Buck Hales

It rained. In fact, in poured. But like the guys said at the start, its not raining as much in the forest. And he was right about that.

We drove to the Pickney Recreation area outside of Ann Arbor, leaving Chciagoland about noon, and arriving at the Crooked Lake campground about 5:30 PM. though the campground was official full, the race director Randy had reserved two sites and allowed about 12 or more tents to be crowded together. Gypsy runners one and all. We set up the tent, got to know our neighbors and took Miranda and Cooper for a walk in the woods. The path intersected the Potawatomi Trail and we got to see first hand how STEEP this thing is. Wow. After a mile or so walk on the trail we made it back to camp and entertained ourselves watching the dogs swim after the Frisbee in the lake. Our plan worked, they same themselves to exhaustion. We joined the runner campers for dinner of pizza and Labatts before settling in. About 9 it started to rain. We batted down the hatches and retired. It rained. I fell asleep in a heap of dogs and woke up about 2 AM listening to the rain. It was raining harder. By 4 it sounded like a hurricane. We stayed pretty dry in throughout the monsoon. I got up at 6 and stood in my poncho under an umbrella making espresso over my butane stove while the wind and rained howled around me. The campground was now a swamp and the road a torrent of streaming mud. I confess to having second thoughts about the race at that point. But the other runner campers got up and were undeterred, so I got dressed and ready for the run. Karen kindly agreed to take me to the start then return and break down camp.

I found out I was in the 2nd wave of the 1/2th and the start was at 8:40 so I sat in the warm dry car for and hour and waited. Just before my start I was hunkering down in under the tent and as if by miracle ran into Marc Berringer. He had his bubba radar on because he figured out who I was. I left his company and jumped into the wave and we were off. There were about 100 people in my wave and I was midpack by the time we crossed the grass to the start of the trail. It was a mudslide and about 10 people went down. Many folks were trying to avoid the mud and go tentatively around but I tested the traction, let gravity take me and kept my feet, passing about 20 people right there. It was single file and very tricky for the first mile. At each opening I passed a runner or two, or got passed, but it continued to thin out. The trail wound around through the woods and it was difficult to tell what pace I was going but at mile 2 I was right at 20 minutes. Between 3 and 4 the trail turned into a road but there were ankle deep puddles. Many people tip-toed around the edges but I just ran right through the puddles splashing gleefully along. I had no idea what pace I was keeping but felt pretty good. The hills were very steep, more like ladders and staircases, but short. The downhills were treacherous demanding much concentration-- ankle deep mud or tree roots, take your choice. It was truly fun, though, and so quiet. We ran over bridges, around the edge of the lakes, and at each tricky crossing the pink ribbons around the trees guided our path. We emerged at mile 7 to a water stop where the crew told us where we were-- 1:05, not bad! Then, yikes, two serious uphill stretches. My quads were toasted, I struggled and was caught from behind. I step aside to walk and was passed by the marathoners on their second loop. Of course they did start at 8 AM, 40 minutes ahead of me, but still... The leader was way in front, wearing a wool cap, no shirt and had mud all the way up his back. He was really moving. Near mile 10 I stopped to drink Gatorade and heard this woman say, "you are our next victim" then I started to run and she said, "keep on trucking buddy". I glanced back and briefly chatted with her. She was doing the marathon. After a very difficult assent that I again walked up, I took some GU and two succeed caps drank some Gatorade and pressed on. I was going strong, but got to mile 11 and found a very long difficult hill crisscrossed with switchbacks. Again I resorted to walking. The women behind me said, "we were wondering when you would start walking!" and happily fell in stride. I discovered the great ape walk-- knees bent, hunkered forward, giant arm swings as I strode up the hill. I separated myself from my followers, crested the hill and took off. The supplements kicked in and I started pressing forward. One guy kept surging past me then would slow way up. I kept passing him. Finally, I left him in the mud. The trail narrowed to an 8-inch wide mud filled groove. I kept picking 'em up and putting 'em down, and pulled further and further ahead. Mile twelve, I was cruising. The pace quickened, I was in a crowd, passing people. My friend was right behind me, on my shoulder. She said "keep pressing' buddy" I did, mile 13 we broke out into the open a grassy glade with a steep rise, we crested the small hill, a group of some 8 of us, my friend right with me and it was an all out sprint to the finish. I crossed the line a with a 20 yard gap between the next closest person and me. The "bucky burst" buried them. 2:15:29! Not quite 10 min pace, but I'll take it!

As if on cue, the rain, which had somewhat eased off during mid race, picked up with a vengeance and it was pouring down steadily. I hardly noticed. Within a minute there was Karen with here umbrella in hand.

What a great event. Low key, low tech, a runner's race. I would love to do the marathon-- but would surely love to find some HILLS to train on first, Chicago just doesn't afford one much opportunity to run on hills. Guess that's why we drive 4 hours and camp in the rain.