It's a bit different but here you go.

Tecumseh Trail Marathon Race Report

Just as a disclaimer, this race report will be anything but normal. Mostly because that’s how I feel today but somewhat in the spirit of the race. So lace up your shoes, tighten your belt and take a deep breath as we delve into my first trail marathon.

The race is just outside of Nashville. Indiana. No not the one in Tennessee. I just completed that marathon there (Flying Monkey) less than 13 days previously. Personally I think it quite funny that I’ve only run 2 marathons this year and both are in Nashville. Since I live only a short drive for the course, I decided that driving down the day of the race for packet pick-up would be the best idea. It’s an easy drive and you really can’t get lost. I packed my gear bag and beer cooler on Friday night so all I had to do was get up, get dressed and hit the road. I hit the parking area at 7:30 am and managed to get a prime parking space. If you do run this one, it seems you need to arrive before 8 am to get a decent parking spot closer to the finish area.  Its not critical but trust me, the longer you have to walk after the finish the less fun you’ll have.

Since this marathon is a trail marathon that is point to point, you park where you end. I really didn’t think about that until a little past halfway when it struck me that I had to finish just to get back to my ride. But I seem to get ahead of myself. There are several things you will get from Tecumseh. You will get an appreciation of trail marathons. You will get a chance to walk during a marathon. You will get to run 26 miles while looking down to find the roots. You will fall down. You will get wet feet. You will wonder where you are since there are no mile markers and your Garmin just doesn’t want to synch. You will hope the gunshots you hear are headed in a different way. You will be happy that the soup is hot and spicy. You will see some interesting runners. Kilt guy with the camelback did it for me this year. You will wonder what kind of a freak of nature could run this course designed by Satan himself in less than 3 hours. You will like the windbreaker instead of the usual tech shirt. And you will get a chance to meet some great people that share a love of just running.

So let’s get into the running thing. At 8:40 I boarded a school bus to head to the start line. I totally forgot about school buses since middle school but at sometime they raised the seat backs and I felt like I was stuck in my own little pod. The bus rumbled along and the conversations were as diverse as the runners in the seasts. There was a discussion of veteran runners about the course. Two guys were talking about some experiment that included chimps and another was discussing the demise of the Colts this season. I tried to relax and forget about that second cup of coffee. Just to let you know, the bus ride was almost an hour (although we had one missed turn) and man did I need to dehydrate. So be forewarned. We hit the start area about 9:45 and we piled out and headed to the nearest tree to comune with nature. That completed, it was time to shiver and determine where to start. Actually that was easy once you followed the multiple entrants. While waiting for the start, I saw this guy in a marathon maniac singlet and red shorts and it was Biketm. It was great to meet him and sure enough Slo Hand and CEIE were there too. Good to meet some RA types and exchange small talk prior to the start. Eventaully some fella started to give instructions via bullhorn but it wasn’t loud enough to hear so the crowd mostly huddled around the van that was accepting drop bags. Also there was a sing that read START so it was a good bet this is where the fun begins. Around 10 am the crowd started running. I heard no start gun or GO but we all started moving. There was a little road running before we turned left into the trails. Now what I didn’t realize was that if you didn’t hustle to the front, you would end up in the main gaggle and this means walking early. Not a big deal if you only want to finish but on single track trails it will make racing a challenge. Personally, it was ok since I was just wanting to finish in less than 5 but it could be an issue if you had other goals in mind. So be aware!

Now we are running on the trail and it is very nice. There are rollers ealry in the run. Some paths are wide in the first 20 minutes. Remember no mile markeres so I have no clue on how far. All of a sudden we hit the single track trail and you are in a single line. The terrain is good right now. The trails are easy to see and there are lots of people to trample down the leaves. One note, the leaves will be an issue soon. So we amble along and go up and down and over some small creeks. Its all good fun for the first miles. We hit the first aid station pretty quickly and it’s a water and gatorade only station. That’s good as I grab one of each and take a few drinks. The volunteers are great and I think how wonderful it is that they have come out here to help since it must be tough just to get where they are needed. The herd keeps moving along and there are more ups and downs. My main thought is to keep up with the person in front of me and wondering when things will clear out a bit. Things started to clear around aid station 3 which is somewhere in the 9 and 10 mile range but then again without mile markers and my Garmin it could have been 11 and 12. Who knows but my legs are still moving. Did I mention the thing about walking. Well we passed the aid station, close to the midway mark and headed to Indian Hills Rd. Tony (CEIE) and I had run together so far and we crossed a nice little railroad track and wonderful bridge over a babbling brook to encounter the ugliest gravel road hill I’ve ever seen. It looked like the third day of assent at the Materhorn. We walked almost immediately and a couple of deranged souls ran in front of us. Yikes. The one interesting thing on this mountain of a hill was the Chicago Bears references. Odd to say the least in Colts country but then again my halucinations might be taking over.

