#16 Haulin' In The Holler 25k

Sunday March 23rd
Week 5/16 for Mohican 100 Miler

9 miles through Cooper's Rock trails. This week I am planning on sticking to the trails all week and see how many true trail miles I can log as well as how much climbing I can get in. Then next week I will get more mileage and hopefully go into Pilot Mountain marathon on April 12th with a head of steam.

Last week was an absolute bust. I hardly ran at all and just tried to regain mobility in my knee. As of this second, it feels good enough to make this week a good week of running. One of my few runs just happened to be a race. Once again ruining my preparation for a race, I traveled down under to Eleanor, West Virgina with Travis and Josh to see what this trail race was all about.

Haulin' In The Holler 25k Trail Race Review

http://www.haulinintheholler.com/index.htm
 

I am going to try something different/cool and get multiple reviews all in one blog. But you know the old saying, ladies first. So I shall give my review first. As cool as our Sleep Inn suite was, I was devastated when we drove up before six am and saw tents were out in the field. I have every intention of running this race next year and camping out the night before. I am still kind of bummed that we didn't camp out this year. Going into this race I hadn't been running much at all that week. Tuesday I completed half of a mile before my knee was too unwilling to bend that I just couldn't continue. Thursday I struggled through five miles on the rail trail. One thing that no one can take from me in this race- I had the most KT tape on my leg and I was the first 25k runner to make it to the finish line.

My favorite part about trail races is all of the cool people that you come across. I met Dave from Akron and chatted with him while the Simpsons warmed up. I would have warmed up, but with inflammation I figured best case scenario I hobble across the finish line. Saving myself... Dave kind of inspired me because I was feeling awful about not running at all prior to the race. I mean, two weeks ago and I would have been ready to snap some necks down there. Two weeks from now I would too hopefully. Dave was running the 50k, but he hadn't run more than 10 miles at once in 2014. Respect! I couldn't imagine running thrice as long as I had in a long time. He also told me that he and his wife are shopping for names and that he really liked my name and very well may use it. I need to follow up on this and see if a new Dayton enters the world. If so, I had someone named after me; Presidential status. I also ran the first two miles back from the leaders with on of the coolest older guys that I've never met. He introduced himself and I have already forgotten his name; I am terrible with names and remember about 50% of them. Thus, I remembered Dave and not his. He is a track coach at Winfield High School which is the closest high school, to my knowledge, to the fairgrounds that we were climbing through. He reminisced about the slightly older days for a bit and just talked running for awhile. I chatted him up after the race as well. He ran 25k, took a bird's bath, and then headed out to a track meet for the day. The last thing I would have wanted to do was go sit at a track meet all day. Track meets are the worst! Unless you have Pokemon on hand, I don't know how anyone survives them. I'm assuming his day was much longer than mine. Winfield definitely has a new fan though. Now when I talk about not like the south, I will have an * by that to exclude Winfield. Charleston is still in the running with Bismarck, ND for the worst state capitol in the country. Seriously, Charleston and Huntington are like Siamese turds. I should probably review the race now.

Knees post tumbling. PINK SKULL ROCKTAPE

Could not have asked for a better day to run. Clouds made it to where it was never bright out and it was one of the warmest days of the year so far. I thought it'd be months until I could run in a singlet the was this global warming defying winter has continued to bend me over.  The first mile was on gravel road and I had that lovely feeling in my legs that let me know that I have never run a step in my life before. Anyone who has taken a few days consecutive off of running can understand the feeling. It took two miles for my legs to get under me and then I left my Winfield friend and started off toward the five guys ahead of my on the now single track trail. In the next two miles I already scooted by 5th place and was surprised that my knee pain was minimal. I'd say that I was just barely in eyesight of the man I passed when the extremely technical course tripped me up for the first time. This course probably wasn't 'extremely technical' but I fell twice so I am claiming that it was. I slid through a mud patch on my knees and smacked my chest off of the dirty. Naturally I popped up and bolted off significantly faster than I was previously going. Next in line was my buddy Andrew Rhodes. Then The Guy in Blue followed by Josh and Travis whom I was not reeling in that day. This course had monstrous switchbacks and you could often see up or down the hillside and see how far back you were from those ahead of you. I made it through the first aid station at five miles and couldn't believe that I was feeling 100%. No doubt that I was going to get third. 10 miles would be plenty of time for my pace to override those ahead of my. I'm going to guess that I made it to 6.5-7 miles. I didn't wear a watch because I thought it'd be challenging to finish on my knee and didn't want to know both how slow I was going and how much I had left. I go to this fork in the trail, orange flags (What we were supposed to follow) on my right and my left. Yellow tape (What kept us from going the wrong way) lying in the middle of the trail because the wind had blown it from its original position. I knew there was only 1 correct turn, and leave it to me to take the wrong turn. Turns out there was Orange tape leading to the right and Pink flags to the left. I followed the pink flags and honestly thought that it was the orange markers. Then shortly after that decision I found myself back on the actual course. I was really moving at this point because I couldn't see Rhodes ahead of me anymore. In my head at that time I was thinking 'Damn, he's blowing my doors off.' I continued to pick it up and approached a hairpin right turn. In full stride I clipped my left foot and discovered my honest reaction to falling. It's always hard to tell how you will react falling alone; I have never tumbled so hard by myself. I yelled 'Whoaaa' as I tossed myself head over heels and did three graceful barrel rolls down the hillside. I may have taken my spill in the best part of the course when it comes to falling. The entire race was dodging rocks and roots and I did my three rolls through nothing but soft dirt and leaves. Had that been rocks, my review may be very different. I popped back up a second time and quickly realized that Rhodes wasn't ahead of me anymore; no one was. I was crossing my fingers that I only cut some of the course off and would see Josh coming up behind me. If that were the case, I would do the gentleman thing and wait for the top 4 to put a similar gap on my and the take off. No one ever caught me. I popped out of the woods while the 5k runners were finishing and looked over to a couple guys and asked them how long it had been since the 25k started. I was certain that I wasn't out two hours. 80 minutes. New course record! I sat around and waited for the Einsteins who didn't royally screw up to finish. Josh, Travis, Rhodes. Northern sweep. Now Rhodes came in right behind this guy in black who was nowhere near the top 5 half way through, but made up more than a mile to get third....I have a good guess as to which course he ran. He looked like someone who would take over two hours to run the course I ran in 80 minutes. That turned out to be the theme though, getting lost. See, the course was beautifully marked, but up top the wind had blown off some of the markers. There were not volunteers where there should have been, and there were pink flags marking new trails being constructed. When you are in the woods racing, it is very easy to transition from following orange to pink.

