Rock/Creek Stage Race: Day 2 Lookout Mountain 06.18.11

Chattanooga Mountain Stage Race Day Two
about half a mile from the finish.
(Photo by jeff@rockcreek.com)

Day two started the same way that day one did, overcast and almost cool. Praise the running gods! The difference being that the humidity had increased over the day before, but the overcast skies would be much appreciated on another long morning of running on the trails.

The course for stage 2 travels through the Lula Lake Land Trust Preserve. It consisted of a five mile loop then a twelve mile loop and then a repeat of the initial five mile loop but in the opposite direction. Along the way, we would experience significantly more climbing and descending than what we did on stage 1.

I carpooled with the race directors that morning, so I arrived much earlier than most of the other runners. I was able to watch the start/finish area get set up while the volunteers showed up and then of course the runners. I was feeling good about this stage. I woke up with not much to complain about from day one's run. I was happy with my performance and I was still wondering if perhaps I had run it too fast. There was only one way to truly find out and that would be once the race started. After much sitting around, it was time to get this stage started. We were off right at 8:00am.

Unlike yesterday, we had almost a mile of gravel road to stretch the field and get folks into place before hitting any single track. This was nice, and it allowed me to feel out my legs and other than a slight tightness in my right abductor, I felt good. It would quickly loosen up within the first couple of miles. We made our way past the beautiful Lula Falls when we arrived to the first bit of singletrack. All of a sudden, I felt this sharp pain just above my right knee, then I felt it again on my shin. I reached down and smacked at what ever it was and I realized that I had been stung by a couple of yellowjackets. A couple of other runners cried out too. Seems we pissed of a nest as we ran by. Not how I wanted to start my race.

This occured right before a very, steep climb that I was familiar with from my experience at the Lookout Mountain 50-Miler last year. In fact, much of stage two's trails are part of that race, so it was familiar to me. Back to the climb, the race organizers set up ropes for the climb and there was a slight bottleneck as runners made their way up. Once at the top of the ridge, we thinned out again. I tried to get into my own groove and I wanted to run on my own, but I ended up running with a couple of runners along the ridge and then on the way down off the ridge. Before we descended, I tried to sneak a few peeks to my left into the valley below. Many of the trails in Chattanooga have great vistas and this one is fantastic. We ran the ridge for a while, descended down a long wide trail, then a single track down to a creek and made our way back to the start/finish area where we would hit our first aid station. First loop done and I was feeling good except for my yellowjacket stings. I had a little swelling, but it wasn't bothering my running. At the aid station, I grabbed a couple of apple halves, downed some Coke and headed off.

The next five or six miles were mostly uphill. The first section appeared to be a really abandoned forest road that was overgrown with small trees and we had to duck in and out of them. Once through that, we crossed a road, ran up a trail with mossy, flatrocks that were a little slick and then hit some singletrack. We climbed but the grade was gradual enough for most of it, that we could run. While we ran, we kept coming across debris that had landed along the trail from the tornadoes that hit this area back in April. There were a number of trees down too and the ones that had fallen across the trail had been cleared by chainsaw. I guess nature has to show who's boss every once in a while.

We reached a powerline cut out and did a short series of zig zags in and out of the woods and the cut out. On the last time we ran back into the woods, we were confronted with a mean climb straight up on single track. This was one of those, put your hands on your knees and push type of climbs. At this point, I was running with a female participant that had caught up to me and passed me, and I tried to keep up with her for a short while before getting dropped. We came back out to the power line section and this time walked up a long climb along the cut out. It wasn't long before we hit the aid station. I was still feeling good, but it had started to warm up and I needed to top off my water bottle. I left the aid station and enjoyed a wide, forest road for a while. I caught up with another runner, Robert Lewellen. Robert is one of the race directors for a new 50K in Georgia that will take place on the Duncan Ridge trail and the Coosa Back Country trail. It's the Duncan Ridge 50K/30K. That race is going to be a beast! Anyway, I ran with Robert for quite a while. Chatting with him made the time go by and we were making good progress. He decided to take a quick nature break and he told me to run on ahead of him. At this point, I was back on the same trail we had come up earlier but enjoying the descent. One of the Texas runners, Dat, that I had met caught me and passed me. He was looking strong.

