Red Shirt Shuffle Review

Last Saturday was the second running of the Red Dirt Shuffle, a Half and Quarter Marathon at Lake McMurtry on the east side mountain bike trailz. We had about 10 more entrants than last year, so at least it grew a little. 

I marked trailz for most of the day Saturday, tackling the easier south trailz first. I rode my bike and marked the intersections with arrows. I had a pretty decent bike wreck, flipping my bike and flying over the handlebars landing on my back with my head against a fallen tree and a stick from the tree piercing my right ear lobe. Wasn't clean enough for one of those giant hoop rings, and it's healed up nicely in the week since. I found the north side trailz had quite a few downed trees over the trailz. By the time I'd rode 1.5 miles and fixed a flat tire, I had climbed through 10 or 11 trees. I talked to two different mountain bike couples and a few hikers who told me the whole trail system was a mess--no way possible to get through some of the sections. I was also gathering plenty of seed ticks and chiggers, and made the brilliant decision to have the race use only the south trailz with the half marathon running the course twice.  

picture by Jodee Whitworth

 We started about ten minutes late since I led my aid station workers out to their post. No worries. I did explain that this was an ish race--as in halfish marathon, and quarterish. The south loop is marked on the signs as being 6/5 miles, but by my Garmin, it was 7.2.

picture by Brian Lamb

 We sent about 2/3 of the runners out on the half, and the quarter started a half hour later.

picture by Tammy Cryer

 It had rained like crazy Friday, about 10 miles east of the campground, but did not rain more than a few drops at the race site. About 4:00 am, the sound of a rumbling thunderstorm woke me, and I thought for sure we were gonna be in for a muddy day. And it did rain a little, but the trails were damp at the very worst, and really the rain fixed the problem where the trailz had so much loose dirt. They were perfect.

picture by Tammy Cryer

 Thanks to the summer of rain we've had, the lake was FULL for the first time in years. I knew there was a pond somewhere on the course, but this year there were several.

picture by Jodee Whitworth

 But the best watering hole was the aid station in the dead center of the figure 8 course. Other than a soy pumpkin latte, you could order ANY drink known to man here. Runners hit this aid station at 2.5 miles into the loop, and then again around 3.5 miles later where they were a mere mile to the start/finish. Half marathoners ran this loop twice--and some were--well--loopy.

picture by Jodee Whitworth

 Jodee found this sign amusing, but it did keep a few runners from following a double-track trail out of the park.

picture by Jodee Whitworth

 I sure hope I collected all the chiggers and seed ticks on my own hairy legs. In my thinking, the brief light showers before the race might have messed up those itch-bastard-bug's plans of latching onto any warm blooded legs that passed through.

picture by Brian Lamb

 The aid station at the start/finish was manned by Dana. She watered and fed the halfers and sent them out for another loop.

picture by Jodee Whitworth

 Now I did say this was relatively something--flat maybe? I did say the course was relatively dry, and had no one disagree. Relatively long was mentioned. I'll own that.

picture by Brian Lamb

 The second loop passed by Meego's pub twice. Where else do you find this kind of craziness than in a TATUR Trail Race? What the heck is a PickleBack Shot?? It was a small shot of whiskey followed by a pickle juice chaser. It was awesome. I realize this is not for everyone, but pickle juice is the wonder elixir.

picture by Brian Lamb

 Brian Lamb was waiting at the finish line handing everyone their very own vial of red dirt--corked and hung from their neck with genuine cowhide leather strips

 The quarter marathon featured a fast trio that battled hard for the win.  Skylar Turner (in the center) won the race after coming in second last year after getting of course because of a sign marking a turn had been knocked down. I was glad to see him get the win. Robert Rice (on the right) was second, while 15 year old Hayden Wolford was 33 seconds back and took third.

 Lexi Hastings (on the right) won the quarter marathon. Elisha Adams (in the center) took second while Sarah Ellers finished third. 

 Daniel (aka Ryan) (the shirtless dude) won the half marathon. It was close for a while but somewhere in the second loop he poured it on and put a little distance between him and second place. Rey Waldestiand (on the right) finished second in just under two hours. Michael Tupper was just a couple minutes over 2 hours and finished third.

