and didn’t really hurt too badly, so off I went. In front of me, a girl tripped, fell on her face, but she was with her Dad, and he was tending to her bleeding nose. Then the woman I’d been chasing all race went down holding her left calf. She waved me on, but I let them know at the 2.5 mile aid station that she was back there. The trail deteriorated into mud and became very slippery. I was favoring my left ankle and barely breaking a jog. Slowing down on some of the downhill bits was necessary to keep myself from plunging headlong into creeks. Finally, I reached the 4.75 mile marker which was a creek crossing, straight down a muddy embankment, across a creek, with a rope to pull yourself up the other side. Due to favoring my left side, I lost my balance on the embankment and slid down on my well padded butt. I had mud caked into my palms, on my right arm, and of course, all over my pants. On the other side, the volunteers were cheering, and let me know I was almost there. I finished the race *running* with a time of 1:11:01. The down side of all of this is I have a sprained ankle and am on crutches. No weight on my left ankle for at least a week – then re-assessment at the sports doc. The upside, even with a messed up ankle, which is lovely shades of purple, I finished and wasn’t last – not even last in my age group. Robin

Trail running is a great way to get in touch with your inner child. Nothing beats being able to play in the mud!!

Nice job! As much as I love trails...that race sounded brutal. With sno, cleats help, but with mud I don't know what you would do. Its always great to cross that finish line... and if you need it there are a couple of us "on the bench" supporting our injuries. Good luck on the 4th segment