Down past the mossy, flatrock, across the road again and down into the start/finish area. As I came in to the aid station, there were a number of spectators waiting around for their runners, but they cheered me on in. That was an appreciated ego boost and I picked up my step after grabbing something quick at the aid station. Only one more loop left and I knew it well by now. We ran along the creek, then up a quick incline to reach more single track that would take us back to the another gradual long climb that we had descended earlier in the day. I walked almost all of this until we hit the top of the ridge. I knew that was the last long one of the day and I was glad to be on the ridge again. I caught up and passed a couple of other runners and soon came up on the steep, rope assisted climb down and I was getting anxious about more yellow jackets. I joined a couple other runners who had bottlenecked on the rope and we made our way down. We went past the area where the yellowjackets had been earlier unscathed. Phew!

We were almost done. The rest of the way back was slightly different than the start earlier that morning. Instead of running back on the gravel road, we were directed off of it and made to run alongside a creek. Up and down short three and four foot little hills along the creek. It was tough on the legs. Ran that for over a mile when we then crossed the creek, the only time we truly got our feet wet on the course. Just a couple hundred more yards and there was the finish. Randy was on the mic and I heard, "Here comes number 24, Javier De Jesus, from Atlanta." I gave him the thumbs up and came through the chute. 3:33:34...good enough to crack the top 50.

I grabbed something to drink and got in the creek with the other runners that had finished before me. It felt really good to cool off in the stream and exchange "war stories" with others. After some time in the water I grabbed a bite to eat and got in line for a massage. Tomorrow was to be another day. The toughest yet of the three. I was looking forward to it.

*Read official race blog and find results and photos for stage two. 

Cloudland Canyon Fat Ass 04.23.11

At the top looking down into Cloudland Canyon.

I received an email from Randy Whorton a couple of months ago forwarded by my friend, Roxanne, that described a Fat Ass-style race that was planned for April in Chattanooga. Many of the people addressed in the email are the who's who of ultra running in this area, so it immediately peaked my interest. Randy's the mastermind behind many of the Rock Creek races in Chattanooga and after having personally enjoyed Rock Creek events like the Stump Jump 50K and the Lookout Mountain 50-Miler, I figured I had to check this out. Of course, it didn't hurt when my usual running buddies, Woody and Doug, were also thinking of participating. So we all contacted Randy through Rox and got our names on the list. It's been in ink on my calendar since then.

I love the low-key nature of Fat Ass races and knowing that there were only going to be a handful of runners participating in this run, I was really excited about it. The course was set to start in Cloudland Canyon, a beautiful bluff area in Northwest Georgia, and was to end on the East side of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga at Randy's house.

Bus ride to start.

Woody picked me up at 4:30am that morning and we headed up to Chattanooga, picking up another friend, Kirk, along the way. Unfortunately, Doug had to pull out almost last minute and couldn't come along. We arrived around 7:00am just in time to get on the school bus that Randy and his wife, Kris had rented to transport us all to the start. I met some great people on the bus, a few runners from Huntsville, AL, one guy who also drove up from the Atlanta area and the rest were all from Chattanooga. There were about sixteen of us total. We didn't see Randy because he went ahead an hour earlier to start marking the course. After stopping at Covenant College near the top of Lookout Mountain to pick up a few more runners, it was a short ride to Cloudland Canyon. Driving in, it was hard to see down into the valley due to the fog, but we would get to enjoy the view a little later on our way back on foot.

Cloudland Canyon

If you ever get a chance to visit Cloudland Canyon near Trenton, Georgia, you should take advantage of it. This gorge area is cut out by the Sitton Gulch Creek and it is spectacular. The state park covers a huge area and the Waterfalls Trail that we would hit to start the race, takes you from the bottom of the gorge along Daniels Creek and by two major waterfalls up to the top.

