black mountain marathon

Yesterday was the day I have been training for the past 4 months or so, the Black Mountain Marathon in NC. There are actually two races, the marathon (26 miles) and the challenge (40 miles). I did the marathon as the challenge is limited to past participants.

The weather has been horrible all winter and Black Mountain has been no different. They are certain to get record snow fall for the season as they are almost there already. The race promoter had kept us informed in recent weeks of the condition and plans for the race. Cold, snowy, and icy. They had to close some trails due to blown down trees and shorten the courses a bit but the race was on. The marathon was 23 miles and the challenge 35 miles.

Race day dawned cold and windy. At the start it was 22 degrees and it was 6 degrees on top of the mountain with 30mph winds. Luckily my race turned around before we were totally exposed to the conditions. We started easy with a run through the town of Black Mountain before hitting a ridiculous steep section that must have been 15-20% grade. So steep we couldn't even run down in at the finish! That section was about a mile or so and then we started a gradual climb up the mountain. At mile 4 was our first support station and I took the time to put on my ice cleats. From that point on there was no support until the turn around about mile 11.5. It was a long way with rutted trails filled with packed snow and ice. I was able to run all this section and felt pretty good. As I neared the turn around, I noticed only 3 runners were on their way down. So I was in 4th at the turn around, awesome! There was one guy right behind me so we ran together for a bit. Then I started to feel a twinge in my calve, and I slowly came apart. Bad cramps all over my legs. I would have to stop and stretch repeatedly the rest of the way. I kept getting passed too, which was demoralizing. But I kept at it and eventually finished 10th overall and 9th among the men (one woman beat me). Pretty good out of over 100 finishers. That said, the big dogs all did the challenge, my race was like the JV race. So today I am sore and have some decent blisters but am fine overall.

I would be remiss not to mention my training and racing partner, Scotland Leman. He thought he would get some new shoes and socks the week before the race. At the turn-around he took off his shoes to see giant open blisters on the arch of each foot, ughh. Luckily the support people has vaseline and saved his day. He ended up 27th or so and has a great story to tell.

So should I try and improve on my marathon place next year or try the challenge????