Turkey and TATURs--the 12 year

I'm finally getting around to catching up on blogging as of late. Turkey and TATURs was a few weeks ago and Dana and I ran as a team and tackled the 25K. I suppose I had enough base left what with my lackadaisical training lately, and Dana had a lot of desire to finish, with very little training runs--but she has been KILLING it on her Peleton bike and had the ability to endure pain when tired in her arsenal.

This year was the first year I was simply running. Oh, I did a little pre-marking Saturday morning but unlike years past, I did not get up before dawn and run the course to check for vandalized course markings. I slept almost until the time to start and showed up relaxed. 

I did get to finally meet a FB friend Belle Vie, and due to my absent-mindedness, we did not get the traditional FB selfy. Brian went up and gave her a hug but he thought she was someone else--Caroline Glenn, who uses to run with us. HAHA. And what a funny way to meet people. Belle finished 38 minutes ahead of us, and we finished just after she headed home.

Co-race director Bryan Drummond makes the pre-race speech while Dana and I ignored it, planning on starting at the back of the pack anyway. The race has three distances--a 50K which started at 7:00, our race started at 7:30, and the 10K started at 8:00. This helped with the single track trails being congested in the early going.

So we basically spotted everyone 5 minutes and doubted that we'd catch anyone. DFL would be mine--I told Dana she HAD to finish ahead of me. A lot of the trailz were leaf covered, but the remaining leaves were in full color.

Here we're passing Lake Pepsi. Not a lot of wind to bother us, but the breeze did come around later in the race. The 10K, which started 30 minutes after our 25k start. Clay Mayes blew by us like a hungry cheetah, and soon most of the other 10Kers picked us off. Nearly all of the 10K runners beat us to the first aid station-well we might have been ahead of a dozen or so of them. T that intersection, they turned right and headed back to the finish line, and we turned left and headed to the east mountain for 9 miles of trailz before we came to this aid spot again.

At Meego's Cantina, the first aid station, Mike and Meego and a big group of friends had three tents set up and had a huge variety of goodies along with a well-stocked bar that included Fireball of course, and a few whiskeys and other various liquors and beers. Besides Mike and Meego, Alicia Bell, Michelle Bates, Abby Ivey, RJ and Summer Chiles, Brian Hoover, and Leaha Kopp made this their home for most of the day.

Dana and I actually  CAUGHT a couple of runners--William Barnes and Carrie Rives were seriously interested in proper hydration, and Dana and I slipped out of the aid station and out of last place and held our position for the rest of the day--not that anyone was really racing,

 For most of the race, we were all alone. Turkey Mountain is not a closed course, and being a nice day, the trailz were packed in the early afternoon with families out for an adventurous hike with lots of kids and dogs. Despite the obvious fact that a race was going on, quite a few mountain bikers were riding the trailz. Again, it' not a closed course. I understand that. And I also appreciate that most of them were very courteous and yielded to the runners. But there were a couple that had a crappy attitude like no one should even be out on the trailz but other bikers. Oh well....

 I did remember to take quite a few pictures of the trailz and foliage. 

 This is the pond on the blue trail and taken at an angle where it is hardly recognizable. 
We reached the second aid station-the top of the hill aid station for want of a better name. However, this spot is only supposed to be accessed at mile 7, and not after climbing Lipbuster, which is basically where it is located. No worries if someone wanders over after the nasty Lipbuster climb though. I did. It's just that the next aid station for the runner at that point is 100 yards away--over at Meego's. Mark Plate, Misty Rowland, and Jenni Hawkins held down the fort here t mile 7. I hit Maty up for some vitamin I. My hip was hurting a little, and I had bruised my heels in a ladder incident earlier in the week. A couple of pills and I was good to go. The next trail section was pretty rough. The Hi-Chi trail aka Landslide is super rocky, and today it was also leaf covered. Dana and I walked all of it, and then on the Ho-Chi when I thought we might run a little, neither one of us seemed to be able to conjure enough gumption to do much more than a brisk walk. So walk we did.

Lower parking lot--we met the Wonder Women. There were actually three of them--Jana Graham, Betsy Kurle, and Jana Rugg. they took selfies with every runner who came through, and with lots of families, walkers, hikers, and goofy grinning guys. I guess I fall into the latter category.

Picture by Johnna Ellison, who walked backward on the course to meet us. :-)

Dana never expressed any doubts about her finish. It would have been easy to bail at Meego's the second time through. The last 2 miles of the course are technical, and you can hear the finish line more than a mile away. It seems like you are closing in on it, then the trail turns away and akes you further away from the crowd, the hot food, and cold beer. May people cuss out the course designer for this annoying route. I love it. And no, I did not design the course.

I mentioned to Dana that if we picked it up just a little, we could finish under 7:30. She growled at me, but when we finally got off t the super rocky stuff, she shifted into shuffle mode. She asked if we were good--would we make it, and I told her it was close. Truly, it didn't matter. Well, maybe just a little.

We finished in 7:29:20. This was a good run for her--by far her longest in several years. We ate some chili, and a couple of chili dogs, drank a beer, and then went home for a bit. Then we came back by and hung out a little, then went to Meego's for a while.

The race had well over 200 runners, and it always seems to have about that amount give 10 or 20 people. It's really a perfect size for the facility and for the trailz. I have run the 50K here 3-4 times, the 25K by dropping down 3-4 other times, and have just volunteered a few times. I thoroughly enjoy the 25K. 

Big props to Bryan Drummond, Kathy Bratton, Barbara Pinkerton, Justin Walker, and whoever I'm missing for putting on such a flawless race.