Great group of runners at start.

The bus dropped us off at the trailhead and after some brief announcements by Kris and a couple of quick photos, we headed out with a very discreet, "OK, you guys can go now.", by Kris. Right away, we were on single track surrounded by newly green forest (it is Spring time) and following the creek upwards. About a mile and a half into the run, we climbed the long 600-step stairway to the top. Nothing like steps to warm up your calves! It reminded me of Amicalola Falls in North Georgia and the long stairway there. On the way up, we took in the waterfalls and once at the top, we enjoyed amazing views into the valley below. You can clearly see the layers of limestone and sandstone along the bluff. It must be amazing in the Fall. So far so good.

Getting ready for creek crossing.

At the top, we took a short overlook trail by some cabins and campers and then made our way out of the park and onto a much more rugged trail, the Backcountry Trail. Now the Backcountry Trail is well blazed with orange markings, but it is obviously not well traveled. The further along this trail we got, the more it was covered in dropped leaves, fallen trees and branches, and overgrown with briars and saplings. We made our way down the opposite side from the overlook and eventually came to a creek crossing. It took a few minutes to find a good spot to cross as the current was pretty strong and the water was about knee deep. I'll always praise my Smartwool socks, no matter how soaked they get they never fail. Anyway, once across, we started slowly climbing back up, but still searching out the orange blaze marks on the trees. The trio of Huntsville runners caught up with us at this point and we would stick together for much of the way from this point forward.

A little blood.

The going was slow because of the lack of an obvious trail on the ground. We would run a few paces, hesitate, look around for the next orange blaze and continue, then repeat. Meanwhile the briars were doing a number on everyone's ankles and shins. We followed the pattern for about four or five miles until we came onto another bluff. We started following blue ribbons and would soon learn that we made a wrong turn somewhere along the line. We hadn't seen any of Randy's flour markings for a while, but we didn't realize it until we ran out of blue ribbons to follow and realized that we were literally in the middle of nowhere with no clear trail or markings to follow. Thankfully, I brought my cell phone and dialed Randy. He came on the line and when I explained what we had done, he was puzzled until I told him that we had kept the bluff to our right and he said that we should have kept it on our left instead. Also, we should have never followed the blue ribbons. Oops! So we gathered up the six of us and headed back to try to find where we turned off and hopefully, pick up Randy's flour markings again. On the way back, we picked up to other runners who had made the same mistake we did. Eventually, we came back to the point where we should have gone in the opposite direction. We probably added about two miles to our day and lost about 40-45 minutes taking the detour. Shit happens!

More killer views.

We came upon another great overlook with wonderful views into the valley below. The scenery is simply beautiful and we were all glad to be rewarded for our efforts with it. From there, we came off the trail and onto an asphalt driveway of sorts. We then turned off of that onto a forest road and through some open fields and eventually dumping out onto a highway. We saw a flour marking on the edge of the road and for some reason we turned left onto the road and began to follow it for a while.

Lookout Scenic Highway

We figured out that we were on Highway 189 and it didn't dawn on any of us that Kris and Randy had made no mention of following a road. We ran on the side of the road facing oncoming traffic and did it out in the open sun. Needless to say, this was my least favorite part of the day, but it didn't occur to any of us to check where we were until we had gone about two miles or so down the road. We kept expecting to see some marker telling us to turn into the woods at any moment. Another phone call to Randy, this time he told us that we should have gone straight across the road and that there were five flour markings showing the way. Somehow we had missed it and it was our bad. I didn't really want to run back the two miles and I was sharing the bad news with Woody when one of the Huntsville runners suggested that we stay on the road because it was going to eventually hit Covenant College and we could hop on the Lookout Mountain Trail  and pick up Randy's course from there. All good, but the college was another five or six miles further up the road. Our day of trail running immediately had gained a few miles of asphalt running. Not such a bad thing, but it was clear skies, the sun was out and we were going to miss any water that had been put out for us on the original course. Plus, I was looking forward to revisiting parts of the course from the Lookout Mountain 50-Miler I had done a few months ago which included Nickajack and Lula Lake. Bummer!

