Report submitted by Roxanne Zobava. -Jeff

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It was a gorgeous weekend at Pine Mountain. The leaves had not yet changed but the trail was in good shape. The day started at 7 AM, so it was dark and we all had to use our headlamps. It was tight going into the trail, so we were sent off in waves. I was in wave one. I’m not a huge fan of running on a technical trail in the dark, so my start was a bit slow.

I made it through the first couple of aid stations feeling good. With runners all around me, there were a lot of conversations going on …which makes the run go by a lot faster. When the sun finally did come up, it came up with a vengeance!

Around mile 13 or so I did not duck quickly enough and hit my head on a tree. From that point on, I was racing with a splitting head ache, but better to have that happen then to fall. No bloodshed from me that day! I was still feeling pretty good until around 18-20 miles in..

The sun was up and it got pretty hot. I started to have a little cramping, so at the next aid I took a little GU brew and thought I would be fine. That was not the case. My legs literally seized up! Fortunately, trail runners are GREAT and one of the women that passed me gave me some salt tabs. Note to self: always keep some salt tabs on you, because you just never know!

The rest of the race the trail was nice, but I just had a couple of bumps in the road that knocked out my mental strength to push harder. All in all not my best day but still a great run! Pine Mountain is a great place to train, there’s nothing easy about that trail. It’s all single track and constantly running up or down, with some technical parts too!

I finished 4th female and 18th overall.

Gear used:
CWXtights
Patagonia tank
SmartWool socks
Montrail Sabino shoes
Nathan pack
GU, oranges, Clif bloks