Category Archives: Running

My Oldest’s First Race ~2014 Snake Run

After helping his Dad as a pacer last fall, my oldest really wanted to be in a race.

His criteria?

Snacks and a medal.

beforeThis month he did his first race!

The Snake Run at Turkey Mountain.

There is a 3hr race and a 6hr race (you try to get the most miles in that time).

We entered my son in the 3hr one and Nick entered the 6hr.

excitedHe was really excited!

sixhourThis is the 6hr race start.

Nick started later with the 3hr racers so he could run with our son.

startsixhour

run

instruct

cold3hr race start.

start3hr

hisfirstThere are my men!

snacksMy son loves the “junk food”, his words…

trailrunThe big laps were 3.75miles long.

He did one lap and then took a break while his dad did another lap.

snack

secondlapHere he is with his dad starting his second, Nicks third.

finishedFinishing his second lap!

checkin

eatingHe was not even tired.

Just wanted to eat more food.

snack2I kept trying to give him time to rest but he did not need it.

medalGetting his medal!

done7.5 miles done!

medal2

3hrdoneThe end of the 3hr race.

The 6hr race was still going so we waited around for my husband to finish.

I really like this race location.

I am really familiar with the Turkey Mountain trails so I took the boys on several hikes in between seeing Nick.

winnersWinners of the 3hr race getting their trophies.

trophyMy oldest was concerned that they were real at first.

winners2

diggingThe boys kept busy building grass forts while waiting for their dad.

afterNick ended up doing 20.75miles.

So proud of my men!

My sons thoughts about the race:

“It was really really fun!”

“There were very yummy aid stations”

“In the end there was lots of food and I ran 7.5 miles”

“It was very hard, and I got a shirt and actual medal”

“I want to do 100 miles when I get older.”

Here is last years race.

Our Weekend

course crank crank2 help helper2 dropoff spot popup mathMy husband did the Pumpkin Holler Hunderd(that is how they spell it) this weekend.

He did the 100K race!

Cannot believe he did that!

eyes faces smirk macnchees rice runnerThe race started at a campsite so we set up the camper the friday night before the race.

It was nice to have a place to go with the boys for meals and downtime.

There were two aid stations that crew could drive out to meet the racers so we went to those also.

waiting run halfwayHe had to do a 50K loop twice so he came back to the campsite for his halfway point.

Then he went all night.

It ended up dipping into the 30’s.

BRRRR!

tomsaywerMy oldest joined him for his last 9 miles at 6am Sunday morning.

He was mostly walking by that time.

web sunrise puddle finish doneHe did it!

My 7yr old did really well also!

9miles was a little more then he had gone before but he loved all the attention from the volunteers and the candy at the aid stations.

He did say next time he wanted to race instead of being a pacer so he could get his own medal though…

It ended up being a beautiful way to spend a fall weekend!

At least for me.

I was not doing a 100K race though…

Our Weekend ~A 100K

I spent the whole weekend watching people run.

If only watching burned as many calories and the actual running…

Friday night we went to the end point for the first part of a 3 Day run my husband was doing.

My Iphone saved the day!

My boys played it while waiting for their dad to finish his 25K race!

He finished at around 10pm.

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to be at the start of the 50K at 8am.

He is amazing.

We read books, played with toys in the vehicle, ate snacks, and even went on a hike while waiting the 10hrs for Nick to finish.

10hrs of constant going!

It makes me tired just to think about it!

The boys were really happy with the next days location (they were at different places each day).

It was a mud fest.

It had rained the previous night!

They played hard, lost boots, got stuck, and were VERY dirty.

Getting ready for the last leg!

A 25K through the mud!

Three days of pushing himself!

They found a nice pool of mud water to clean up in.

Then they proceeded to eat, and eat, and eat.

He did it!!!!!!

So proud of my amazing husband!

This was so incredibly difficult and he did it anyway!

I am reminding myself today that I did not run a 100K so I am not allowed to eat like it.

I have a small problem with sympathy running.

My husband runs and all I can think is, “We need to eat we ran a big race today!”.

If only I was burning sympathy calories also…