Race Report: Red Top Rumble

I had three goals going into this 11.5 mile trail race:

1) Don’t finish last
2) Don’t fall and twist and ankle
3) Finish before the 2:45 course cutoff

This race started off on a good note for me when they allowed early packet pickup at the running store near my job.  I hate having the pressure of arriving extra early on race day for  number pickup.  You just never know when it will get crazy like at the Resolution Run where there was a mile long line in the pouring rain.  That is just pre-race stress that I don’t need.

I picked up my number on Friday and received my goody bag and T-Shirt as well.  Let me tell y’all – GUTS knows how to put together a goody bag!  This was hands down the best swag I’ve gotten at a race and I only paid $35.  Check it out:

There is a full-sized dark chocolate bar, a huge bag of BBQ almonds, a natural peanut butter sample, a measuring spoon set (random but I always need the one that is dirty so very helpful), a Moon Pie (gross), a packet of GU, Larabars, granola and a coupon for something free from Chobani (which I adore).  The race shirt was very nice too.  Technical fabric, long-sleeved and women’s fit (why don’t more races do this?).  Wow! Compare that to Silver Comet where I spent $65 and didn’t even get a bottle of water at the end SMH.

The temperatures were ideal Sunday morning (36 degrees) and it was bright and sunny outside.  I ate my usual race day PB&J and made the short drive up to Red Top Mountain.  I was wearing my Nike Hyperwarm shirt but really torn about covering it up with my wind jacket.  It was supposed to get up to 41 degrees and I didn’t want to overheat.  My wind jacket doesn’t tie easily around my waist so I would have had to keep it on the whole time.  In the end, I decided to just wear the shirt even though I was freezing while waiting for the race to start.

I was able to meet and greet with Lori Palmer and her crew of runners from CrossFit Euphoria.  Lori’s a beast y’all!  She actually places in these types of races and all kinds of other endurance sports.  I want to be her when I grow up except that is probably not possible.  My lack of a true athletic background pretty much guarantees that I will only go so far against folks who have been training and racing their whole lives.  I don’t mind though.  I have my fun and always challenge myself and that is good enough for me.

Before I knew it, the National Anthem was being played on a rockin’ electric guitar and it was time to start the race!  I was calm and focused at the start.  From reading other posts about this race, I knew to expect 3 miles of nice flat gravel running before the real party started.  I concentrated on running a fast 5K but not too fast.  Eight miles of trails at Kennesaw Mountain wore me out and that was on fresh legs.  Red Top Mountain was going to present 8 miles of unknown trail territory so I purposely reigned it in.  I ran fast but didn’t put in the extra effort I would have if I didn’t have 8 more miles to tackle.   I wrapped up the 5K in about 26:40 and prepared myself for whatever the trail was going to throw at me.

The hills started almost immediately.  About 3.5 miles in I walked up a big old hill.  This cycle was repeated several times.  If the hill was short and steep, I ran it.  A long and tall hill meant time to powerwalk.  I saw no need of unnecessarily exhausting myself by running up 15% inclines when I would be running very slow anyway.

To combat some of the exhaustion I experienced during my trail runs at Kennesaw, I decided to fuel more aggressively than I typically would during a run of this length.  I gulped three Clif Shot Bloks at Mile 4 and planned to fuel again at Mile 8.  The Bloks are a lot easier to manage and quicker to eat than the Sports Beans I’d been using.  I’m going to test out some GU type stuff but I could definitely work with Shot Bloks.

The early fueling really helped because I felt great during Mile 6 even though I encountered the steepest hill yet.  I was running fast when I could take advantage of flatter terrain and walking when I couldn’t.  The hills were pretty spaced out so I was able to run for good stretches at a time.