View from hangglider launch pad.

There was one highlight running on the road and that was coming upon a handglider launching station from the side of the road. Everything to our left was looking down into Look Valley and there's a drop off a several hundred feet. Handglider newbies and veterans use this launching station to hop off the top and start sailing along the open skies. I tell ya, standing on that launch pad and looking into the valley makes you appreciate that sport. Those guys have some cojones!

Other than that, there's not much to write about for this road running section. We started stringing apart. I ended up running most of the road section with my buddy, Kirk. The girl runner we had picked up earlier at the last detour was picked up by two other runners that had called it a day and hitch hiked back to the college where they had parked there cars and met the bus earlier that morning. Woody and the three Huntsville guys were up ahead and arrived at the college before me and Kirk. We came into the main parking lot at the college, topped off our water bottles and anxiously headed out to find the trailhead for the Lookout Mountain trail.

Lookout Mountain

Woody on Lookout Mtn Trail

I was familiar with this part from the 50-miler race, but even then, we appreciated the help of Mark, a local runner that had started with us that morning but who had also called it a day. He got us on the right trail and it was nice to be off the road. Almost immediately, I felt better now that we had a tree canopy over us again and the trail below our feet. From here to Randy and Kris' house was about ten miles and almost all of it would be downhill. Even though we missed a large section of trail by taking the road, we figured out that we were going to end up with about 31 miles after all. Which made us think that maybe today's course was longer than a 50K and we would later learn this was the case, but more on that later.

Woody and I pulled ahead from Kirk and the Huntsville guys a little bit. The trail along the side of Lookout Mountain is a well traveled single track but it can be a little technical in some spots with plenty of rocks and sharp, sheer drop offs to the left at a couple of spots. We kept running by these huge rock formations and big cliffs with limestone layers on our right. It wasn't long before we started seeing ropes and rock climbing equipment at spots and all we had to do was look up to see climbers enjoying their sport.

Coming down the mountain!

We came to a split in the trail and while we paused to figure out which way to go, the Huntsville guys caught up to us and decided to wait for Kirk who was trailing a little behind. They were debating which way to go but Woody and I decided to take the right trail that continued around the point of Lookout Mountain. They ended up taking the left trail once Kirk caught up to then and they would beat us back to Randy's house that way. Meanwhile, Woody and I made it around the point of Lookout Mountain and started heading down off the mountain ourselves but on the other side. We hit a couple of switchbacks, crossed under a rail line that goes straight up the mountain taking tourists to the top, climbed briefly back up and then descended for good down to a road. We found a stash of water gallon jugs Randy had left the night before and topped off our bottles. I got us to this point from my memory of the Lookout Mountain 50-miler, but from here on we had to check with Randy by phone a few times since we were now ahead of him due to our road detour. With no flour markings to follow, we weren't sure how to finish up the last remaining miles back to his house.

We crossed the road per Randy's instructions and this is where it finally dawned on me that when he says, "It's fairly straight forward from there." What he actually means is, "You are going to bush whack like crazy or make your way through some heavy duty briars or poison ivy." Ha, ha! Man, I think he has a little Dave Horton or Laz in him. Anyway, we ran down what you could barely consider a trail through a bunch of poison ivy until we came upon a slightly more obvious single track, the Glen Falls trail. Once on here, progress was steady again and we came across a really cool waterfall and pool. Woody and I decided to take a break and we took off our shoes and dipped our feet into the greatly alleviating cool water. After a few minutes, we got our shoes back on and continued down the trail. We came out onto a gasline cut out, picked up another trail and finished up the last couple of miles of trail before coming out onto a street that would turn out to be the one that their house was on. Somewhere in that last mile, Woody's Garmin finally died showing 30.6 miles. We figured by the time we got back to the house, we had our 50K in the bag. It took us over seven hours to get it done.

