Mowdy Report

I am a little late in getting my race report out for the melody Mustang Ranch Trail run. This is my third year to run this race, and it is a very well put together race, great trails, and beautiful scenery. It’s also cool to see wild Mustangs running around in the woods while you’re also running around in the woods.

This year, I signed up for the 50 K knowing that if it got hot I would drop down to the marathon distance. I have no problem doing that, as I don’t like absolutely baking my brain out in the open spaces. The marathon and 50K started at 5 AM. Most everybody wore their headlamps, but I opted to go without one since in 15 or 20 minutes it was light enough to see. The race starts out across a small field and turns into a small wooded area and then gets back out into some open prairie. The first mile or so, it was too dark to take any pictures; but when I got into the words, the sun was starting to pick up over the horizon.

The Mowdy Ranch Trail Run has a 5K, 10K a half marathon, full marathon, 50K. The course has 7 miles on the north side of the ranch and then you come back to the start finish. Then you go out for about 6.5 miles on the south end of the property. Once you do both of these loops, you have a half marathon under your belt. The marathon does the same thing twice, and the 50K does an additional shorter loop to make their distance. I’d say close to half of the runners at this event do the half marathon.

After passing this tree with the face, you get into some really technical trails. Most trail runners would actually call this their favorite section as there are some cool rock formations. 

My first time around, I ran the section fairly well although I did stop and take a few pictures. My second lap it was starting to get hot and I basically walked through it and endured the technical areas.

I really didn’t have any time goals for this race. I just wanted to get a marathon or 50K, and feel good on my feet. I had hoped to get through the race with no serious knee issues—even after the race.

 I always take a picture from this spot, but a photo never captures how amazing the view really is. After being in dense woods for a couple of miles, the break here in the tree cover shows a valley and a distant hill maybe 4-5 miles away. It's not Colorado, but it's still scenic.

 This mile stretch is like running FlatRock. Not easy to run with tired legs.

If I had built this trail, I would have plotted it just as it is. I reserve the right to cuss at it, but meandering between rocks is trail running at its best.

 Fortunately, my body tends to lean this direction later in a race.

It can really get hot at this race, but this year was a few degrees cooler than in years past. It was partly cloudy but when you got out in these fields and the sun was beating down on you It was a grind. 

The race photographers took this photo. I was focusing on sucking it in but did not remember to disguise my duck stride.

I'm not sure if this was on the north or south side trailz. Let's say south.

After my first loop, I picked up my new spiffy hat. It’s a straw hat with lots of ventilation, and a 50 UPF rating. It breathes well enough that my head didn’t get too hot and sweaty, although I still needed the bandanna to mop my brow.

These sunny sections were a good place to run. No roots or rocks to trip on, and the sooner you got through them the better. The warm weather eventually did take its toll on me. I hit an aid station on the north side where they filled my water bottle--and I promptly spilled it all over there M&Ms and potato chips. I felt kind of bad about that but they said oh don’t worry don’t worry. But I had used the last of their water in their water jug. They said they could get me a refill but I opted to go on since my bottle was about half full. That was a mistake. I got to the long Rocky technical section for the second time  and my legs were tired enough that I really couldn’t shuffle through there. I just walked. I was sort of rationing my water were not wanting to run out before I got to the next stage station, but I still drained it and had about a mile and a half to go mostly in an open sunny field. I found myself getting really short of breath and actually had a slight bit of tightness in my chest. That spooked me, and I really wondered what I should do. Then, it occurred to me I had my cell phone and I could call my friends RJ and Michelle at the next state station. They could probably run out to meet me with a bottle of water. Three minutes later RJ came riding up on a four wheeler with a cold bottle of Gatorade and a cold bottled water. He stayed with me while I guzzled all that down and offered me a ride on in--but I wanted to stay in the race. When I got to their aid station I sit down drink another big cup of ice water and another big cup of ice Gatorade and felt like I was 100%. Or 90%--somewhere in there. 

I went on and I knew at this point that I was not going to make the 50 K. I expected that, but I was worried that I was not going to get to the Finishline before their cut off. I did not want to hold all the aid stations out there waiting for me. So I called my buddy Chris who was timing the rice and he assured me that I had plenty of time to finish the marathon and that there were actually quite a few 50 K years behind me. I really questioned that as I think I had been lapped by all of them and in fact I had.



I was starting to think I wasn’t going to see any horses out on the range, but as I made the turn heading back towards the start finish I saw several and took a picture and walked a little further and took another picture trying to get close and as it turns out I probably could’ve  scratched them on the butt. They were quite tame.

I made the aid station on the south side of the course and apologized for being so slow but they said not to worry that they’d be there even if it was until dark. I thought that was very kind but I didn’t want to keep them out there that long so I picked up the pace a little bit. Not a lot— just a little. 