At around Mile 7, I got stuck behind an older gentlemen and his side-by-side (grr!) running companion.  I started to fall into a groove behind them.  I was feeling good at that point and not pushing myself at all.  The trail was tight so there was no real room to easily pass.  I wasn’t sure about the proper etiquette for this situation so I wasted a lot of time just coasting behind them.  In the end though I remember my rule to run my own race and not anyone else’s.  I said something like “Excuse me, I’m going to pass on your left” and went on my way.  I’m glad I made that choice because my next 2 miles went so fast and I passed a few more guys on the trail.

I started to feel something like exhilaration at this point during the run and I’ve never really feel that way on the road.  The temps were good, the sun was shining and I was running through the forest on a mountain hill overlooking a lake – how cool was this?  I jumped over a fallen tree log.  I let go and zoomed (almost) out of control down hills.  I was having a blast!

Flat territory here but can't you tell I'm having fun?

The last aid station at 8.9 miles came and went before I even realized it.  I have to again salute GUTS here – the aid stations were frequent (4 of them for 11.5 miles) and stocked with PowerAde, GU and fun stuff like Pringles, M&Ms and gummy bears.  The only time I’ve seen that type of stuff is maybe one station out of a half-marathon distance race or on a full marathon course.  Trail race folks know how to make aide stations fun!  A lot of runners actually stopped at the aide stations.  I saw people resting briefly and chatting with the volunteers instead of a bunch of grab-n-gos.  I didn’t do it but I thought that was neat.  It wasn’t so much about the time but about the experience for a lot of people.

I decided to really dig in for the last 1.5 miles.  There were a few more gnarly hills that I had to walk.  I never felt bad about this like I do when I’m on the road.  I wonder why?  I also felt none of the exhaustion that I typically feel when running out at Kennesaw.  Was it the fuel?  Race day excitement?  Anyway, I closed in on the last half with plans to sprint to the finish and energy to spare.  Alas, the terrain would not let me be great.   It got really tight and ventured off the single track into what looked like someone slashing a rough path through the woods.  I tiptoed through a muddy path and headed up a few more short hills to the finish line.

I completed the race in 1:50:33 which was way better than I was expecting.  They tell you to basically add 1-2 minutes (at minimum) to your road pace for a rough idea of how you might do on the trail.  I’ve been averaging 10:35 min/miles out at Kennesaw so I was hoping to run  a 2:15-ish race.  Seeing 1:50 on the timeclock was a happy surprise.  Like a good little mid-pack runner, I finished 120/255 overall, 5/10 in my age group (30-34) and 32/109 out of women.  Not bad at all for my first shot at this!  I also met my 3 goals (although I barely saved myself from rolling an ankle when my attention slipped).

That older gentleman and companion that I passed early in the run when I decided to go for it?  They totally congratulated me on a job well done at the end of the race.  I love runners sometimes!  I really need to remember to pay the love forward at my next race.

The GUTS people setup an excellent post-race feast.  We all received a pair of gloves when we crossed the finish line.  I went home with more granola, a whole container of Chobani,  a Mix-1 natural protein drink and a belly full of fresh grapes, homemade vegetarian egg casserole, a slice of bacon and 1/2 a biscuit.  There was also a race number raffle for about 25 cool prizes (I didn’t win anything).  I don’t know if all trail races are handled this way, but I was *so* impressed with this one.

This race was very well-organized and had an interesting and scenic but fairly hilly course.  The course was well marked so whenever I started to panic a bit about being on the right track, I found a direction marker.  I’m not a trail running expert but I’d imagine these were fairly easy trails (hills notwithstanding).  As a trail running novice I felt pretty comfortable with this being my first big race.  Most of the run was on nice pre-cleared single track terrain.  I didn’t have to scramble up hills using my hands and knees or anything.  The field of runners was small (limited to 300) which is a plus in my book because I like smaller races.  There weren’t a ton of people to cheer you on due to the nature of the course but the volunteers were cheerful and friendly.  I absolutely loved this race and will add it to my calendar next year if I can get in…it sold out in 24 hours this year!