 In the women's half, Ruth Loffi (on the right) got the win. Erin Cardin (in thew center) was second. Jana Graham was third. I probably will get roasted for saying, but I'm thrilled that the ladies in their 50s ruled the podium. Congrats. CLICK HERE FOR FULL RESULTS

picture by Brian Lamb

Hats off to a sleepy Brian Hoover, who has been running himself ragged lately with a super full slate of races to time. Our results were flawless.

Thanks to my sweetie Dana for running the start/finish aid stop. She also makes the trips to Sams and Wal-Mart for aid station supplies. 

Big-time thanks to those who worked at Meego's Pub. Mike Rives, Jason and Sue Ann Bement, Michelle Bates, and Jbob Jones--you guys are rock stars. I know you picked up some help during the day from runners who wanted to just come hang out and help after their race. 

Thanks to Shorty Jennings, who helped get people signed up, and then did double-duty with the finish line and the start/finish aid station.

And to Dennis Hotson, who helped with pre-registration and packet pickup, and then ran the course while picking up the markings. A HUGE help.

Susan Melon Westmoreland has my gratitude for making these awesome awards and trophies. I rounded up the red dirt and glass vessels, and she put her magic to it.

Kevin Lemaster from Ultra Gator did our shirts. He always jumps through hoops to get my shirts to me. 

picture Clint Green

Finally, thanks to all my running friends who came and ran. 

Red Dirt Shuffle Review

It's time to put my thoughts together with these pictures that I have had loaded for a couple of days. Last Sunday was the first of many years for the Red Dirt Shuffle, a halfish marathon and a quarter-sorta marathon. I have played on these trailz a few times before, and I knew the first time I ran here that this would be an awesome place for a race.



Lake McMurtry publishes a decent trail map--not loaded with details, but you can at least tell there is a trail going around the lake and if you look carefully, you can navigate the turns.  


The half and quarter ran different loops. The quarter had the easier and shorter south loop, while the half had the more technical and longer north loop to do before finishing with the south loop.



We had quite a few more halfers that quarter horses.



I was happy to have 100 sign up and 85 show up for this event.


The north loop was run in the counterclockwise direction. The course can best be described as an out and back with offshoot loops on the way back. At times, you might see runners coming back your way, but for the most part, you only saw who might be just ahead or behind you.



I spent Saturday marking, using only styrofoam plates with arrows tacked to trees. Where it was feasible, I put wrong way signs on the trailz that you were NOT supposed to go on.



A nice view of the lake greeted the half marathoners in a couple of spots. The quarter had a couple of distant views.



Like wooden bridges--these trails have them.



Near the aid station and about half way through the north loop, the trail crosses this powerline easement. I think a trail addressing these rolling hills would be a good addition.



There's a little bit of everything on this trail system. You have roots and rocks, sandy trails, trails through meadows, through thick wooded areas, on pine needles, through briers, and tropical reeds.



The south trailz had an easier track. I rode my mountain bike on the north side and it about killed me. I think I could ride thew south side without pushing my bike near as much.



The mt bike riders in the area do a LOT of trail maintenance here. About a mile of new trail had been cut in the past few months replacing sections with erosion issues. Every foot of the trail seems to be well thought out.



Building these bridges means lugging lots of heavy treated lumber a long distance into the woods. Their dedication is commendable.



A narrow downhill spiral. A runner ahead stretches it out while I stop for a picture.



This was my favorite bridge. Instead of dragging a truckload of treated 2x6s in, fallen trees from the area were used. They tied these together with a steel cable drilled through each log. The bridge bounced and swayed.  If it were only 100 feet higher!



I hang around the start/finish for most of the race. Jeremy Wiley pounds out a finish--his first trail race and first half marathon. His daughter was waiting for him to give him his finishers medal.



Red Dirt Shuffle 1/4 Marathon Women's top three from left to right: Amanda Cothern took 3rd, Elisha Adams was 2nd, and Katie Brown was the female winner.

Men's Quarter Marathon top three: In the red next to me, Shayne Hudson took 3rd, on thee right Skylar Turner was 2nd, and in the yellow Craig Harrison was the 1/4 marathon winner.