 The south side of the course has a little more exposed sections, but this year, they had cut a few more trailz and eliminated some fields and added single track through the woods. This race gets better every year.

I probably had about 4 miles left in my race and another four wheeler came riding out to meet me. It was Clay Melody, the owner of the Mustang Ranch, and I guess the word got around that I had had a little bit of trouble with the heat and they were concerned that I was OK. Actually I was doing great but I was very thankful that they came out to check on me.

There were lots of armadillos out this day. This guy was so busy rutting around for grub worms that he was totally unaware that I was taking his picture. I could have scratched his ears. Earlier, I saw 4 babies rooting around in the leaves. They looked up at me like puppies. I could have brought one home.

When I reach the south aid station again for the final time, there were about 20 people there standing in applauding for me coming in. I was just blown away by that. I know the last place runner usually gets a lot of hoopla. That’s the cool thing about our sport, but I sure didn’t expect so many people. They told me that it was only about a mile to the finish and that was pretty close to true it’s actually about a mile and a quarter and I managed to jog that in. 

I did have a couple of people meet me about a quarter-mile out and run in with me. Again I was just really blown away by that. This guy and I don't remember his name--and Cat, and I didn't get our picture.

They gave me my finishers medal and told me not to go away, as they had a Nother special award for me. It seems the last horse in the barn gets a special award. Again that’s something kind of unique to trail run. They gave me this little gnome which I thought was just quite fitting as it was riding a turtle. It now resides in my flower garden, and it does move around a little bit but not very fast.

So what can I take from this run? Only that trail runners are some of the greatest people in the world. I love this race, and will probably do this one every year until I’m too old to get around.

War Eagle--25K for me

My training--such as it is--has consisted of weeknight dog walks and races on the weekends. My goal race (or at least the first tier goal race) is Honey Badger--a 100+ miler in the flatlands of Kansas--that wide spot in the middle that has no trees. It has a 36-hour time limit which is only there to make it seem badass. The only thing hard about it is the potential for hot weather--July 7 on rural paved roads with zero shade--yep, it could be hot. So, to train for that, I need long slow runs in the heat, and War Eagle fit the bill.

 I remember this race when it was just a fat ass run--way back when the fatass description brought raised eyebrows and pissed off looks from anyone who's butt was bigger than medium. Probably less than 100 runners showed up to run on these winding twisting single track trail system. The race then was actually called the Tail Twister. Today there were 567 finishers, and probably a few who just threw in the towel mid-race, and a few who stayed at home under the covers. 

Due to the RD sending the crowd backward across the War Eagle bridge to an imaginary starting line, I started the race near the front of the pack--a freakishly strange spot for me to find myself. My plan was to run with Lynna, and did for about a quarter mile. I had the everything-malfunction going on. My pack was strapped on one notch wrong, one shoe was too tight and one was too loose. No wait, they were on the wrong feet. One Injinji toe did not feel right. I needed my bandana on. Bitch bitch bitch. I walked and fixed my pack, tied my bandana on, and decided to just suck it up on the shoe thing. Since by then, I was at the back of the pack, I ventured off on a gravel road to pee, and now was in my comfy place--way back in last place.

So, most all of my pictures were just of the trailz. And what beautiful trailz they are--very well groomed without many unnecessary switchbacks.  The tree cover was thick, and the skies were mostly cloudy for the first part of the race, and I lost my sense of which way was north or any direction. I knew up and down, but it seemed like for the most part, but had no clue of how the course would take me. Fortunately, it was very well marked.

At one point somewhere, there was a splinter tail that seemed to lead to an overlook. I took the turn and saw a group of cattle enjoying a float trip. I got passed here by some people who either got lost, found a porta pot and let the old guy pass them.

This is what running is supposed to be. Just dirt, trees, and a breeze here and there if you're lucky. The 25K ran one big loop. The 50K ran two of these loops. It gets confusing here though. They also had another small loop that they had to do. The starting line and the finish line were at different places. The 50K did not return to the starting line, but their second loop was short so they added on X amount of mileage to make it 31.1 miles. If that makes sense, then I have done a good job of splainin' it. It was my goal to not be lapped by a 50Ker. If they lapped me, then they were going more than twice my pace. (Ok, I am really slow.)

Because the 50Kers had this longer 5K-ish loop to do, I got ahead of a lot of them. I started getting passed by a LOT of runners, and they were actually not all that much faster than what I was able to do. It took me a while to figure out who these people were. Once I did, I felt relieved and started tucking in behind them and matching their pace. I reeled off a few faster miles in the latter part of my loop. Eventually, I did get passed by the 50K leaders though. It was easy to tell who they were because they about blew me over when they zoomed by.

