up and down

Yesterday I ran the Buncombe Trail 34 Mile Run in South Carolina's Sumter National Forest. The race director's description of the course read, "there aren't a lot of hills on the course." Given that the race director, Terri Hayes, has completed over 200 ultramarathons, it should have dawned on me that her definition of a "hill" might be a little different than mine. I actually expressed concern to Adrienne on Saturday that the course might be too flat. Well, the total ascent turned out to be just shy of 2300 feet. 2300 vertical feet spread out across 34 miles is very runnable, but it's still a good amount of climbing-- the Grandfather Mountain Marathon that I ran in 2004 had less.

Anyways, the course was beautiful and in great shape.

(a few of the horses I saw along the way)

It wasn't especially well marked in places, so I was lucky to have had other runners nearby to let me know when I missed a turn. My worst navigation blunder cost me no more than a half mile. The finisher immediately ahead of me ran at least an extra mile and a half; some runners had unplanned 45 minute detours due to missed turns. The weather, low 80s and sunny, was a bit warmer than I would have preferred, but fortunately, the vast majority of the course was well covered single track trail; we've had a cool spring here in NC, so I'm not especially well acclimated to warmer temperatures. Despite no entry fee, this race was really well supported. Along the course, I had bananas, watermelon, S!Caps (electrolyte replacement capsules), a lot of fluid, and my favorite mid-race fuel: boiled potatoes. I've been a bit under the weather, so I felt a bit lethargic out on the course. By mile 27, I was truly in "get there" mode. I just put one foot in front of the other and continued my way to the finish. Despite not feeling my best, I ran a good race and finished in 3rd place with a time of 5:53:46 (note: if you'd also like to finish high up in the standings, do like I do and enter races, like this one, with only 21 competitors).


In the finishing area I had a few hot dogs and some macaroni and cheese. Terri hand-made the finishers "medals" and wrote my time on the back. It certainly ranks as one of my favorite prizes for finishing a race.

I didn't stick around very long at the finish. I hopped in the car and headed back towards Durham (note: spending three and half hours in the car immediately after running for six hours is not necessarily the best medicine for tight legs). Back in Durham, Adrienne, June, and I went out for barbecue. We're not sure who taught her this, but June said "puppies" when she picked up a hushpuppy from my plate. After dinner, June had her bath and went to sleep, and then Adrienne and I sunk into the couch and enjoyed episodes of What Not to Wear and Cheap Seats. Not a bad way to end the day.