I gladly hopped out of bed at 4:15am and drove an hour and a half to participate in this half marathon. I entered the GPS coordinates into my iPhone and drove off into the darkness.
I arrived at the Cossatot River Visitor Center at 6:28am. I accidentally drank an entire pot of coffee during my drive, so I was fired up and my hands were shaking! I had plenty of time to check in, eat a bite, use the restroom a few times, and load up on the bus. I was confused at why we had to load up at 7am for an 8am start, but after riding on the bus for almost 40 minutes I figured out the plan.
The dark, bumpy, curvy bus ride to the starting line!
We were dropped off at a river access point given instructions and turned loose to run over the river and through the woods, back to our cars.
The course was beautiful. I wish I wasn’t navigating skull crushing rock gardens and could enjoy the views a little more. I did snap a few pictures:
Yippee! The water was low at the low water bridge!!!
One of the baby climbs.
I’m sorry, but I can’t seem to find the trail…
Don’t fall off the cliff!
Over all, the run was awesome. I felt like Pocahontas running through the woods. I actually caught myself smiling several times. You see, this is the first trail run I have attempted since the whole injury debacle of the 50k DNF. I was so happy to be running in the woods, and not dying of pain, that I was overcome with running joy. I wasn’t pushing myself for time, I was having fun! I will never care what another clock says again. I have entered a new stage of my running life. I don’t care about time anymore. I just want to run, have fun, and finish healthy!
Here are the elevation details and a map:
There were a few places that I almost got lost, but I found the blue markings quickly and didn’t cry.
Yippee!
Afterwards, I was able to hand out a few yummy KIND bars to some of my friends for a bit of recovery fuel! They were excited and hungry!
I will definitely run this race again next year. The only thing I will do different is rent a cabin close to the visitor center, so I don’t have to wake up so early…
What do you think?