We had a short section of gravel road that seemed a lot like Pumpkin Holler.

I went through quite a few Salt Sticks (my electrolyte capsule of choice.) I never ran out of water and made myself drink warm water the whole day. I stayed well hydrated and peed 2-3 times.

This sign struck me funny. Only now while writing this race report did I realize that this must have been a horse camp.

The best part of the race was seeing Dave Renfro out at one of the aid stations. He just came out to cheer the runners on. I was so glad to chat with him even though it was a quick exchange. Dave has battled cancer for a few years and has such a brave outlook on his situation. The picture below is a screen capture from his Facebook page.

Five days later, cancer took him from us. I was so sad and deeply grieved our loss, and his family's loss. 

My friend Kathy Bratton said it better than me:

"Rest In Peace Dave Renfro! I have never seen anyone go through a sickness with such grace and dignity as you did! I will truly miss your macabre sense of humor and your warrior spirit!!!"

I finished 294th out of 304 25kers. Hey--it's a top 300. I would bet money that those behind me were 50Kers who stopped after their first (longer) loop.

So what in this race is an improvement? I had to scrape to find anything. I held up good in the heat, drank and peed, I found a wee bit of speed late in the race--just a smidgen. I'm just gonna call it a decent LSD run. Plus, the shirt was nice.

Spring Fling 2018

I ran the Sizzlin Sasquatch Spring Fling this year for the second time. This time around, I opted for the 6-hour event--well for a lot of reasons. 

1. I was not really trained/conditioned enough to go 24 hours like last year.

2. My knee while it has let me run, it has started giving me a little more trouble.

3. I had the chance to see my grandson play in a baseball tournament at 2:00 a mere 15 miles away from the race.

That's 3 decent reasons. There are others--like I have a toenail that is sore. Maybe some more if I can think of some.

 IIt's always good to see friends--some of which I see a lot, like Mark and Brandon.

 And some like Lisa and Eric--two of my favorite people EVER. They had just got back from the west--every state west of Oklahoma (except Hawaii.) They converted a fabulous Mercedes cargo van into a roving Earth Station. It was quite possibly the nicest conversion I have seen.

 I drove down in the wee hours of the morning and quietly drove my Prius to the edge of the camping area and slept for a couple of hours, I set my alarm for 5:45 uz I thought the race started at 6:00. But shucky damn, it started at 7:00 and another hour of sleep would have been SO AWESOME.

RJ had a captive audience and went over the few rules of the race. Were there actually any rules? Go counter-clockwise. Make sure your lap gets counted. No one got lost. Only one person missed getting a lap accounted for and that was fixed.

I was in no hurry. I actually ran the first lap in sandals, which might not have been the best idea, but did no harm.

Part of the 3.6 mile loops are single track, some are wider mowed swatches along the edge of open grassland, and you cross a gravel road once. The trail is a good mix of a lot of things. Never any steep hills, but some longish gradual ones and nice gentle downhills. It's a great course for running. But I shuffled.

This was about as close as I got to getting my feet wet. I just kept going and going. I'd do a slow lap, then a faster lap, then I'd walk a lap at a brisk pace, then run one, then walk a slow one. 

I did manage to pick up a tick or three. Fortunately, I did not get any chiggers.

The one manned aid station was actually womanned. There were the basic snacks, and oddly enough, they'd have something new on every loop. I ran for 6 hours and gained 6 pounds. I finished with 5 laps, good enough for last or next to last. I then left to see my baseball game.

My finisher award was this glass cutting board, which I have by my computer and use for a mouse pad.

After the baseball game, I came back and hung out well into the night. Did a moderate amount of drinking--just to the point to whee I turn into a comedian. Alicia and Cat were nice enough to humor me by laughing at my jokes. They're such good friends. Realistically, I probably was being stupid.

I always try to find something from the race to hang my hat on--a good overall pace, a speed-up in pace for the last part of the race. Nada. I guess I learned that it's a good idea to pull over and sleep when you're too sleepy to drive straight home. Maybe the best thing was meeting some new friends. Cat Carr--you are one of US.

