David's Trail Endurance Run

For the past five years I’ve had a birthday tradition.

It started out tame. Swim 10,000 yards one year, ride 25 x 1 min HARD the next…essentially, do a “large” workout that somehow involves the number of the age I am turning. I quickly realized my addictive personality made me want to “one-up” the previous year's workout…every year. To save my 40-year-old future self a trip to the hospital, I’ve come to peace with doing a workout or event that will simply make my inevitable aging more memorable. 

Snacks on snacks

Last week I turned 27. To celebrate, I drove four and a half hours south to Mountain Home, Arkansas to run in a 50k trail running race. (David's Trail Endurance Run) Arkansas was new to me and I was a little scared when the navigation included several gravel roads! 

I successfully maneuvered myself over the dirt roads and arrived Friday afternoon with plenty of time. The "scenic" hotel I’d found sat overlooking a lake and was about a five minute drive to Rocking Chair Resort where the event would start and finish. After checking in, I scoped out the course via my preferred touring method: running. I was pumped. The trails were hilly and much more “technical” than I’d foreseen (aka you needed to watch where you put your feet, so you don't face-plant). There were roots, rocks, and small stream crossings. With the precipitation and colder weather predicted to roll in, the race was sure to be challenging but memorable! 

Race Morning

Saturday morning I woke up around 5am and set about making PB & banana toast. And, of course, coffee. Shout out to Mom and Dad for the bomb coffee thermos that doubles as a french press! After checking my phone’s weather app, I stepped outside and confirmed, it was raining…and 37 degrees! Fantastic. I then proceeded to act like a teenage girl getting dressed for school by changing my wardrobe no less than 8 times. Tights or no tights? Jacket or no jacket? Will my head get too hot in this hat? It’s a minor miracle I made it to Rocking Chair at 730am. The weather called for the rain to stick around for a couple more hours before turning to snow. 

Day before trail pictures

No more than 30 questionably sane individuals congregated under a tent near the start line. We huddled like penguins to stave off being wet for a few extra minutes before the race began. The race director quickly queued up and projected a recording of “the Asian girl singing the national anthem”. (I highly recommend watching 7-year-old Malea belt out the tune.) Not sure if it was from the rain and cold or the epic national anthem performance, but I shivered! Then we were off. 

Overall Course Map

 The 50k course began with a 7k (4.5 miles) loop which took us approximately back to the starting point. After the short loop, we would head away from Rocking Chair Resort for a 27ish mile out and back section. Jake, one of race directors, had informed me the 7k loop was the most technical part of the course. 

Another guy and I, Jeff, quickly split from the main group and began running together. I think we both wanted to warm up! After a few minutes of running, I began to relax and enjoy the twisting and turning of the trail. Jeff and I talked a bit. He was preparing for Black Canyons 100k and using this race as a stepping stone. Jeff and a few friends had driven eight hours from Texas! I volunteered that I'd had the great privilege of working  in Texas for 12 hour days in the sauna that July is. Jeff empathized and, thus, we had connected. Nevertheless, we were running a similar pace and it was very enjoyable to have company!

With the addition of the rain, I ran cautiously to avoid wiping out. While the surrounding trees provided decent shelter from the rain and wind, my clothes gradually became damp then soaked. A number of creek crossings early on ensured my feet would get to experience a similar level of moisture. I occasionally checked my watch and started taking in gels after about 30 minutes. Jeff and I soon looped back to the starting area, waved “hello”, thanked a few brave volunteers, and started out on the longer out and back section of the course. 

The trail widened a bit which allowed Jeff and I to mimic two animals naively sauntering towards Noah's Ark. While the short, punchy hills remained, the surface lacked the rocks and roots and instead included some soppy, wet moss. Coming into the Panther Bay aid station around mile 9, I’d stopped to pee and trailed Jeff by about a minute. In and out of the aid station, we ran across a highway bridge. Up ahead, Jeff ran on the left side of the road; separated from the cars by a line of bright, orange cones. Out on the bridge, there were no trees to shelter us and Mother Nature let us know we were exposed. The wind gusted and made the rain feel like pellets hitting my face. Talk about a birthday treat! I could see Jeff up ahead and ran hard to close the gap between us. By the end of the pavement, we were back running together. 

