This was a hard, hard run. About halfway through I just felt totally wasted, and part of me wanted to quit. It took us 2 hours and 50 minutes to go 10 miles. There were a lot of places where you just couldn't run at all, you just had to try to keep on your feet. I fell several times but was able to catch myself with my hands.

So picture this: You've been running 10 plus miles through mud, your feet weigh about 10 pounds more than usual, you are covered from the knee down in mud, and you are still expected to be able to jump over small creeks, climb over trees, climb up hills, take all kinds of hairpin turns, etc.

I walked the last 2.5 miles. My hip and one of my hamstrings started really bothering me. I was feeling really sorry for myself and was near tears several times. I didn't think it would EVER be over! I almost cried at the end, but I didn't. Because I'm tough like that. Or just stubborn...yeah that's probably it.

Some memorable moments:
I blew my nose on a leaf I found on the ground because the snot was literally pouring out of my nose. It was awesome.
Lana would sing this song I made up that goes "Caution caution caution! Be prepared to stop" whenever she came up to an area that was particularly treacherous.
Lana fell on her bum in the mud. :o)
At one point Lana asked me "Do I have mud on my face?" I responded "No, but you have some mud on your pants. Oh, and your shoes...did you know you had mud on your shoes?" HA HA HA!
And I'm sure there were some others too.

Train on hills. Hills, hills, hills, and more hills. Nothing but hills. This course was supposedly 22% flat, but I really think that's probably a lie. It was up, down, up, down, the entire time. Also, after the first loop I ditched my hat and gloves because I was getting really hot. Then, wouldn't you know, the sun went behind the clouds and the wind picked up. Wish I would have at least kept my gloves. I was freezing!

Basically sat down and tried not to cry. Ha! Got out of my disgusting shoes which was a huge relief, but Brian had to tie my shoes for me because my hands were so cold that my fingers weren't working. It was really pathetic.


My hurting hip and hamstring. Oh yeah, and THE MUD! And I wish I would've trained on hills more. I don't think anything I could have done would have really prepared me for this, but running more hills would have at least helped a little bit.


The volunteers were awesome. They were super encouraging, they went the extra mile to take your water bottle from you and take the lid off for you and everything. Every aid station had cookies, fruit and other food. Some even had Gu and M&Ms. Without the aid stations with food, I'm not sure I would have brought enough. I ate at every aid station! And had some snacks in between. :) Overall I'd say this is a great race organization, but I'm really not sure if I'll do this race again. I do want to do another trail race...just maybe not this one. :)