A Beast of a Race

First of all, a huge THANK YOU to Mike Bur and everyone who helped with Massanutten’s Revenge!

What a special event this was. A beast of a race, the hardest thing I have run. I feel so lucky to have finished it. This was my first win ever. Congratulations to fellow awesome finishers Jana Fridrichová and Stella Kipps, and to everyone else who toed the line and joined as pacers and crew!

Day 1
We were blessed by perfect weather conditions for this second year running of Massanutten’s Revenge, with no rain and cool temperatures. Last year the weather was awful and there were no finishers then. Hopefully this year we could change that. I ran the race solo, without pacers, and self-supported because of a severe food allergy. For the first few miles I was running behind Jana and after that I was clearing spider webs for the rest of the way. The section on the eastern ridge had a couple of out-and-backs to the aid stations down below, and it was nice to see the other runners. One of my favorite destinations was Buzzard Rock, where I had never been before, and I was just in time to catch a beautiful sunset.

Night 1
It was dark by the time I reached Elizabeth Furnace, and from there I climbed up to the western ridge. It was full moon and the woods were magical. I like most of the trails in the Massanutten, but the blue blazed Three Top Mountain trail is not one of them(!). The trail (if you can even call it like that) was overgrown and not well blazed, and I went off-course several times. I cannot imagine how the runners did this section last year in dense fog. I was glad to run again on the Massanutten trail. After Woodstock my energy levels dipped and it was not until the next morning after Gap Creek that my energy levels went up again. Something about the circadian rhythm perhaps?

Day 2
It was nice to see Mike Bur and co at the top of Waterfall. Jeff Best was also there, after closing Woodstock, and he would be my backup emergency ride for the rest of the race (thank you Jeff!). After descending Waterfall, the race continued to Picnic Area, where I ran the MMT loop in reverse. I especially liked the views from the rock outcrops. After I finished the loop, Jana arrived and soon after Stella too. I continued on, for my second climb up Waterfall (oh the joy!) and I ran into other runners there.

Night 2
It was getting dark again and Kerns Mountain was waiting for me. I always thought that I like running Kerns in the dark, but that was for MMT when the trail is well marked with reflective ribbons. Not so much for this race! After Kerns it was a second visit to Gap Creek. My brain was fried at this point and that was before climbing Duncan Knob. I had never been there before and it was a spectacular destination, especially at night, but the required rock scrambling was very challenging at this point in the race. After that, the final descent to Duncan Hollow, and a slow jog to the finish… where I was greeted by throngs of people and the press and I received a huge trophy… Yeah right. This was a fat ass event, the most awesome race I have done, the longest I have run and the farthest I have run. I absolutely loved it!

Again, thank you Mike Bur and everyone who helped, especially Jeff Best. And congratulations to ALL the runners. You all rock!