Weekend of June 16 & 17 racers
06/16 analogkid - No Label Brewing 1st Street 5k - Katy, TX
06/16 SteveP - Glen Arbor Solstice Half Marathon - Glen Arbor, MI.
06/16 wildchild - Bighorn Trail Run 32 miler, Dayton, WY
06/16 milktruck - Close to the Coast 10K, Freeport, ME
"Champions are everywhere; all you need is to train them properly..." ~Arthur Lydiard
an amazing likeness
Just-the-facts-Jack version: 2nd slowest lifetime 10K. All leg speed is gone. Knee damage and resulting brace really limit stride. Hoka shoes have totally changed stride as well. Tough little course which is a mix of dirt roads, paved roads, single track through woods. Great little after party of burgers, BBQ and beer in an ocean side camper park. Finished 36OA, but 5th AG because by the time one is in the 50-59 AG, all the casual runners are gone.
Awards at this race are pies for top 2 in AG, people love getting a pie:
Close to the Coast is accurate, it's a race course crammed into a point of land in Casco Bay of Maine...low tide at start:
The bride ran the 5K...wedding party looks to be Canadian cat lovers, she got a big cheer at the start and was mortified:
The finish chute is high tech, crowded and...well, the finish:
The crush at packet pickup takes your breath away:
And...to close things out, a totally unrelated pic of belted cows munching away in the nearby salt hay fields:
Acceptable at a dance, invaluable in a shipwreck.
Trails are hard!
Looks like a fun race. Good results even at 2nd worst
Need a fast half for late fall. Then I need to actually train for it.
" 2nd slowest lifetime 10K. All leg speed is gone. Knee damage and resulting brace really limit stride. Hoka shoes have totally changed stride as well. Tough little course which is a mix of dirt roads, paved roads, single track through woods."and this is probably why nonrunners have zero clue why people choose to run and especially why they even pay to run. Sounds like a nice race despite it all. because - well, there's pie!
Tammy
Carolyn
Sounds like a fun race, Milktruck!
I ran the Bighorn 32 mile trail run on Saturday - one of my favorite races because it's so gorgeous! I've done the 32 mile 3 times and the 52 mile once.
Our packet pickup was also pretty mellow - it was at a brewery in Sheridan, WY. I went up with some friends - 2 were running the 52 miler, one was also running the 32 miler, and one was registered for the 52 miler but broke her foot a month ago, so she just came to hang out and crew for the rest of us. We had an airbnb in Ranchester, WY - a comfortable rural house out near the race finish in Dayton, WY.
The 52 mile started at 5am, so we all got up super early and drove our 2 runners up to the start line, 50 miles from town in the Bighorn mountains. Then we drove to the 32 mile start, and hung out till our race started at 8 am. It was cloudy and foggy most of the day, but didn't rain like last year, so the mud wasn't quite as bad, although still challenging.
This gives you an idea of what the mud was like.
Here's a picture my friend Brett took on the 52 mile course:
The wildflowers were amazing as always:
I finished in 7:47, good enough for the 2nd place AG rock! I put it next to the 2nd AG rock I got at Bighorn in 2014 for my very first 50 mile race!
Final stats:
60-69 age group: 2/12
Women: 52/122
Overall: 124/257
I hammered down the trail, passing rocks and trees like they were standing still.
Marathon Maniac #957
Nice racing for Carolyn and Milktruck, and I love the pictures!
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
Great job you guys! Beautiful pictures but oh! that MUD! That would almost make me add time and distance to go around it.
Great racing Milktruck and wildchild!!!
Way to go RA Masters.
Thanks for sharing the story with us. I really enjoyed reading the race reports.