This was a perfect first race for me. I run to explore and this course continually had new and interesting terrain that was challenging without being ridiculously hard. (Disclaimer - I grew up on the prairies and I still feel a special connection to these landscapes like possibly only a prairie person can.) There were stretches through valleys, across fields, along river banks, gravel roads, power lines, and forest trails. Due to a last minute rerouting there was even a 100 m stretch where there was no trail, just hummocks of grass separating pools of water.
We started at 6 am with a group photo on the UFO landing pad before walking the 2 blocks to the actual starting line on the reclaimed CNR railway bed.
The first half of Leg 1 followed the old railway bed. Thankfully the previous day was warm and windy, which dried much of the rain and snow that fell earlier in the week. Still the rail bed was ridiculously muddy in spots, which made me very nervous. It was the kind of mud that sticks to your shoes like glue and adds pounds to each step. I didn't train with ankle weights and I doubted my ability to make the first aid station in such conditions.
The mud ended when we climbed out of the railway valley.
The view's improved, too - prairie folks like to see the horizon.
At this point we began a series of ascents and descents as trail followed the valley to the first aid station.
Leg 2 was the least interesting overall. Much of this leg was an arrow-straight gravel road that continually climbed at an angle that was steep enough to be tiring but was not so steep to justify walking.
Leg 3 zigzagged through a variety of habitats including a trip up Moose Mountain and a beautiful stretch along the shores of Moosehills Lake. The leg ended by turning east toward St. Paul and following a gravel road into the town of Elk Point.
From Elk Point the 100 milers turned southeast towards Lindbergh while the rest of us headed toward the finish line. I changed my shoes at the aid station to cope with a hot spot on my heel that I think was a combination of the heel-tugging mud and the camber of the road. Other than that minor inconvenience I was feeling good and was excited about the possibility of finishing before dark.
Much of Leg 4 was also a road of sorts that gradually climbed over much of its length. Now that finishing wasn't a question I felt a little less guilty about walking some of these hills.
We left the aid station to start the fifth and final leg on yet another gravel road. Thankfully (and surprisingly) I never met a car on any of these roads so they were really more like broad trails.
It was at this point when I was very happy that I wasn't running 100 miles. Not surprisingly, I was tired and my hips and knees were sore from pounding on the downhills of the roller coaster gravel roads. However, I could see the many steeples of St. Paul, which gave me the motivation to run hard to the end.
The roar of the crowd carries me to the finish line with an official time of 12:35:59, which was good enough for 5th place amongst soloists.
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