Race Report: The Blacklist

A couple months ago, I got a message from a race director friend with a link requesting I join the waitlist for an upcoming invite-only event. Miraculously my calendar was open, so I clicked "sign up for waitlist".

Turns out, "sign up for waitlist" meant "you're in" and that was all she wrote! And that's how I signed up for a 6-hour trail race without knowing what I was doing. 😄

Luckily it turned out to be one of THE BEST spur-of-the-moment decisions I've made... the whole day, start to finish, was top notch. The weather was perfection, the whole vibe was incredible. 

Swag on point!
button-up tech shirt, personalized dog tags, topo running hat,
and a little treat (🔥⚽) in the shirt pocket. 😊

Sunrise on The Farm

The race began at 8am with the simple mission: run as many 4-ish mile loops as you can in the allotted 6-hour time for the race. And yes, you have to finish the lap within the time limit for it to count. No partials. 

I had a modest goal of 5 laps - this wasn't a speed race for me, mostly a time-on-feet with a healthy amount of distance. I figured anything over 20 miles would be a good day for me. 

Everybody pumped and excited!

It was all smiles for at least the first 3 laps - held a steady pace under an hour each lap (including time to refuel/reload water, etc at the start/finish). 

There were 3 water crossings per loop

Thankfully lifeguards were there to help us cross safely.

You have to be goofy sometimes to make the miles pass! 🐒

Pretty pinestraw paths

At the halfway point I figured a 6-loop goal was more than doable, and although the pace dropped off steadily I was really happy that I used up all the available time (save 8 minutes) without too much stretch of effort or delay. 

The last 2 loops were a struggle - breaking through that 16+mile wall is always rough! Was incredibly happy with the result of nearly 25 miles total, plus getting to run in a new pair of Topo VISTA shoes as part of the shoe demo was awesome. 

The rest of the afternoon was a cookout/low country boil, dance party, raffle giveaway, and oh did I mention they had a tattoo artist on site for post-race ink??

Run In logo = 25% lifetime discount!

Can't say enough positive things about this event from G.O.A.T. trail running... crossing fingers for a repeat invite next year. 10/10 will attend if I'm lucky enough! 

Go Out And Thrive! 🐐