Dave's Race Experience - Through the Mountains

As the gun sounded there was lots of hollering and cheering from the over-caffienated, adreneline-rushed runners. We ran/walked for 2.3 miles on Old National Pike (formerly Rt. 40) until we reached the trail head at the top of the road. Craig and I tried to run together, but I got caught up in the excitement and ran ahead. Andrew was trailing along at a leisurely clip. That was the last I saw of my NWF buddies.

The next 14 miles were exhilarating. My body felt good, my pace was strong and the scenery was awesome. The first part of the mountains was along a paved path for 3-4 miles until we reached a water tower somewhere way high up. As you could imagine - lots of walking to get up the hills (when you run ultras - the recommendation is to walk the hills - great recommendation). After reaching the tower, we were back on single track trails. This is where it gets fun, but also a little dangerous. When you are running on the trail, you are constantly jockeying between, on or around the rocks to keep pace with the rest of the pack. Every few minutes you would hear someone screaming bloody murder - either from a twisted ankle or a bad fall. It reminded me of a good horror film. Other than several stubs to my toes, I was able to stay on my feet. That's a first for me. I am one to fall on a regular basis. There was one rest/food/water stop half way through the the mountains at mile 8ish. I met up with my crew, got some more GU's (fuel in the form of a gel) and went on my merry way. I finished the mountain part of the race with some soreness in my legs, but nothing that I couldn't handle (at this point).