Can you say Gnarly?

Saturday morning came in a jiffy!
The smell of 'hard-core' was in the air.
Up and out of bed, getting ready for 15km
in the hills, trails, and woods of Duluth.
Said to be some of the best trail running in the upper midwest...
who's gonna lie about that?
We fill our bellies up with the oats
and the fruits and head on out toward the
Duluth Zoo.
this is actually where the race is going to end,
but since its a point to point style race
we parked at the finish,
got shuttled to the beginning and then
magically our ride home was where we started
which is at the finish.
If your from Finland, you'll understand...
I'm not form Finland, not even a little.
So, here we are at the zoo, its 10:15 AM and we
are feeling the beauty of the landscape.
Trees are turning, the air is crisp and the
weather is just plain beautiful.
We make some small talk with some of the friends that
we had met the night before
and start thinking about our gear, what to bring, what not to bring
on the course, etc.
Mr. Raymond was still getting things set up for the finish line...
we were hanging out.
The shuttle was slotted to get us to the start point
promptly at 10:50 so we could head out at 11.
And that, my friends, is exactly what we did.
Only 25 of us running today.
yeah, 25 tough people who are about to start an adventure
they won't soon forget, but might want to.

So we're off on to the path that heads towards the hills
easy running at first, and then....POW!
you get right into the climb...the rocks, the roots.
There are blue tally marks along the trail to keep you on
track. Rod had also gone through and tied blue ribbon on trees
to make it that much easier to navigate through.
Its still tough though, you spend so much time
looking down at your feet and the rocks, roots, etc
you miss the sash's that are laid out for you.

The head pack was out of sight and there were about 6 of us running together.
At times i would be in the lead, at times Lydia would take control, and then Shawn would get up there and pull
us along! it ws great to have others to run with
it could get real lonely real quick out there.
So, we continue to meander through the hills...
the body is in sensory overload with everything to see
and hear, its tough stuff out there!
now remember, this is over 9 miles of heavy duty trail running...
not hiking, running.
It takes alot out of you but you just have to keep plugging away.
Thats what we did and then about mile 6 we get to
what is notably called..."The Puker"
I think you can imagine what kind of hill this is.
I was in the lead at the time so I started this climb with good intentions.
Then i realized that this climb wouldn't quit,
it just kept going up, over and through!!
It didn't let off for even a second so I could catch my breath,
feel my legs, rest my heart or mind.
RUTHLESS! My guts were seriously twisting in my stomach...
like an unrelenting AB workout from hell and beyond.
Honestly, it hurt, yet we ALL kept moving and making it closer
to the top, then closer, and closer and there we were.
I must admit, i had to walk at the top, just to regain my bearings.
I wasn't shot, by any means, just disoriented a bit.
the good news...we were getting closer to the finish.
Although, if my body would let me, i would run those trails ALL day...
its that glorious.
one more water stop, then a SUPER crazy hill climb on man made steps.
Straight up almost literally, just obscene.
More good news...

A) Rocky takes the lead for the first time today..full of energy and verve! I yell
"Go Rocky!" and he kept moving forward...nice work

B) downhill (almost totally) to the finish.

So we are on our way, and I'm bringing up the rear. Rocky and Shawn are out front and pulling away, no too far, but away nonetheless. The girls asked if I wanted to pass, I declined at the moment, but knew I needed to make a move sooner than later if I wanted to hang with the boys up front. We were getting within a mile of the finish and I made my move ahead of the gals and on ward to the guys up front...then I notice the clearing and through the trees I could see the finish just about 200 yards ahead. To my delight I see Rocky and Shawn stopped, waiting...for the 3 of us. We ran the whole race to gether and they would be damned skippy if we didn't all finish together! That is what we did...hands held high, cheers from the small crowd and smiles all around. I took a deep breath and looked around and just realized what had happened...I just ran the most beautifully fun grueling tough and awesome race to date. I honestly would have gone back to the start and done it one more time. Thanks out to the 5 who ran together for this one, what a great time it was, and it is nice to know you all.

We watched and waited for the rest of the runners to come in, sat around and ate bananas, oranges, and granola bars. Drank the G2, and filled up on water. One by one they started coming in, all getting claps and cheers form the finishers. perfect morning!

Next we gave out awards! I got 3rd in my age group and got a handcrafted trophy that is totally one of a kind and completely bad-ass! Won a free pair of Salomon trail running shoes, Hammer HEED, and some water bottle s and such. Excellent morning...and now off to do some hiking with Shawn along the Knife River. More on that to come int he next post and day 3 right around the corner.

Thanks again to Rod Raymond for putting this together. We were part of something great that will become something greater in the years to come.

Duluth....a new love of mine!