Hagg Mud

I had imagined worse weather for this past weekend.


If it was a few degrees cooler the mud might have stayed frozen.  As it was, it was just cold enough to cause black-ice--we had to take a deture to get to Hagg Lake because a tow truck was blocking the road pulling a truck from the ditch.  I drove much slower after that.

Rain earlier in the week made for very muddy sections over much of the course for the Hagg Lake 50k race.  I think the footing was as bad as it was in 2007, but at least we enjoyed sunshine rather than driving rain.  I made the regretable choice to go with shoes that were lighter but had less traction.  Perhaps spikes would have been better.  One runner appeared to have golf shoes on.



near the finish



3 good falls and some black-berry bushes

I had set goals based on what I was able to do in 2008 when the course was almost dry, which turned out to be overly optomistic.  I averaged 7 minutes per mile for the first 17 miles, but then could only manage 8:30 for the last 14, giving me a time just over 4:00.  That was just enough for 4th place.  I think the competition is getting better, because 4:09 was enough to win it in 2007.  I got some of the mud off in the lake, and the rest in the shower at the Lakes.

done with that

Emily took a break from helping my father-in-law and met me for the finish.  It is always fun to see her.  She declined to do a mud run- something about it not fitting her running plans for the day.  I had as good visit with Eldon before heading home.



Erik came with, but he slept the whole way in the car.  Fortunately my good friend and long-time competitor back to our high-school days,  David Jordan, came with.  Talking with him made the drive fly by, and gave me food for thought.  It was his first ultra, and he had a good experience in spite of the trail conditions.  We made the whole trip in 28 hours.  I'll be sore for the next few days.

did I mention it was muddy?