Hayes Arboretum Trail Run

Today I ran a trail marathon in Indiana.  I originally wanted to run Louisville Lovin' the Hills, but we had tickets to the Dayton Symphony to hear Mahler's Fifth and the logistics to get to Louisville for an 0800 start were just too complicated.  I didn't want to miss the symphony, but needed a marathon or longer run as part of my training for Georgia Death Race.

Another member of a ultra Facebook group suggested the Hayes Arboretum Trail Run in Richmond, IN.  This is the second year of running this event, but it was so well done that one would think it's been around for a lot longer.  There were three options of +10k, 1/2 marathon and full marathon.  Although, I tend to shy away from looped courses, I signed up for the marathon.  Each loop was around 6.55 miles, meaning 4 loops for the marathon.  I tried to get Mark to to the half marathon option, but the weather was pretty cold.  Turns out the Nature Center would be open for him to relax and keep warm while waiting for me to finish.  Now we know for next time.

I had a great time.  We had a great showing from the Dayton area for the races, and it was fun catching up with some friends that I haven't seen in a while.  The temps were in the mid-teens at start and rose to the low 30's by the end.  I hate this temperature range, as I don't know how to dress.  Every time I wanted to take off my jacket the wind would blow and convince me otherwise. 

Looking at the course map and elevation, I was thinking that if I could hold even 1:10 laps, then I should be able to finish in about 4:40.  Per normal for me, I went out faster than that, getting caught up with the 1/2 marathoner's and 10k folks.  It felt slower than normal, so I was thinking all was good.  I finished the first loop in 1:07, so a bit fast, but not too much.  The second lap turned out to be exactly the same at 1:07, despite stopping to help a couple of people who took some pretty bad falls.  My 1/2 marathon time was 2:14 ish, and I was still feeling good and loose.  

On the 3rd loop, it would be my turn to take a fall, on the same root that one of the folks from earlier had hit.  This was my first bad spill in a while.  My knee was cut and my shin is going to have a doozy of a bruise. I tried to hit this same root again on the 4th loop, but thankfully missed.  I did slow down a bit on this one, but not much, as I finished it in 1:10.

On the 4th loop, my stomach started to turn sour.  I carried my handheld full of tailwind and was taking water at the aid stations, in addition to cookies and pretzels.  Luckily, I had a ginger chew in one of the pouches of the handheld, and although hard, was extremely helpful.  it settled my tummy and kept me moving.  I managed to finish that lap in 1:10 as well.

Overall, I finished in 4:34, better than my goal.  At one point, I considered going out for a 5 loop, given that I had plenty of time, but decided against it (that thought was wiped out when I 'wiped out').  

I would highly recommend this race.  The course was extremely well marked.  I even zoned out at one point and almost ran into the tape going across a section I wasn't supposed to run on.  The RD mentioned that he modeled the race after both the ORRRC and Topo races.  There were two aid stations, one at the start/finish and one about 3 miles in.  While they had basic options, there were plenty of helpful volunteers and a good vibe throughout, with fires going and even port-a-lets.  In my opinion, he did a great job.

My GPS showed just over 27 miles with 2500' elevation gain.  The course was fun, winding back and forth over the bike trails and switchbacks.  About 1/3 of the loop was gravel road, but it was smooth gravel, although lots of rocks.  

This week's stats:
4 runs (3 days) for 55 miles, 10:22 total time, 6300' elevation gain.  Not a bad week.