All of that aside, it was an awesome race, killer trails, and an awesome race director. I felt bad that most of the comments he heard were about getting lost up top because 90% of the race was perfect and the other 10% is sort of like, what are ya going to do? I am very happy that we made the trip and can't wait to go next year! I need to befriend someone with a tent before returning next year because I am definitely going to camp out. Josh crushed the 2:04 course record by 13 minutes and he ended up running over 16 miles. Had he not tact on extra, he would have been sub 1:50 on the hard course. Travis came in right under 2 hours, also over 16 miles. If you don't know the mile to kilometer conversion, 16 miles is a good chunk over 25k. Then the mystical guy in blue came through the finish line and we all congratulated him, but he didn't stop. Once he banked right and set off for a 2nd loop we all collectively thought 'holy shit he's running 50k.' The results haven't been posted yet so I do not know how his second loop went, but Christ the guy was right on or around the old 25k record and had to do it all again? Blew my mind. I plan on running the 50k next year there. Rhodes like I mentioned earlier came in 4th behind GUY who snagged his 3rd place and dipped out of there. That was pretty lame because there were a host of people that he was behind, but who cares. Rhodes should care I suppose. I still chalk his run up as a 3rd place finish. And I chalk my day at the Haulin' In The Holler as an 80 minute training run.

Let's take some calls from other competitors and their reviews.
Caller number one, you're on the air. What's your name?
Travis Simpson, 2nd place finisher (breaking old course record)
And what do you have to say about the race?

Here's my tale of 2014's running of Haulin' in the Holler 25k+ trail race. I'm going to make this fairly short and painless since I'm tired and I don't want Dayton hounding me for my recap. The plan was for our rag tag bunch of northern West Virginians to storm the south and sweep the top 4 places with me and Josh aiming for the course record. Weather and trails couldn't have been better in my opinion. Race set off at 7:30am right as the sun was coming up and Josh and I took to the lead in the first mile on the road. Josh quickly started getting away from me once in the woods but luckily due to the courses MANY switchbacks we were able to keep tabs on each other and others in the field throughout the race. Despite going off course once and Josh slowing me down and eventually tripping me I felt very good throughout and spent most of my time in second place where I would eventually finish. Josh ended up winning even though Dayton beat us all back and we both finished under the old course record. Dayton had a misadventure so he screwed up our plan to sweep the top spots but it's hard to stay mad at Dig'em. All in all we left Eleanor happy and looking forward to take on future challenges in trail running. Hopefully next time Dayton won't cheat.

Doesn't matter how you get to the pot of gold, as long as you beat the leprechaun. Is my response to that. 

Caller number two, you're on the air. What's your name? 
Megan Truelove, 1st Overall Lady (2:18, 7 minute course record)
 And what do you have to say about the race?

 
I had been looking forward to running Haulin’ in the Holler since my first adventure in trail racing at the Frozen Sasquatch in January, where the trails were covered in snow and the temperatures were much different from this weekend. So naturally my first obstacle came before the gun even went off, with what am I supposed to wear?! Arriving at the race at 7:00 it was warm but chilly at the same time. I changed from short sleeve to long sleeve to short sleeve before feeling confident in my decision that I was going to be comfortable during the majority of the race with the t-shirt. 

At 7:30 everyone gathered at the starting line and off we went. About a mile in I became friends with two pretty experienced 50k runners, who if I saw now I would not be able to recognize, because with the single track taking over at the point I began running with them the only thing I saw was their backs. I loved the course. At times all the switchbacks did seem a bit much, but I never had a problem with getting lost, like a lot of people seemed to have. (I credit the ultra guys for leading me in the right direction because with all the switchbacks I would eventually gain sight of them again, even once we had been separated.)
I thought this race was a lot of fun! The course kept me on my toes with the majority of it being single track and a little more technical than I had expected. The trail racing atmosphere is the best, and this one seemed pretty up to par with attracting some of the coolest people around to the trails in Eleanor, WV. So, nice job to the race director and the boy scout troop for working the aid stations.

