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| My most favorite picture from last year's race |
I decided to dog out and go all paw print for the race. I also got a new bladder for my pack that would supply water for Stella during the run. I got the biggest one they had and I probably could have gone smaller but oh well you live and you learn. I also broke the rule of nothing new on race day since I hadn't technically tried it out. It was delivered 5 minutes post me getting done with my long run and i had planned to do another mile with Boom later to get an even 20 and try it, but it just didn't get done. The good news bad news is: good news, it keeps my pack from bouncing in the front which causes pain and chaffing, so eliminated that problem; bad news, it's like running with a 10 lb weight in my pack and i didn't burp it enough so it sloshed the entire race. Oh well, lesson learned, still glad I got it and glad I asked some of the Trail Hawks how to make it less sloshy.
Let me back up and say we had done 19 miles the day before for our long run. We had a busy weekend planned with my race Saturday morning and then Andrew's car race Saturday night into the wee hours of the morning. I knew there was no way I would want to finish my long run post race or pre race for that matter or run Sunday after being up all night at the car race. To say I had dead legs is an understatement, but for me, most races aren't really "races" because I am a back of the packer and I just enjoy being there. My plan was to get to bed around 7 pm Friday night and get up around 3:30-3:45am Saturday morning to get to Lawrence. I was able to execute said plan because the boys went to a Royals game and got home super late and slept downstairs. I was also SUPER excited because this had gone down the day before:
Cindy had reached out to the RD Gary to see if they would allow us with dogs to start an hour early. We were not there for awards or placements, we just wanted to have fun but keep our dogs safe. He not only replied YES but made a division for the K9s complete with awards! Well, all the dogs got a box of dog biscuits for finishing, but the top dog got a gift card! For those of us who are always at the back and always last this was SUPER cool, plus it was safer for the dogs to get out an hour earlier since the course was partially on roads and exposed fields. Truly the best part of this all was that when I got lost, instead of being last and not having anyone to help me, I ran into the faster runners that were catching up with me and they got me set on the right way!
There were four of us starting in the K9 division with Miss ziva and Mary Ann leading the way with me and Stella in the middle, and Cindy and Miles and Beqi and Domino bringing up the rear.
We started out heading through a grassy field that was wet with dew (good for dog paws to stay cool) and then quickly dumped on a nice hilly road.
From there we got on some dry trail before hitting the first big water crossing at mile 4ish. I was able to hang on to Mary Ann and Ziva till we got to the trail.
I am just not a fast trail runner when it comes to root and rock, so Cindy and Beqi were able to catch up to me at the water crossing. This is where things get comical. I had unhooked Stella so she could swim and I could use the rope to cross Mud creek. I started out and thought she would follow me. She did until she decided to quickly turn back to shore to try and cheat and not swim.
She got caught up in the brush and brambles and then tried to get back in the water and stay close to the shore which wasn't possible. She finally took off the other way back up the trail with me frantically calling. I was already across and then the other two dog runners crossed hoping she would follow.
She finally decided since we were all across that she would join us and she swam straight at John the photographer who was standing in the water (God bless him). Finally got her completely across and buckled back up.
We dumped from the trail into the camp grounds were the first big aid station was. We had dog water complete with ice, dog cookies, and many many aid station volunteers there to greet us and take care of us. Stella got her own personal attendant as Sherri cleaned her up and gave her much love. We headed along a grassy field before crossing the road and heading up and around Bunker hill. I really wish I had my phone to take pictures, but decided against in just in case I fell in the water crossing. I had no room for it in my pack to keep it high and dry. Luckily Mary Ann is taller and took her phone and got pictures!
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| picture borrowed from Mary Ann and Ziva! |
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| Cry baby canal taken by the RD |
This crossing wasn't as deep, but I wanted to keep her on leash just in case. She wasn't interested in drinking, so we kept going on. A side note, all of that water I brought wasn't really needed but I am glad I had it for her just in case. I did have one small section of road where I felt like she was getting too hot and I stopped and fixed her up a bowl of water, but that was it.
Of course there were several hikers by this time and one told me about an aggressive German shepherd she had crossed up the trail that tried to attack her. GREAT. Probably that same one I had run into before that the lady said was leash aggressive so couldn't be ON leash. Sigh. Lucky for us we got off the trail and back onto our mowed fields for the finish.
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| Finish photo provided by timer. Add an hour to my time since we started an hour early. |
We were greeted with the blowing of the horn and cowbells and Stella took off like a SHOT! She loves hearing cheering! Of course we had to finish with our snake and finish we did. Oh yeah, we all had snake names and my is Red Aussie Snake LOL!!!!! We had some finish line food, beer, and drinks and I took that time to rest, hydrate with some coke zero and chill. This race is so much fun and we LOVED the alternate course even if it wasn't all trail. I love the variation because the trails at Clinton to me are hard to just let go and run, so it was nice to get to runnable sections where we could really stretch our legs and let go.
Stella loved all the attention she got and of course the dog biscuits and love. I love an RD that thinks about their K9 participants because if we would have started with the regular group we would have had pretty high heat to deal with. I loved having the faster runners to follow instead of being dead last and freaking out about being lost.
Stella and I left tired but happy. Seriously look at all of this swag!
A field guide to KS snakes, a really cool original medal, a beer stein that is SO awesome, a snake name, snake tattoos and a box of dog cookies. Plus all of the amazing photos from John Knepper and Gary Henry the RD. WOW. I seriously want to frame all of them. This is why I love the Trail Hawks and all of their amazing races! We will be back in 2020 for sure!
Enjoy one of the many videos people made with their GoPro here:
Sounds like such a fun race! I'm glad Stella was all in. That's a long distance for a pup but she was definitely up for the challenge. Congrats!
ReplyDeleteI wish you could come down from Chicago and do a Trail Hawk's race. They seriously take care of us runners like no other and 10 miles is a perfect distance! Then we could go to some Lawrence Brewery and have some tasty brews!
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