Knobstone Mini

 So the Knobstone Mini was today at Morgan Monroe Forest out by Martinsville. It started out VERY cold! But there was a fire to stand by and I brought my big comfy sweatshirt to wear until it was time to run. Here are my friends Craig, Miranda and Chris being extra shivery cold pre-race. Miranda eventually came over to the fire which I really didn't like to leave for very long! Ahhh fire......so nice when you are so cold.

 Here is a bit of a blurry picture of the crew again. Everyone was really happy to be there even though it was cold. And the Hoosier Hikers Council sure puts on a great race!

Here is the absolutely Deelicious fire they had going and wow did it smell good! It made me long for a tent and a guitar. I pretty much stood by it as long as I could until the race was just about to start. I got to talk to some people about the Eagle Creek Half Marathon in January that I did because they saw my shirt I wore from it. I saw another person with the same shirt. It started quite a few conversations among the other runners! I am going to do it again this year I think. If it is not sold out by December. 

The Thoughtful Craig Kinney

 Here is Chris who just started really trail running not too long ago but is getting good at it fast. He has been running the McCreek (McCormick's Creek Trail) with the aforementioned Craig Kinney and has been doing multiple loops at Paynetown (pain--town) that has some mega hills and switchbacks in it and it is no easy task to run more than one loop. He has run 3 loops at a time! Erin, his wife, trained with me and ran the Eagle Creek Marathon in August with me and Christy Victor. She is a great trail runner too! She was out running Paynetown this morning but hubby ran the Knobstone race. I got to give her a big hug after I crossed the finish line.

 This is Alicia and Adam Stout. They were nice enough to give me a ride out to the race. Alicia is an anthropologist and has been to Africa. She and Adam just got married not too long ago. They make a cute couple and are great at trail running and racing.

All of us pre-race! Ready to get running already and warm up!

I saw many friends there. Mory who works with Planet Adventure and has been a big cheerleader of mine...she is trying to get me in on an Ultra with her!....Allison who runs Urban Cycle, the local Spinning gym. I saw Cheryl who is training for Tecumseh. She was rocking it out on the trail and as always looked so bright and sunny!
  The woods were themselves amazing! The path was mostly covered by fallen leaves which made for a few slippery spots but also made the path nice and soft. I believe it was easier on the feet. There were some decent hills....big long ones and a few switchbacks.....but there were also lots of nice flat places where you could really put on some speed and pass some slower folks. Always with a friendly "good job!" and a thank you. People are generally so nice on these trail races. They always let you pass if you want and are so sweet about it. I got to talk to a few people..some of whom had done the Eagle Creek marathon, some had done the January half marathon there as well.
   I didn't have too much trouble running it at all. I think it was because I had carb loaded appropriately and had made myself rest for at least a day before it and on the Thursday group run had only done a few easy B-line miles. At one point I almost wiped out getting tangled in a limb on the path but did some fancy footwork and managed to stay upright and blaze on.
    I finished in about 2:20...some seconds...so that was good time. And at the finish line I got to see my friends Emily and Andrew and they served us hot soup, coffee, hot cider, cookies and donuts. MMMMMMMM! Yum!

I have to thank the folks at Hoosier Hikers Council. They worked very hard to make sure the course was well flagged, the roads were monitored for crossing and then aid stations were first rate. Everyone was friendly and positive. Great Race overall!