Thirteen One

Thirteen point one, the little brother or sister to the well notarized twenty six point two, the length of a full marathon.

On the roads thirteen point one doesn't really appeal to me but throw that distance on trails and now it becomes a race of interest. Run the event with friends or family and now it becomes fun, just as it was Sunday morning when I ran with my nephew Matt.

Matt's in great shape but this would be his first trail race and the longest run he had ever done. As the race started Matt took the lead and we headed out at a comfortable pace something I'm guessing in the eight to nine minute range.

The course was a combination of paved road, jeep and single track trail winding through mainly woodlands. At four and a half miles we encountered the only “real” hill on the course which we half ran, half walked. Soon after the hill, we hit an aid station (mile five), for a quick water and Gatorade stop.

Since the course is an “Out and Back” we knew the lead runners would be running straight back into us. I was hoping we would meet them somewhere away from the single track trail and as it played out for us, most passed on wider sections of trail. Good thing too, as these guys and gals were flying!

Before the turn around point we had our only real stream crossing, offering a short but steep bank leading down to the stream, this just got slicker and slicker as more runners passed. You just had to know that someone was going to take a bath or face plant, point proven at the finish with several people covered head to toe in mud.

At the turning point the thought crossed my mind that if Matt were able to keep this pace going we might finish in under two hours. Eight miles into the run we were back at the aid station with the hill looming ahead, we managed the hill well but Matt started feeling fatigue in his legs and “bathroom urgency” soon after.

Two miles to go and our pace had slowed down to the ole “Marathon Shuffle”, to Matt's credit he never stopped or walked, he simply gutted it out to the finish.

We crossed the finish together with a clock time of two hours twelve minutes. Matt had completed his longest run ever with a highly respectable time. If I can get him motivated for a few ten plus training runs next spring I suspect we'll crush two hours.

Later.... Mike