Mystery Mountain Trail Marathon

On October 9th I lined up for my second Mystery Mountain Marathon Trail Race. http://www.getguts.com/e-mmm.shtml This race was 1 week post Stump Jump 50k for me and I wasn't sure how the legs would fare, but eh... what the heck... it's always fun to run on Fort Mountain. The trail and views alone were worth the hour drive there!

Like I said before... I didn't know what to expect out of myself since obviously my body would not be functioning at 100% with a 50k just one week earlier... so I decided to run at a comfortable pace and reaccess somewhere around the half way point. The race starts going around a small lake and allows for runners to jockey for their spot before hitting the true single track trail. I settled in nicely here and found myself running very steady and breathing wasn't too labored. With the exception of a few hills here and there... I was able to keep this same steady pace up until about mile 12. Here you are greeted by a manned aid station and a hideous power line trail that seems like you are going straight to the moon. I would jog and walk until jogging wasn't feasible anymore before finally reaching the top! Once at the top... I was happy to be able to bomb down the technical downhill which would drop us back onto the beautiful single track again.

Somewhere around the halfway point I decided that I would pick up the pace a bit and hold strong until the next big climb. The next climb was far more technical and much longer than that first climb up the power line. It seems like it was 3 miles or so. I remembered the climb from 2008 and knew that it was just best to suck it up and keep moving no matter what. Here I would catch a couple of guys and chat till the top. One of the guys (Jeremy Orr) actually was from Ringgold, GA and lived in Atlanta currently. What a small world. Turns out we knew some of the same people. I would run the rest of the race with him until hitting the lake on the return to the finish line.

Once we passed the last aid station after the descent of the power line I mustered up enough strength to push the pace a bit and bring it on in. I couldn't have been happier to see that finish line! If you are looking for a marathon distance race to test your endurance and push yourself to the next level... sign-up for this one. It will not disappoint!

1st female and 25th overall with a time of 5:19

*course was actually over a mile longer than the 2008 course