We quickly dipped back into the shelter of the trees after crossing the bridge. The subtle beauty of the Midwest trails was not lost to me. Off to the left, where the trees were thinner, I could see the water we'd just run across. The steep hills had faded to become much more rolling terrain. We ran across a few smaller county roads, occasionally crossing paths with Jake who was cheering from his car! After 30 more minutes, maybe about two hours into the race, the rain turned to snow. I guess the weather app got that part right! To me, running in snow makes everything seem peaceful, and I was loving it. 

I was feeling good and started upping my effort. I could hear Jeff behind me at certain points but footfalls gradually faded. I refilled my bottles at an aid station and pressed on. The last five miles to the far turnaround where challenging. I still felt strong, but some of the footing was far from ideal. With all the rain, and now snow, there were numerous sections of trail that had standing water. My feet were already wet, so, I ran straight through the puddles. 

Elevation profile from Strava

On my way out to the turnaround, I came to a complete stop three times. The first time I stopped was when I came to an old trolley track that was sloping downhill and suspended a few feet off the ground. I have the opposite of "mad hops" so I took my time crossing over the tracks. The second time I stopped was for crossing a small ravine. The ravine had a 10 to 15 foot drop on either side. Very steep rocks on either side were made extra slippery with the addition of the rain and snow. Several ropes with knots in them had been tied to trees on each side to help us descend and ascend the ravine. As elegant as I am, I somehow ended up with mud on my face. The third time I came to a complete stop was when I was adjusting one of my gloves and decided to eat dirt. For the most part, I was able to brake my fall with my hands. Bonus points because instead of nailing some rocks, I fell into a large puddle. After making sure I hadn’t done any serious damage, I wrung out my soaked gloves and carried on. 

The only hoop I will EVER dunk on...

The last two and a half miles to the turnaround (located at about mile 17) included two very large, very steep climbs. Thankfully, the course at this point was on dirt roads where traction was still decent. I was able to slowly granny jog my way up and over the hills. I reached the far turn around, told Jake the last section had been cruel, grabbed a few M&M’s, and trudged back up the climbs.

The snow had started to pick up and I noticed my hands were getting cold whenever I took my gloves off to eat. Even though I was thoroughly enjoying my birthday celebration, a number of miles along the section back to the trolley crossing started testing my nerves. I hadn’t noticed it as much on the way out, but a large section of the trail was off-camber and angled down towards the water. The footing was OK, but the running felt very awkward! 

I saw Jeff and a number of other runners on my way back and we all encouraged each other. Lots of people were bundled up in their rain gear like Eskimos! Eventually, I was running back across the bridge. It was epic. The snow had picked up and was being whipped up and over the bridge by the wind. It looked like I was running through a tunnel of snow. 

Driving back after the race through the snow tunnel!

 Across the bridge and back at the last aid station, I had about 5 miles left. I slammed a chocolate flavored gel and got on my way. The short, steep hills were back. But this time, everything looked different because the ground and trees were covered in snow. The white fluff was coming down so hard I struggled to keep it out of my eyes. I grinded my way up the muddy slopes and encouraged other runners. My uphill pace had significantly slowed but I refused to walk because I knew how close I was to finishing. Finally, after I’d started getting a little worried I’d missed a turn, I turned right and was back on the dirt road to the resort. Four-plus hours running, on trails, in a blizzard, what a great way to celebrate 27. 

I didn’t wait around long after finishing as the conditions were worsening and not many people were outside “hanging out”. I snapped a few terrible selfies, clambered into my car, and headed back to the hotel to regain circulation.

Terrible post-race selfie #1

Thank you to Paul and Jake for organizing this fantastic race. If you're looking for a challenging, beautiful, and environmentally friendly race in the Midwest, put this on your schedule!

Up next for me is another trail race in Utah! I'm excited to be heading to to Moab and Arches Nat'l park to run the Moab Red Hot 55k February 16th. I'll be out there with my family and looking to do some exploring and hiking after the race. So, if anyone knows of some wheelchair friendly hikes we could go on...let me know!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

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