Red Dirt Shuffle Half Marathon top three: in the Red Coyote shirt Debbie Murnan was 3rd, on the right Shelly Chronister was 2nd, and in the blue speedy Katie Kramer was the ladies Half Marathon winner.



The men's race top three from right to left: Cameron Plate was 3rd, Aaron Ochoa was 2nd, and Justin Franklin was the Red Dirt Shuffle Half Marathon winner.



But the awards were not through yet. Roman Broyles and Cindy Metcalf were the men's and women's longest shufflers. They spent more time on the trailz than anyone else, and were warmly rewarded for their accomplishment.



An honorable mention for longest shuffler goes to Leaha Kopp, who barely out-sprinted Roman and Cindy to the finish line. This was Leaha's first trail race and first half marathon. She had faithfully put her training in for 13.1 miles and was treated to an extra 1.5 miles, due to my evil habit of adding a wee bit to the length of my races for good health.

Susan Melon Westmoreland made these amazing finishers awards and trophies. 
This is real honest red dirt from the Lake McMurtry area. She sifted the dirt, funneled it into over 100 of these bottles, made the lettering and stuck it to the bottles, glued the cork and eyelet in, and cut and tied the leather strings. She is an artist.

My wife Dana was awesome as ever, helping me mark and pull course markings, wrangling all the aid station food, and keeping me sane. The race events go well when she's at the helm. I am bad at forgetting to thank all of my volunteers. So this time, I'll echo Dana's FB thank you.

Thanks to all our Awesome Volunteers yesterday. Kate Ellisor and Shannon Ojeda Jennings Jessi Wiley her two kiddos you all were so awesome. Ken and I appreciate you so much. Thanks to all the Runners that helped after the run to pack up. Kathy Hoover, Roman Broyles, Mike Rives, Cindy Metcalf, and if I left you out please forgive me. I know you all were tired from the run. Can't forget the awesome Susan Lydon Westmoreland, so gifted, made our medals. She's so amazingly talented and creative. TZ calls her his Chloe--if you watch 24 will know what I mean. Actually he made the statement if she was Chloe that must mean he was Jack Bauer. Of course I laugh and stated she is definitely Chloe but he wasn't Jack Bauer lol. Thanks to Brian Hoover for timing our race.

Oh come on--I AM Jack Bauer!!

Finally, I really enjoyed putting on this race. I enjoyed shuffling around and marking the route, and pulling plates after the race. And I got more than my share of souvenirs from my endeavors.
I have over 200 chigger bites. Now, as I type on Thursday evening, the insane itching frenzy is almost gone. The red spots are scabs. How chiggers get from my feet all up my legs, all over my buttocks, my belly, my back, my armpits, and even my face--I dunno. This is the second worse batch I have ever had. If you ran the race and got not even a chigger nibble, you can thank me. I got em all.

Lake McMurtry East Side

This is how it all started--this Red Dirt Shuffle idea.
Dana, Jake, and I spent the weekend at Lake McMurtry, but not where the LMTR 50K/25K/12K is. We camped on the EAST side and ran the trailz there--somewhere I have never been, which is odd--since I claim to be a trail guru.

I don't think these trailz are color-coded--other than on this map. While the west side trailz make a perfect 25K (we set the course up to get the whole 15.5 miles), the east side trailz add up to almost a perfect HALF MARATHON. Hmmm....


We are really enjoying our camping trailer. The heater works, and the A/C works as well. The old Ford does a great job pulling the trailer around--we got a whopping 9.3 MPG going out,. and 11 MPG coming back.


We tackled the south course on Saturday, although Jake and I ran 1.5 in the utter darkness with a small handheld LED light Friday night. I couldn't wait. The trailz were super smooth, soft, rockless, but rooty single track.


This dying tree begged for a picture, and I obliged.


Lotsa red dirt. Occasionally, the trail would cross an open area, and later in the day, the sun started to beat down on us a little. Hate to complain, since it was only maybe 73°.


Despite running sort of around the southern end of the lake, we never really got close enough for Jake to swim, but he did find a couple of creeks with enough water for a dip. Muddy puppy.


As on the west side, there are lots of prickly pear cacti.