Awesome review by the local studette! Time for one more review. Saving the slowest for last.

Caller number three, who you be?
Josh Simpson, First Overall finisher(1:51 new course record, by 11 minutes.)
 What do you have to say about the race?

The Year was 2014 (Year of the Sandshrew). I had just turned 30 going on 12...Cadence and me had just made a commitment to live with a Digem for a 3rd year. I will say that was more of my decision, Cadence rather despises Dayton, another story. We’d been through a lot, it was time to shake the rattle, but what to do? We’d been around the country running races....road....xc....track...What was missing?? Where was this new fire going to come from?
    The year was 2013 (Year of the Jigglypuff). Dayton had decided to change his running path. He was tired of being awesome, being fast. He wanted to run slow and be recognized for a commitment to laziness. So he decided on one course of action....Trail racing. It was a realm where the drunk and homeless come to compete. Perfect for Dayton, I mean...he’s not homeless but the smell of the less fortunate lingers. Anyway...after Dayton presented to me this new course of action I went into my layer of hate-itude and thought on this turn of events. After only a few itchy minutes I decided he was trying to get away from my stern grasp. He wanted to be #1...I couldn’t have this. I was to enter the world of trail running!!!! I would not let him have his fun...his joy. I would bring unrelentless competition into a world of lawless jogging...
    March 22 2014....It was 520am...noone cares wv. Joker 1 (Travis) and Joker 2 (Digem) were already up, checking current tweets from semi-famous people only 14 yr old girls care about. Not a normal race morning for me but after 5 more minutes of giggling I was up. We left our tent and headed to Eleanor Wv, it was time to race Haulin in the Holler...A confused kid, war general, and fat bloke would enter the fair grounds of Putnam Park and line up against some of the “beardiest” men and women I have ever lined up against. Not to be outdone one of our northern comrades would win the “beardiest” award..Andrew Rhodes..A man’s man, grizzly bear hunter, and oldest known master of cane widdling. 7:30am *Boom* Race Start! I quickly hear what I assume is common for trail runners unaccustomed to actual running...”Hey! This is a 25k not 5k” to me and The War General. 6:10ish opening mile...hardly quick, mildly sexy, it would continue. Game plan... Run smooth together. I have a suspicion Travis knows me better and knows when I came up with this gameplan I was full of shit. I was. Mile 2 ...6:45, I was clear..I cheered on my older brother as he battled 2 others as only a younger brother knows how, by leaving him by himself, to fend for his honor. Mile 5.5..switchback upon switchback...I look down and see Travis, a clear 2 (perfect), I see Rhodes, a clear 3 (excellent), I hear....a Digem?? “Hey Josh”, I look down and see him..majestic as a unicorn with a leprechaun on its back climbing a rainbow. Things were going well. Mile 8..Disaster. I broke my foot. Running down a steep quad trail I planted wrong in a mud puddle and popped something in the top of my right foot. I tried to continue,but couldn’t. My mind was a blur of “I can’t believe this” to “what can I kill?” My handheld bottle! Spiked! So my walk started....1 min...2 min....3 min...I hear my brother, “Are you ok?” “What’s wrong?”... I reply, “ My foot is broke”. I have solace that a Simpson will win but it needed to be me. In my head it is always me...So I start hobbling, grunting, screaming! I catch up to my brother. He turns and looks slightly surprised to see me gimping up behind him. I tell him my foot doesn’t seem to be to bad while dorsi flexed and I would try to work it out...I go ahead. Shortly after going back into the lead Travis face plants...I stop and ask if he’s ok. He is not amused. My older brother has two theories that I will not confirm or deny, 1 ) I walked 3-4 min to take a break and be a dick..play decoy and still win, arrogant. 2) I then proceeded to trip him in mockery...this was my game..humiliation. Regardless of what you believe happened one thing is true, my sister in law is the devil. :) Mile 15.5 (25k)...still no finish line in sight. This is confusing, did I take a wrong turn like so many other runners that day? No, we ran a 16 miler, ugh...Finish result? New course record for me and my older brother. After all the B.S. you just skimmed through I will be frank for 15 secs. This was some of the most fun I have ever had in my running life. It was so much more laid back then most of the races I attend and I couldn’t have been happier traversing Putnam County Park with my older brother and Pet Digem... (even though he cheated and made it through the 16 mile race in 80 minutes) anyway, Thank so much to the race director for putting on a good show and having a great course for everyone to enjoy. Also, congrats to Megan Truelove for breaking the women’s course record and being so cool..and having literally the best, greatest, most amazing voice the earth has ever had the pleasure of listening to....seriously. You rock. Till next time Freaks and Geeks!  FIN-land

 If the photos that were taken ever surface, I will upload them in a blog down the road. So keep on reading, commenting, and running.

One Love!