Mendon Mauler

Wow, this month is flying by and I am terrible at keeping up with blogging.  With the nice weather I am outside quite a bit doing yard work and what not.  Anyways, a few weeks ago (June 7 to be exact) I partook in the Mendon Mauler.  It was a 12 mile trail race...and you had to do all 3 loops or get a DNF.  Those that opted for the 4 or 8 mile race could switch between the distances if they so choose.

The start had us across a field with grass that was knee tall.  We were fortunate in that there had been no rain for about a week or it would have been a swampy mess.  The trails would have been a disaster zone for me too since there were nothing but hills to be found on the course.  You were either going up or going down a hill the entire time!

Once across the field were were in single trek into the trails.  Most of the trails were wide enough to pass but a few sections were single trek.  I named one of the hills "Death Hill."  It was a steep downhill with lots of loose rocks.  While being given race instructions (follow the little pink trail marker flags...) we were told about the hill and to, "aim for the big tree or your face will meet dirt."  Not a lie either.  I'm not sure if anyone "met dirt" on the hill but I know I was clinging from one tree to another as I slid down that hill 3 times!

 I wore my Purple Haze SparkleSkirt and received many compliments.  One guy was near me for most of the second loop and started to call me Sparkles.  After trying to keep up with me he said, "go get 'em Sparkles," and stopped at the water cooler.  They placed a table with water and Fluid replacement beverage in the woods.  It was a cup free race meaning you had to provide a way to get water from the jug into your mouth.  Lucky for me this was easy with my ginormous pockets.  Many other people were using hand held water bottles and I was glad to have both hands free for Death Hill.

After each loop I handed my parents my water bottle and picked up my old one filled with powerade.  They were great about this since the Fluid was a pink color and not a flavor I could stomach.  So every 2 miles I was going through 7 oz. of drink (water or powerade).  I was still thirsty after finishing too!

 After the third loop you turned to cross the road and this was the line to the finish.  I'm not in the photo but wanted you to see what it looked like.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day out for a run.  My legs were trashed and I was very proud of my race.  I finished in 2 hours and 15 minutes and some change.  A little shy of my goal of under 2:15 but I will take it considering I made the goal with no clue about the challenges of the course.  I was the 5th female and 3rd in my age group.

 That long stretch to the finish is where I really closed the gap on this girl who was part of the 8 mile race.  They started a half hour after we did.  I enjoyed a hot dog and some pretzels before watching the kids fun run 400m race with my mom and dad.  I am so thankful that both of my parents got up super early and stood around waiting for a long time between loops to see me.  They are an amazing support crew and the race was low key and fun.  Trail running is growing on me but I just need to find a pair of trail shoes that fit like my road shoes.