Cavanal Killer 2018

For the third consecutive year, I ran the Cavanal Killer in Poteau, OK. This paved race is an 8K(ish) trek up Cavana Mountain which is affectionately called the World's Highest Hill.  Wikipedia explains it best:

Cavanal Mountain
Cavanal Hill viewed from the southeast side
Highest point
Elevation	2,385 ft (727 m) [1]
Prominence	1,775 ft (541 m)
Coordinates	35°04′15″N 94°40′46″W  [2]
Geography
Cavanal Mountain Le Flore County, Oklahoma, U.S.
Parent range	Ouachita Mountains
Topo map	USGS Cavanal Mountain

Cavanal Hill (officially Cavanal Mountain), located near Poteau, Oklahoma, is billed by a local chamber of commerce as the, "tallest hill in the world", because the elevation of its summit is 1,999 feet (609 m).^[3] The actual summit elevation is 2,385 feet (727 m) above sea level;^[2] the difference in elevation between the summit and the Poteau River 3 miles (5 km) to the north is 1,960 feet (600 m).^[4]

The billing is based on the delineation between a hill and a mountain, that being if the geographical feature were 2,000 feet or higher than its base, then it would be classified as a mountain instead of a hill. However, the Geographic Names Information System listing do contain several summits with "hill" in their names which are higher than 2,000 feet.

The Poteau Chamber of Commerce puts on this event, and from the number of sponsors listed on the website and on the back of the shirt, it must be a good fund raiser. 58 sponsors?!?!? WOW!! Pumpkin Holler needs that kind of sponsorship.

Two years ago, I was a couple of minutes past 9:00 arriving, and had to beg/reason/nag to get my packet. As race time approaches, they pack the crap up and get out of Dodge. Last year, a few friends came early and ran op and back down before the race. The faster ones in our gang got back barely  in time to get their numbers and shirts. I was slower and did not get mine. No provisions, no apologies. This year I was early enough and got my packet. But true to form, seven (7) minutes before the actual race started, the remaining packets were boxed up and put away. Anyone running late would have been out of luck. A few extra minutes would be courteous--just saying. Other than that, all the volunteers were awesome--friendly, great crowd support, and 4-5 aid stations PER MILE!!!

No I did not have a drone. But someone did. I borrowed a couple of screen shots from last years video. This year, we had nearly identical conditions. Cloudy and quite comfortable for the first hour or two.

I saw Russell Bennet and Arnold Begay before the race. I saw Arnold trotting back to his car just before the race started to get the chip for his shoe from his packet. No one told anyone about it, but us stupid runners are supposed to know that. I had noticed someone else with the yellow loop tab on his shoe, and had to go back to get mine. That, with a lengthy wait at the porta-pot (I just can't pee in a crowd) so I was starting out a little late. That's nothing new to me at all, and Arnold and I ran together for about three miles up the hill.

The first mile is flat for a while and then starts to ascend. After that, it's steep. I can shuffle the incline, but I can also walk it just as fast.For me, it's not really a race, but for most it is never a run. I'd say well over half of the entrants never run a step. The race busses the finishers back down to elementary school where packet pickup was staged. Most of the runners skip the bus ride and run back down. It's FUN. 

Arnold pulled ahead and finished 14 minutes ahead of me. But he ran back and paced me in the last quarter mile or so. I picked up my pace in the last 200 yards, and managed to pass 4-5 runners.

Instead of hot dogs, they had sandwich quarters. They were good. Fresh. But I was all set for a hotdog with a gross amount of mustard. Am I being whiney? I'll shut up.

Swiped a pic from Arnold's FB page. This even kind of looks like Cavanal.

Arnold and I went for a little reconnaissance run on some dirt roads that stretched across the ridge of the hill. There's lots of shortish gravel roads going left and right off on a mile long road that runs east and west. Picture fish bones. It was nothing earth shattering. Nothing amazing to see. No waterfalls. No caves, although I hear there ARE caves somewhere. There was one overlook, but it was less impressive than the one near the finish line. Basically we got in 4 miles on some boring roads, and picked up a few ticks.

Since we hit the finish line aid station again, we ate again. And refilled bottles/bladders. The run back down was glorious, but I was not able to hit it as hard as I did last year. Of course, I did do a 50-miler the week before. The sun had came out, and it was getting into the mid 80s. Just like it should in May.

And since I set a precedent for picture swiping, I swiped another.

The finishers medals were good. I am not one who even expects a finisher medal for 5Ks and other short races. It was nice to see they were heavier cast medals though.

The shirt was good. It's a cotton blend shirt in a good color. The artwork was good. I have got a few raised eyebrows wearing it since the first thing they see on the front and back is KILLER.


Since I am officially training now, I always try to find some aspect of my race that shows improvement. My finish time for the ascent was 1:31:51. I started 8:14 late. So my actual race time was 1:23:37. That would have made me the 91st finisher out of 206. I would have been the 53rd male finisher. I would have been 3rd in my age group. This time was a couple of minutes faster than last years time, although I had ran an up and down last year before the race. My average pace on the ascent was 16:44 while climbing over well over 2000 feet.

On this same day, there was a race in Arkansas that I'd love to run sometime. The Mount Magazine Trail Run--around 18 miles and much more elevation gain than Cavanal. Probably gonna do that one next year.