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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Race Report: River Gorge 10.2 Mile Trail Race (Part 1)

First off, let me say... this race was NOT my idea. I mean, sure... I keep up with all the trail races in Chattanooga, because I am OBSESSED with that town and it's trails... but, for some reason this race never really interested me. And then I got an email from a friend...

Signed up me and H for the River Gorge on March 26!!  10.2 miles of easy running on Signal Mtn.  Kidding, I heard it was a very tough 10 miler.  You should come down with us. 

 Ummm... did someone say Signal Mountain??? As in the Stumpjump's Signal Mountain? The mountain that made me fall in love with Trail Running??


Anyway, I still didn't sign up... until a week or so I ago and I got this email from the same friend...


Not seeing your name on the list for the river gorge next weekend. Monday is last day to register online and nearing the 400 limit. just saying...

So, I went online that day and registered. 10.2 miles... That's a lot shorter than 30+ miles on the mountain, right? How bad can it be????
 
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We headed down to Chattanooga Friday afternoon. We made packet pickup, walked across the bridge to find some dinner downtown and then walked back across the bridge to drive back to our hotel. Little known fact here... Umm... walking... before and after dinner the night before a race is a BRILLIANT idea. Seriously, I had to go to the bathroom the moment we got back into the hotel room. In fact, I'm thinking about trying to walk a little after dinner every night! I sleep so much better that way!
 
Anyway, by the time we got back the hotel it was like... 7pm. And we had already eaten dinner... So, what's two girls to do for 2-3 hours before bed? Watch crime television, of course!! After a couple of episodes of Bones and a shitty episode of Dateline (Um. I could have told you it was the boyfriend from about 2 minutes in. How do they drag that shit out for an HOUR?) it was time for bed. We flipped on the local news just to watch the weather. The forecast was this:
 
THUNDERSTORMS. RAIN 100%. YOU ARE GOING TO DIE. SET YOUR ALARM FOR PM, SO THAT YOU HAVE A GOOD EXCUSE TO MISS THE RACE.
 
Still, I was hopeful that maybe the rain wouldn't start till we were finished with the race, which at that point, I figured I'd finish in around 2 hours.
 
I tossed and turned all night. AND I got up and peed like 3 times. But, the last time I woke up... was to a HUGE flash of lightning and then an earsplitting clap of thunder followed by the undeniable sound of a monsoon. I got up and made my way over to the window...


You can't see, but there's a river flowing through the parking lot.

And then I thought... well... maybe it's still early. Maybe it will stop before the race. And then the alarm went off. Drats.

I got up, put some clothes on and immediately went downstairs to grab a little breakfast. A half of a banana, a piece of toast with jelly, and some fruit. The storm did not let up.

Oh well, I thought to myself... 10.2 miles isn't as bad as 30+ miles in the rain...
 
To be continued...

2 comments:

Laura said...

Ugh, hope you didn't get too cold and wet! Storm running can be disastrous.

Fifty K said...

That's horrible. Been there before though. Bad weather makes us even better runners though. Hope you did well!