Kris and some of the other runners welcomed us back. We were surprised to see Kirk showered and relaxed, but that's when we found out that the route they took from where we had last seen them was slightly shorter and easier than the way Woody and I had taken. We cracked open some celebratory beers and exchanged some stories with everyone there. We learned that Randy and another runner were still out on the original course and that just about everyone had either taken the road detour by mistake or had cut it short at the college. Kris was super nice to let us use their shower and we hung out for some time on their porch. We were hoping to see Randy return, but we had to get back to Atlanta and had to leave.

All in all, it was a great day of running even though we had that road segment and missed out on a big chunk of trail. We later received an email from Randy explaining that he recalculated the distance and realized that it would have actually been more like a 60K than a 50K, if we had all run the intended route. Oh well, Woody and I were happy with our 31 miles.  We'll be back next year to get it done right.

My most sincere gratitude to our wonderful hosts, Randy and Kris. Randy's "straight forward" trail marking and race course were anything, but boring. I also have to put in a nod to our Huntsville running friends, Eric, Rob and Blake, and of course, my running mates, Woody and Kirk. I'm looking forward to doing it again.

Randy Whorton is also the Executive Director of Wild Trails, a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization with a mission to promote the use, protection and expansion of trails in greater Chattanooga. If you'd like to learn more about Wild Trails and how you can support this great cause, check out: www.wildtrails.org.

Coming Down the Mountain: Lookout Mountain 50 Miler 12.18.10

Just before the start of the race.

My friend Kena dropped me off near the start with about twenty minutes to spare before the race was set to begin. I checked my gear, put my number on, answered a nature call and lined up with everyone. I saw Roxanne and gave her a big hug to wish her luck. A few short announcements and one of the RD's unceremoniously said, "Go!", and we were off. One hundred and fifty or so trail runners heading out on the Lookout Mountain 50 Miler. So it began.

It had rained much of the week leading up to the race with a couple of days of freezing rain and sub-freezing temperatures. I kept looking at the weather forecast and clinged to the good news of clear skies and above freezing temperatures for race day. Thankfully, the day before was clear and warm enough to where the trail recovered from the water and ice for race day. Except for some spots, it really was not an issue although much of the trail was well covered in leaves and made it hard to make out the rocks and roots below.

And they're off. (photo from race Flickr site)

I tried to layer smart for the race. After much deliberation, I went with tights that morning and was glad I did. I had a singlet on underneath with a short sleeve layer and then a long sleeve top layer. With gloves and my winter cap, that was perfect. I also deliberated on whether to carry a hand held water bottle or to go with a hydration bladder pack. The race organizers had emphasized self-sustainment with the hydration that it was a matter of concern, but I ended up going with the hand held and it turned out to be the right choice. The first aid station was eight miles into the race, but the rest of the aid stops along the way would only be four to seven miles apart. Just enough distance to get to the bottom of my bottle before needing a refill.

The first 22 miles of the course took us on the north side of Lookout Mountain with the first 6 or 7 miles following this amazing bluff with an incredible view of the valley and also Chattanooga down below. We would run with these large rock formations jutting upwards about 50-80 feet on our right, but with these drop offs on the left where if we took one wrong step, well, let's just say that you may not be around to tell the story to your trail running buddies. We cruised along with everyone trying to find their pecking order for the first half of the day. I would end up keeping a local runner, named Kathleen, within sight for much of this section and I would see her quite a bit later in the race. We cruised down the bluff, going below the Lookout Mountain tourist overlook and then making our way down to a gravel service road as we neared the first aid station.

Coming Down the Mountain

As conservative as I thought I was trying to be, my pace was fast. Much of this due to the excitement of the start, of course, and then because of the long stretches of downhill trail. Once past the first aid station, we continued to go down until we ran along a creek for a distance until we eventually hit aid station #2 around mile 15. Now if you take a look at the elevation profile, you would quickly notice that one of the toughest sections of the course was soon to come. After refueling at the aid stop, I paired up with another local runner named Yoli. We ran together for a ways and then we hit the climb. She let me know that the local trail runners had named this climb, "Big Daddy" and there would be no guess work as to why. It went straight up with the trail cutting through a power line section and then through more of the woods, eventually hitting a series of switch backs. Up and up it went with the ridge line getting closer and closer.

