Going into the night before the race, I was a combination of confident and nervous. My race prep and training this time around was very different compared to the last time I ran this race. I felt like 2021 training involved a lot more mileage but not as much intense technical and vert training. I was also faster then, but felt like I'd prepared for hard climbing more this time around.
The week of the race, my focus on calorie-loading was not well received by my body - overstuffed myself on several occasions which lead to poor sleep and my Garmin giving me a nice status of "Strained" for the 2 days leading up to the race and on race day. I think the nervousness about being overly fatigued going into the race made me sleep even worse the night before!
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| Flat Trail Runner ready as we're gonna be! |
Race Day!
Thankfully this year's race started at 7:30 (not 6am like the 2021 race) so while they said to bring a headlamp it was unnecessary even at the very beginning of the race. Was kind of a cool/different experience vs. having the first hour running in total darkness! The climb was just as hellacious as I remembered though... first on the roads out of the resort community, then onto the trail.
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| Orange = Aid Stations (fewer than 2021!) Blue Dots = Darnell Falls and Rabun Bald Tower |
Start to AS1 = 6.75 mi, 1:38
Power-hiked the steep roads uphill and the first section of trail. Got a few running stretches and some of the initial INCREDIBLE views of the race. The descent to AS1 was steep and full of switchbacks, and knowing we had to come back UP that way made it a little difficult to handle mentally. Still, was happy getting to the first station and chomped down on bacon quesadillas, potato chips, cookies, and a box of Nerds candy - this became my routine at each station going forward (minus the Nerds, that was a one-time thing).
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| Sunrise at the start line |
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| Trail! |
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| Incredible Views |
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| Adventure buds! |
AS1 to Waterfall, 4.2 miles, 54 mins
The next section was an out-and-back to a waterfall, so it was fun to pass lots of other runners going the opposite direction. I admit, I counted the number of ladies in front of me and I was in about 16th place... accepted that a podium finish was unlikely this year.
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| Darnell Falls |
This section had a descent of almost 1,400 ft... and unfortunately that meant the turnaround included climbing back up allll of that.
Waterfall to AS2, 3.5 mi, ~55 mins
Back up the elevation lost on the gravel road and then more climbing next to the creek back to the same aid station from before.
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| Another waterfall view! |
AS2 to Rabun Bald Tower, 4.3 mi, 1:19:30
This climb was soooo hard - tons of switchbacks, but also amazing views, and knowing the tower was coming up kept me pushing.
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| Tower! |
Rabun Bald Tower to AS3, 2.9 mi, 48 mins
This next part was STEEP downhill - I think I remembered this part the most distinctly from 2021. Your quads are already toast from going uphill for so long and now they've got to support you as you step down rocky uneven trail. Super tough! Was happy to see the aid station at the end of this knowing it was the last one I'd really stop at for food. More quesadillas and cookies. Yum!
AS3 to AS4, 6.95 mi, 2:04
This section included a downhill start, a waterfall, STEEP uphill, and gravel road climbing. This section felt quite long but had lots of enjoyable and runnable parts too!
AS4 to Finish, 1.8 mi, 16:46
Didn't even pause at the final aid station because I knew we were SO CLOSE to the finish and it was mostly downhill on road from this point on. You can hear the cheering from the finish line almost the entire way, and you're just hoping around the next bend to see the finish. Felt strong but ready to be done! The beer and burgers at the end were much enjoyed. I got overwhelmed at the end, just so happy for such a beautiful day on the trails!
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