Getting in some final camping for the season this weekend. Had a chance to spend some time birding with my brother Ron and Linda even caught a local agility show to make sure Raven stays in practice. Dog shows mean I have extra time to get some to-dos off the list and one that always bubbles to the top is my blog quota. Always good to get ahead of the curve seeing how the end of the month usually comes faster than expected. Plus, we are creeping up on the witching hour which sucks up every available minute getting ready for the Trail of Tears (link here).
A few posts back I relayed the strenuous running activities that I once again have subject myself to – at some point I will learn. As a quick reminder I scheduled 4 half marathons (not to mention a 5K) in little over a month. This started with the 13.Wine race (link here), then the IVS Half Marathon (link here) and most recently the Oak Ridge Cemetery Moonlight Half Marathon in Springfield. Keeping with the theme, thought I would give a recount of that latest hell, I mean race.
Unlike last year (link here), this time Sung and Ryan were able to go down to Springfield IL with me and take part in this year’s activities. They were both familiar with the course having teamed up with me to do the prediction race Marathon two years back (link here). That year we took third … thanks to two cheaters but hey, that is water under the bridge now (or not hehehe). The prediction aspect of the race is gone now along with the team Marathon. In its place are individual races – 5K, Quarter Marathon and the Half Marathon. Choose your poison at this point. We had them all covered this year. Sung opted for the 5K, Ryan the Quarter and your’s truly decided to punish himself with the Half variety. There is a theme to the first three races of the 4 ‘peat. HILLS. The 13.Wine was a grueling battle through long rolling hills that seem to last forever trying to get to the crests. IVS is well known in these parts to be one of the toughest courses you can take on due to their 6 shorter but much steeper hills. Then there is Oak Ridge which combines the length of the Wine hills with the steepness of IVS. Basically pure hell. This double loop that beat me last year – my find an exit, throw up, continue the drive home, find an exit throw up cycle that plagued me the entire way home. Time for redemption this year! If nothing else, I had friends with me that could help me get home so had to be better than last year… well, I thought.
I was scheduled to go off at 6:30 due to having two loops on my course. Ryan went off at 6:45 to cover his one loop and then Sung launched at 7 for his shortened loop. Sung took my finisher picture below.
Worth noting the genius of taking the finisher picture before I even started the race – look how relaxed and refreshed I looked! A far cry from the reality over 2 hours later. Seems this year the race coordinators thought the previous course was just too easy for us – that we might be getting soft. To remedy that situation some masochist decided to move the starting line to the top of a big hill. I remember seeing that and turning to Sung going “WTF!?!”. Seriously people, that course through the Oak Ridge Cemetery would already make a normal guy sink to his knees. It would be bad enough having to negotiate that hill at the halfway point, repeating that again at the end when the legs are jelly is just plain rude. Time to worry about that later, one mile at a time, one foot in front of another.
Hit the jump to read how this race turned out – foreshadowing … not good