Reminiscent of Huntsville State Park (Sunmart, Rocky Raccoon) there are a few wooden bridges to cross, but no alligators.


The trailz closet to the lake were fairly flat with just a few gentle ups and downs. On the return trip, we were a bit further up on the hill, and with the usual switchbacks that mountain bikers seem to like, we had a bit more climbing. The advertised mileage of 6.5 miles was a bit short by our Garmins.


The steeper hills and warming temps slowed TaturCakes and Jake down. I had to promise Jake a swim before we were through.


No Jake--that's not where you're swimming. This was some nasty water, and we would have needed a rope to pull him out.


With more walking than running in the final push, we made it out with close to 8 miles to show for it--which included the distance from our camp to the trail head to and from.

We grilled some steaks and baked potatoes and had a lunch for a king. Then, we made a trip into town. Jake has a hard time getting into the truck, and we have to help him (basically lift his heavy butt up.) We really tried everything to coax him up, and may have given him a complex, because when we got back, he would not walk up the steps into the camper. So, we lifted him up for that. I let him out later to pee, and he scampered out, but would not come back in. I got out the leash, and he got all excited like he does when he gets to go for a run, and was jumping around being the silly dog he is, but still would have no part of coming back inside. He wanted to go for a run or a walk, so I walked him. The tail was wagging and he was pulling wanting to run--not at all like a dog too tired to walk up two steps. So, we went for a walk/jog--taking it easy. Still, he would not come up the steps. We continued to operate a lift service for him, and wondered if he would be good to go the next day.


The question of whether he would/could/should run was heartily answered by him the next morning. He was pumped and stoked to go, acting like he was full of piss and vinegar--tail flying, and pulling on the leash.


Today's route was shorter according to the map. Jake got a swim about a mile into the run, and he ran like the energizer bunny from that point on. Dana ran better, and if we had put our Garmins on auto-pause, we probably would have averaged under 15 m/m. But with pee stops and picture stops, is was a good hiking pace at best.


We really liked the north trailz. The map showed a series of loops, and in my thinking, if we made all right turns, we would run all of the trail system. But instead of the two loops connected by out-and-back sections, there were 4-5 loops. I was confused by this, but still felt that all right turns would get us there.


The north trailz had more variety--a few meadows, straight sections, twisty-turny sections, a few rocky spots, and a lot more steep ups and downs.


We also had more wooden bridges.


The mountain bike club that built and maintains these trailz are to be commended. Besides constructing bridges over the drainages, they had areas where they had paved wash-outs with stone, and built berms to help with erosion.


In places, it seemed the trailz specifically sought out these rocky outcroppings, but still, even with the twisty undulating routes, it is an easier course than Turkey Mountain.


It was cooler today--or maybe it was because we set out an hour earlier.


Jake enjoys another swim. I need to video him--he moans and groans when he swims--like "oooohhh--that feels soooo good!"


The return trip was closer to the lake, and I figured Jake could get another swim in. It was a little more jungle-like, which gave the course even more character.


Trail running does not get much better than this.


While it was not as warm as yesterday, the sun was doing it's job. I got just a tad of sunburn, but hey--I'm super-white.


A tailing Jake is a thirsty Jake. We were carrying water for him--so no, our poor puppy never went without.


Along the bottom area near the lake, we ran through a section of reeds. This was co cool. Jake wanted to swim here, but we said no. Finally, we came to a rocky shore, and were gonna let Jake go hit the water, and Dana grabbed his collar just in time!!


He would have stepped right on this beauty. This girl was sunning herself right across the trail leading to the water, and made no effort at all to move. I came within 12 inches of her taking this picture, and she did that slight coil thing, and I quickly retreated. We thought it might have been a water moccasin, but upon seeing the tail, I doubted it. I could not tell if it had round eyes or slitted eyes, but in this picture shows round and it's tail was skinny to a long point. A moccasin has a blunt tail.

So Jake finished off his water, and was denied a third swim for the day.

We got home and were unloading the camper--and Jake was in and out and in and out, up and down the steps many times. He has some explaining to do.

We loved these trailz--I like them better that the west side, although those are fun as well. It's a great half marathon trail run. Hmmm....