Race Report: Snowbird (Rainbird) Challenge 50k

The Snowbird Challenge is the sister event (exactly the same style, including event site and all) to the Carolina Reaper Challenge that I participated in over the summer. Whereas I did the marathon relay in the summer event, this one I went all-in for the solo 50k.

Basic summary:

Run a ~2.6 mile loop starting every 45 minutes. Do this 12x to complete the 50k. 

When I signed up, I was thinking this one would be super cold and my challenge would be staying warm in between loops. Turns out the challenge of the day was RAIN and not cold!

I arrived and set up my chair and tote with the group of Spartanburg runners who had a huge tent/table collection. We got a pre-race photo of everyone while we were still smiling and dry. 

The first lap set off at 8:00 am and I made a conscious effort to keep at an easy pace despite the excitement of being out on the course. The first 3 laps were all intentionally held back vs. what I could have been running. After the first 3, I decided I'd just run what felt good for the rest of the event - as fast or as slow as I wanted to go. I was also fully expecting to be walking laps by the end but spoiler alert, I didn't walk once!

Green: feeling strong but holding back
Light blue: feeling strong but not holding back
Dark Blue: things feel hard now, just keep going
Orange: time to finish this thing!!

We got 5 dry laps before the rain moved in and boy did it not stop. Everything was completely soaked, huge puddles along the course, not a dry stitch of clothing to be found. I had started out taking my shoes and socks off after every loop so that my feet wouldn't be trapped in sopping wet shoes all day and risk blisters, but I gave up on that after about the halfway point because I couldn't be bothered to take my shoes on and off. 

I was able to eat pretty well throughout the race and kept a shockingly consistent pace... really expected to fade and be walking towards the end but surprised myself by keeping going, and felt pretty good doing it!

Very moist

Finishing in the downpour

Very wet and tired Sparkle City runners

I managed to snag 1st AG award despite starting out in about 6th place in my age group. Technically there were 2 others in my age group who were faster, but they ended up being 2nd and 3rd overall female, so that meant I got the honor of being top for age group awards. Super pumped with this race despite the crazy conditions! Looking forward to trying my luck in the heat this summer. 🔥