We had a chance to run again once we crossed the Alps and headed back into the trails and found another aid station. This one had food for us and like the other aid stations, I partook with gusto. The big issue was the gum dops. Not only were the frozen but they stuck too. Later I learned one of Biketm’s froneds broke a tooth on these. Yikes. If the course doesn’t get ya the aid stations will. Man this is a hardcore run. Well asfter digging out the candy from my teeth, I kept chuggin along. CEIE had a branch jump up and attack him at mile 11 and he stayed back at the aid station so now I was on my own. I kept moving. I would love to tell you how scenic the run was but I kept my head down so much to watch the trail for roots that I have little to tell. Except for the skinned coon we passed around mile 15. Is that a foreshadow of things in store for me? I said a quick prayer that they would find my body if I fell and lo and behold I hit a root and hit the ground. Thankfully the years of Ninja training paid off and I popped up quickly to some applause from the trailing runners and lots of mud on me. On On.

The miles continued and we went from hills to valleys to bottoms. The course had many stream crossing where I had a chance to work on my long jump skills as well as several quick turns where I was holding any tree within reach to stay on course. This battle continued and all of a sudden we hit an aid station that claimed mile 20. Really? I swear it was mile 25 from how I felt. I’ve run hard in marathons but nothing like this and there is a 10k left. I wish I could describe the rest of the course but the pain was impacting my ability to recall events. I do remember running over a nice bridge where on guy said we had 3 miles and some nice lady who must be realted to Cliff Clavin said that is was actually 3.4 miles. I should have pushed her over the bridge into the creek but I must conserve what energy I have. This section brought us to a wonderful area of pine trees. It was such a nice place except for the roots. They were everywhere and I swear they were moving up and down in an effort to trip us. I watched several runners hit the ground and felt lucky to have escaped. The last section of the course passes on one side of Yellowwood Lake to the finish. In an evil twist you could see and hear the finish line activities from where we ran but we still had to go around the water. The fellow running with me for the past 10 miles was a full ironman guy and he said something about swimming for the last bit. It seemed like a great idea but I figured in my shape I wouldn’t make it 100 yards in the water so I trudged along the road. At the end we had one hill and some rollers to the finish and I pushed to keep that sub 5 alive. In the end it was a 4:49:17 and it hurt. But it was a satisfying hurt. This was a tough course and a great run. I grabbed some soup and enjoyed every drop. I headed to my car and wanted to get into some dry clothes. The fellow who parked next to me was really nice. He asked how I liked the course and said this was his fourth Tecumseh. He finished in 4:10 and managed to break one finger and possibly a collarbone from the falls. Wow!

I finally connected with Slo and CEIE and we popped the trunk to get a well earned beer. Biketm’s friend from Michigan had the best story of the day in that she lost the age group award to a 20 something and managed to break a tooth. Not from a fall but from those gum drops at the aid station. Her gift from the run was a new crown but she seemed happy as could be with the result. Just another telling tale of the trail runners. They are a different crowd. One that lives life to the fullest and enjoys the ride with others that run the same course. I’ve encountered nothing like this in all my years of sports and I like it. We finally ran into Tim and his back caused some major issues. It was an interesting run for us all. Slo ran the fastest of us RA Masters and we toasted that with a good beer. All of us want to run here again.

My take from this little marathon? It beat me like a rented mule and I liked it. I will return to see if I can improve on my time, but more improtantly, I will run it again to meet some great people and perhaps see more of the course without having to look down the whole time. What a way to spend a nice December Saturday. I sure hope my legs feel better tomorrow.

It's a bit different but here you go.

 

 

My take from this little marathon? It beat me like a rented mule and I liked it. I will return to see if I can improve on my time, but more improtantly, I will run it again to meet some great people and perhaps see more of the course without having to look down the whole time. What a way to spend a nice December Saturday. I sure hope my legs feel better tomorrow.

 You are a great writer and a phenomenal racer!!!

I really enjoyed your whole report.

My plan for 2012 is looking like many trail marathon races (trying to stay withing 50 miles from home during the race season), except Boston, and I really enjoyed reading this report as a preparation of what is ahead of me! 

Great job!!!! and thanks for letting me know that I better gear up to be beatten up by them trail marathons 

That was a great read, over a cup of coffee this morning!  Makes me wanna leave work and go run a trail somewhere.

Awesome report Norm!

I just got to relive most of the painful parts!

I now know what it feels like to be a rented mule.

Nice race report C-R. I've found that trail runs can definitely be more challenging that road races, but can also be more satisfying. I've done a 15K, and hope to try a HM in the near future.

My favorite line!

Congratulations on meeting your goal!  Well done. Well run.

... the longer you have to walk after the finish the less fun you’ll have.

 

Its all good fun for the first miles.

 .

There are a couple of universal truths! 

And, really, is the bullhorn ever loud enough to hear?

Also, I didn't know you were a Ninja.

What a great race report.  I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.  Great that you got to meet some RA'ers and have this unique experience.  Congrats!

(You too, Tim and Slo-Hand!)

 Just another telling tale of the trail runners. They are a different crowd. One that lives life to the fullest and enjoys the ride with others that run the same course. I’ve encountered nothing like this in all my years of sports and I like it.

Loved this passage.

Now I wanna go hit the trails!

Great report but I am still curious as to how pain and fun actually mix.