Coming out of the tree line, we came out into a clearing and some school soccer fields. After crossing the road, we were back at the start/finish area.  I was glad to see Kena and Tom. I rode up with Kena the day before and she was also there to cheer on her good friend Perry who was running the 50-miler. Tom had run the 10K that morning and was now in dry clothes and cheering us on as well. I had not planned to have a crew for this race, but these guys would soon proved to be an improptu crew for me and I couldn't be more appreciative. Anyway, I came in at around 4 hours on my watch and was at mile 22. Needless to say, things were going very well and if I could hold this pace, I would easily break 10 hours. But as usual in ultras, you go out fast and you pay for it later.

I left the start/finish area and headed down the trail on the southside of Lookout Mountain. This trail would wind down towards a creek, come out into a muddy powerline section and then go back into the woods for a long, descent to the Lula Lake aid station at mile 28. For this section, I mostly ran by myself except for occasionally catching a glimpse of another runner some yards out in front of me. It was nice to get in my own groove and not feel like chasing anyone or feel like someone was breathing down my neck. When I came into the aid stop, the sun was out and things were looking good at this point. Scarfed down some boiled potatoes, topped off the water bottle and headed out.

View from ridge. (photo by Perry Sebastian)

The next six miles to the next aid stop would be quite the rollercoaster with several changes in terrain. I followed a creek for a while, then a woodsy, rolling section, then along what look like some kind of bird sanctuary area that spit you out at Lula Falls. Here I had to stop and take in the view. Lula Falls is beautiful and even with the icicles on the edges of the falls, the water was rushing down into the gorge below. From here, I could look up to the other side and see where we had come from down the trail earlier. Leaving the falls behind, I was with other runners again and together we tackled a short but very steep section that some one had laid out ropes for us to use. Past the climb, we would come out on to a ridge with great views. We followed the ridgeline for a couple of miles until we then had to descend again. again, we ended up down by a creek and the trail wound its way along it.

Lula Falls

It was at this point that I started wondering about the lead runners coming at me. Sure enough, within a few minutes here came the leader. He looked really good and fresh. It wasn't hard to guess that he would hold onto to his lead. We exchanged words of encouragement and it would be a while before I saw the second place runner.

Soon enough, I came to the aid station at mile 34. I was hurting a bit at this point. I saw Kena and Tom again and Tom would have a grilled cheese sandwich waiting for me. This dude saved my life the year before at the Pine Mountain 40 Miler and here he was doing it again. That sandwich was awesome! He told me he would have another one for me when I came by next. Just the thing to get me going!

The next section was a 4-5 mile loop that wound back to the same aid stop. It was on this loop I had a bit of a bonk moment. I somehow was running along with kathleen who I had run with earlier in the day and we were both feeling it. The first half of the loop is mostly an incline and that didn't help. Then the second half of that short loop was tricky footing along a creekside trail that someone had named Scrawny Trail, but I swear it had nothing scrawny about it. I was looking forward to getting off this loop and was thinking of Tom's grilled cheese sandwich. I reached the aid station again and claimed my prize.

I was at mile 38 or so. Just 12 or so to go, but now I knew the terrain and I knew that there was quite a bit of climbing left to do. Also, my pace had dropped off considerably from earlier in the race. Still, mentally I was in good spirits despite the tough moment experienced on the short loop. I left the aid station, and Kena and Tom, munching on my sandwich. Once back on the trail, I just focused on timing my running and walking right. I eventually got back on the ridge top and followed it down to the short, steep drop. I once again ran by Lula Falls and was soon back at the aid station at Lula Lake. Ah, just six more miles to go.

