This is waaay overdue and may be shorter than other write-ups, just because the race isn't as fresh in my mind. But what a great time! The event was EPIC for a number of reasons: the scenery was great, there were tons of friendly people, and barbecue at the finish. What more can you ask for?
Anyway, I drove up to Virginia with my friend Terry the night before and stayed at an airbnb cabin about 20min from the park. As it turns out, the cabin had no internet, and no cell phone signal. I of course use my phone to navigate everywhere, and had neglected to download offline maps for the area ahead of time. Terry and I left over an hour before the start of the race, to allow time for navigation mishaps - which of course we had. Long story short - I arrived at the start line about 5 minutes before the start of the race. We didn't even park. I jumped out, Terry drove back to the cabin, and I made my way over to packet pick-up.
While waiting in line to grab my bib, it started snowing! In May! (We were pretty far up on the mountain - but still...) I pinned my number on, and pulled out a windbreaker that was in my running pack. By the time I got back to the start line, everyone was gone. So I tore off down the road. By now the wind had picked up and the icy snowing was pelting me in the face. For a few minutes, it would have definitely been helpful to have goggles on. Visibility was bad, but we were on a smooth, wide, paved road. So no tripping hazards or anything like that. The snow and wind decreased a bit as I made my way down the road and tried to catch up to the runners that had a 2-3 minute head start on me...
The first mile and a half (or so) was paved park road, and downhill. I'm a pretty strong downhill runner (there is a technique to it) and probably passed at least 100 people before we turned onto the actual trail. I wasn't running excessively hard, just my normal downhill gait. At this point, people had spread out a bit, so it wasn't super crowded on the single track - but I still had to slow down a little while waiting for opportunities to pass other people in front of me.
Now that we were in the shelter of the trees (and had descended quite a bit), the temperature was noticeably warmer, so I unzipped a couple layers. Throughout the race, I was frequently zipping or unzipping layers to adjust for the temperature changes. In the trees, or at lower elevations, it was quite pleasant. But if we got to an exposed area, or at higher altitudes, the temperature was quite a bit lower. So having multiple layers I could unzip as needed turned out great.
The race director had emailed some updates leading up to the race, and one of them mentioned that there was been enough rain that we would definitely get wet on some creek crossings. We'd also see a lot more little creeks and mud. He wasn't joking. The first major crossing, there was no way to avoid getting wet. The water came up to mid-calf or so, if I remember correctly. And it was COLD! Like barely above freezing cold. Like you have to watch where you're setting your feet because they've already gone numb cold. There were several of those crossings during the race.
Of course, I started off trying to keep my feet as dry as possible. But at a certain point you just say "screw it". They'd dry out for a while, then get wet again. I'm happy to say that I didn't have any blisters, though, thanks to another tip from the RD: Two Toms Sport Shield. It's a silicone-based lube to prevent chafing, etc. I put a bunch of that on my toes. I also had my trusty Ezeefit booties on to protect my heels & ankles.
Anyway, the course was mildly technical - nothing I wasn't prepared for. VERY scenic. The most technically challenging parts were several rocky downhills. I made up a lot of time on those, but a misstep could have been disastrous. But I still had fresh legs at those points, and you have to trust your training that you're not going to trip.
The RD was out running parts of the course and I actually got to run with him for a mile or two. As luck would have it, we passed some of the famous Grayson Highlands Ponies and he got a picture of me with them. He wasn't actually running the race - just going from section to section checking the flagging and such. So I wasn't with him for long. He did mention that the first 20 miles are intended to be scenic and relatively easy, but the last 10 miles are tough. So that was good to know.
Everything was fairly uneventful and I eventually made it to the mile 17 aid station, which is also the mile 25 aid station (with an out-and-back in between). I quickly refilled my pack, grabbed some food, and got back on the course.
Now at the time, I couldn't remember how far out I had to go before I would reach the turnaround point. I didn't think it was too far. (It was *only* 4 miles.) But of course fatigue is starting to set in, and the course is getting hillier, so it seemed a lot farther. Anyway, at one point, I see someone coming the other way - the person in first place. We waved to each other, and I wondered how many more people I'd see before I got to the turnaround.
Minutes passed. Many minutes. And I didn't see anyone else. Again, I didn't know how far away the turnaround was. And I wasn't sure where I was in terms of my placement. I had passed a bunch of people. Surely I wasn't in second place? But more time passed and I didn't see anyone... Finally, I *did* start to see other runners, but they were waaaay behind the front runner. If he didn't make a mistake, he would win by a very comfortable margin.
Anyway, I started counting the people I saw coming the other way, so that I would know how many people were ahead of me. There's a pretty long gradual climb on another park road to get to the turnaround. It seemed to go on forever. By the time I reached the turnaround, I think I had counted around 41-42 people ahead of me. A couple more people passed me at the turnaround while I was refilling, but I got back out there as quickly as I could.
I re-passed a few people on the paved road descent. One the trail section getting back to the final (mile 25) aid station, one woman and I passed each other a few times. I'd pass on the downhills, she'd pass me on the climbs. (She obviously had fresher legs than me at this point.) But I had a pretty good lead on her when I got to the aid station. Another quick refill, grabbed some food, and started on the final leg of the race.
There was a LOT of climbing in the final 5-6 miles. A LOT. I didn't see anyone else except for the same woman I saw before the last aid station. We passed each other a couple times again, then she started increasing her lead on me. (There weren't enough downhills for me to make up any ground - it was mostly climbing.) She was in sight most of the time, but I couldn't close the gap.
I was running (slowly) at about mile 28-29 when I heard a bunch of noise. I rounded a turn and saw the finish line clock! I didn't think I was that close... As it turns out, I wasn't. As I got closer, a volunteer yelled "two more miles" and pointed me toward a turn that would take me out on a small loop before I'd get to the finish line. Now that's just mean... But I should have known. This is the same RD that does Georgia Death Race and he has a similar "tease" at the end of that one too.
The last two miles were uneventful. I got back and crossed the finish line - all smiles. I survived my first mountain race, and actually felt pretty good. I got some barbecue, but didn't stick around long because it started snowing again. So it was back to the cabin to get warmed up and cleaned up!
Some pictures:
http://www.werunracephotos.com/Event-Favorites/2016-11/Run-Bum-Tour-Races/Mark-Siberts-Favorites/n-MD27Sg/
http://www.werunracephotos.com/Run-Bum-Tours-Races/2017-Races/2017-Grayson-Highlands-50k/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1541340556115474/permalink/1882676798648513/
https://www.facebook.com/events/1541340556115474/permalink/1883007635282096/
Video:
https://vimeo.com/217499157 (can see me for 1/2 second at 1:35)
https://quik.gopro.com/v/GjDxE1aZQL/
Event results:
https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=38827#id1171850
Route:
https://www.trailrunproject.com/trail/7028111/grayson-highlands-50k-trail-race
