The Culinary Tour of The Ring

There are a lot of very challenging parts to The Ring, and many reasons to toe the line for this race, mine was based very heavily upon the food that would be served to me-of course, that is not to take away from the awesome trails-and I was not disappointed!

I started out my race day super excited to see all of my VHTRC friends, some of whom I have not seen in a while, since I have relocated to NC. We had the most beautiful weather, which was so uncharacteristic of the Ring! I had heard the conditions of the trails might be some of the best ever, and in my mind I had already mapped out my foods that I would enjoy at various aid stations along the way. For those new to the club, this is reason alone to join the club-we have some of the best chefs around-but don’t tell too many people.

I started out the race so happy, having connected with so many happy, smiling friends, and a loud send off by Bob telling us to “Get the Hell out of here!”, gotta love Bob! Off we went to the beautifully trimmed trails-many thanks to our volunteers for all of your efforts, as I know it was a LOT of work-up the hill we all went. It didn’t take long to settle into a nice easy pace chugging uphill, chatting as we went. By the time I hit the first downhill section, I was super happy to be cruising a bit, perhaps too happy, and was reminded that you cannot take your eyes of the trails for a second out there, down I went. I jammed up my thumb, hit my hip and knee on the way. I got back up, assessed the damages, and brushed myself off. My right thumb was definitely not happy, already swelling and not feeling great carrying my pole. A few more miles in, I had relaxed a bit more and set into what I thought was a reasonable pace. I made it through Milford, where Larry Tumblin helped me fill my pack, making it much easier to deal with the thumb not working well.

A few hours down the trail, I found that I didn’t quite hit my mark of getting into Camp Roo in 7.5hrs. I fueled up quickly here, after greeting all the awesome volunteers, who helped me grab my drop bag stuff, filled up my bottles with the help of my trusted buddy, Homer-who was going to pace me at Moreland Gap-and off I went trying to hustle a bit more through Duncan Hollow, and was quickly rewarded with another fall! This time caught by a vine that just face planted me onto the ground, barely missing hitting my chin on a rock, rattling me very nicely, and aggravating already sore parts! I continued on with the sweet company of Tin Lieu, and eventually made it up to Chrisman Hollow, after my slog up Waterfall. By this time, my body was protesting quite a bit and tightening up in many places. I made the tough decision to drop there, after being fed a wonderful cheeseburger with pickles and a homemade brownie by Jenni, one of the sweetest people in the World! At this time, realizing my race was done, I decided to go on the “culinary tour”of the Ring! I asked Homer if he wanted to join me in this endeavor, and he accepted after I promised to first change my clothes and clean up.

We headed out to Moreland first, dropping off a load of drop bags there, but not spending too much time there, just long enough to do meet and greets, and we were on our way down to Edinburg. White House Tom had some awesome items on the menu, to include pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw and teriyaki meatballs, which were all amazing! Of course, he had some nice broth with noodles to warm me up as I waited to see Deb Cawthorn and some other runners come through.

Woodstock was next for us, and that was my main objective, as I already knew Jeff Best was cooking up some wonderful options, some of which were the primary reason I was running this race! I started with the sliders, which really hit just right, now that I had about 2hrs since I was last running. My next selections were bourbon butternut squash soup, avocado mashed potatoes, and a bit of ginger wonton soup, all of which were so amazing! After a bit of a nap, I was ready for the next selections, to include ribs (this was secret stash for the volunteers there), and a watermelon fresca-made from fresh watermelon and fresher tequila-good thing I wasn’t running, nor driving! With our bellies more than happy, and having seen some of our friends through, we headed down the road, but were advised to skip stopping by Powell’s Fort, due to very limited parking and other activities going on down that way.

I am sad to have missed Powell’s, but heard great reviews from others, especially for their breakfast spread. Deb mentioned the French toast sticks were amazing! Sam and Nick always do such an awesome aid station, and bring the party to the next level!

I would love to have been one of the finishers of The Ring, but this was not to be my title this time. However, I can claim that I finished a lot of food, and can give all the awesome volunteers and chefs out there five star reviews! If you don’t succeed at running this race, just know you will succeed at being fed well, that is my silver lining for the weekend.