I chatted with the folks at the aid stop for a minute while I ate some more potatoes and had some Coke (the best ultra race drink ever, period). When leaving the aid stop this time, I wasn't paying attention and I started running up a gravel road. I was going along for a few minutes when I realzied that we never came down this road earlier on the approach to the Lula Lake aid station. You hate to admit this to yourself after you've been running for so many hours, but I had to retrace my steps until I was almost back at the aid stop again. I saw where the markers pointed up the trail and I got back on course. It sucks to lose time like that but it's all part of the experience.

Just finished and checking out the swag.

Up and up I went. This other runner I had seen earlier caught up to me and passed me and I would focus on keeping him in my sights for as long as possible. Daylight was also starting to fade and it became my goal to finish before dark. I was gonna cut it close. I did alot of walking at this point, mainly due to the climbing. I kept thinking I would come out into the muddy powerline section soon, but with every turn of the trail I would be disappointed. I kept that other runner in view and eventually I could see the clearing. a few more steps and I was out in the open again onto the powerline cut out. The sun was going down and I had to turn on my headlamp. So much for finishing before dark, but I knew I was almost there. The trail left the powerline and back into the woods along the creek we ran by earlier. Another climb and I could see lights. I knew I was close. I looked back and I could see two headlamp beams coming up behind me. I made it my mission to not let them catch me. I pushed on that last mile and I was glad to come out onto the road where the finish area was located. I could see the finish line and I looked back again. I could still see the two headlamp beams but they were still on the trail and a bit farther down the hill. I was good to go. As I neared the finish, I noticed the clock was nearing 10:30. 10:29:50... 10:29:51... 10:29:52... I grit my teeth. 10:29:56... 10:29:57... 10:29:58... Almost there. 10:29:59... Nope. I ended up finishing in 10:30:05.

I was happy with that time. I came in to the race thinking I would run somewhere between 10 to 11 hours and I basically split it right down the middle. Earlier in the day when I came in to mile 22 at around 4:00, I contemplated a sub-10 hour time, but I knew I would pay for the pace on the first half. No negative split on this race. Not even close. Still, I was really happy with the run and I felt that I managed a good race for the most part.

I carried my Blackberry during the race and I shot out a few tweets. It was great to have other tweeps posting words of encouragement. My phone would chime repeatedly during the race and I knew it was another person cheering me on. It really did keep me going. I want to recognize those folks here: @cathicannon @jamieofthenorth @reallynotarunnr @tpcleary @MASlife @ekalifeh @marathondan @OTD_Colonel @julierje @BikeBeerBBQ @KevinSchraer @runnerteri @chamiltongt @hak42 @mogliaiken @AeRoss @oreo_drama @perseid88 @running_drew @PayneDave @twittyRUN @g_monee @ChuckJohnstone @SEB1119 @trailheadmarmot @SamanthaUF @Mountainman60 @jabaugrad @Bamarunner @DarthHelix @runnergoslow @goingforgoofy @octrailgirl11 @nicobrx @masonham @RunAroundATL @jsneads @GeorgiaSnail @runnersl @Dinkruns @Broadwayrunclub @goldentrails @UltraRunnerBren @Runjohnrun @luckeywinters @tradshad @sarahstanley and @laidbacklbc. Thanks you guys!

My friend Roxanne would come in fourth female and finished the course over an hour ahead of me. It was good to see her. She would later let me know that she wasn't in it mentally this time. The great thing about racing is that there's always the next one.

Big thanks to Kena and Tom, they were awesome support! Also props to Perry who ended up pulling out of the race after he rolled his ankle and had to walk on it for almost eight miles.

Lastly, major kudos to the folks at Rock Creek for yet another top notch race. These guys know what they're doing and I recommend any of their races. Oh, and the race swag was amazing: Patagonia tech tee, TNF arm warmers, TNF fleece headband, Lookout Mtn 50 pint glass and even a complimentary race day photo.

P.S. Check out the blog write up by the women's winner, Sarah Woerner: http://sarahsrunsandotherstuff.blogspot.com/2010/12/lookout-50-milerto-run-or-not-to-run.html

And also check out this cool little video the folks at Wild Trails put together about the Lookout Mountain 50 Miler: http://vimeo.com/18450406