goofyguy1958
My son the dinoboy!!
- Joined
- Aug 8, 2003
- Messages
- 594
You ok asked the paramedic as he stops me in the finish shoot. Yea, why do you ask? You have blood running down your face. Oh that, a picker bush (blackberry bush I think I was too busy trying to save my eye to really check it out) smacked me in the face. And, hey its not a true trail race without some blood; right? This was how my day at the Ugly Mudder (UM) trail race ended well, not really, it ended with the eggs, pancakes, fig newtons, and beer but thats another story.
The UM is billed as a race around 7.2 miles with a bewitching batch of boulders & bushes which actually sells the course short. The 7.2 is supposed to be the wheel measured distance so I am sticking to that distance; however, 5 Garmins (mine, my brothers and 3 friends) posted mileage ranging from 6.5 to 7.4. What number would you go with? Now, back to the race
For some reason this race always has weird weather associated with it. One year there is a 4 inch thick sheet of ice covering the entire course, the next it is raining for days before making everything, well, ugly and muddy. This year it started raining too late to make the frozen ground too slick but the at times near white out conditions were a treat to run in. That is, when you werent blinded by the snow flakes. Seriously, the weather is not what you pay attention to on this course. If I knew how to do it I would post a picture of the elevation changes the Garmin picked up. Instead I will describe the course. Ready? Here goes. Rocks, roots, fallen trees, bushes, interspersed with the odd hill, wall, cliff, or however you describe a grade in the 40 to 50 % range. Actually, the final hill on the course is 79%. Yep. I said 79% and believe me you actually have to crawl up this hill about 50 meters from the finish line. Someone remind me why I think this is fun. Please?
As for my race, I started out a bit too fast because you have to get as far out front as possible in the first ½ mile (did I mention it is uphill) before you enter the woods and the single track. From here you pass whenever there are a couple of feet to the right or the left or you dont pass. When I entered the woods I was moving at a good pace until the first climb that required more than just legs, then I slowed down, and then slowed down even more until we were all walking the conga line up the side of the mountain. At one point, I actually thought of the Klondike gold rush and the pictures of the miners climbing the mountain in single file. Anyway, this report is taking far longer than I thought and maybe as long as the race so I will summarize now.
At around mile 2 I stepped on a loose rock, rolled the left ankle, stopped to make sure it was ok, it was, and then we came upon the first long downhill section. This was cool because I just let er rip and flew by a large group down to the next uphill section and a new conga line. Up and over to the next downhill section, halfway down the hill (using the term loosely here kinda like all the rocks) a guy right in front of me steps on a fallen branch that snaps up and hits him on the side of the head and off he goes tumbling (checked and he was ok, just got tripped up and muddied). Right after this the runner right in front of me lets go of the bush that starts the blood flowing down my right cheek and then we are coming to the opening that leads to the final ½ mile sprint to the 79% mountain climb before the finish. Hands and knees fly grabbing any rock or tree sliding through mud and loose dirt then finally cresting the hill and a sprint to the finish. I crossed the line in 1:10:12 according to Garmin turn to the right and heave. Cool, I left it all on the course. Now, where are those eggs, pancakes and beer?
Great training all,
Mike "GG" B
The UM is billed as a race around 7.2 miles with a bewitching batch of boulders & bushes which actually sells the course short. The 7.2 is supposed to be the wheel measured distance so I am sticking to that distance; however, 5 Garmins (mine, my brothers and 3 friends) posted mileage ranging from 6.5 to 7.4. What number would you go with? Now, back to the race
For some reason this race always has weird weather associated with it. One year there is a 4 inch thick sheet of ice covering the entire course, the next it is raining for days before making everything, well, ugly and muddy. This year it started raining too late to make the frozen ground too slick but the at times near white out conditions were a treat to run in. That is, when you werent blinded by the snow flakes. Seriously, the weather is not what you pay attention to on this course. If I knew how to do it I would post a picture of the elevation changes the Garmin picked up. Instead I will describe the course. Ready? Here goes. Rocks, roots, fallen trees, bushes, interspersed with the odd hill, wall, cliff, or however you describe a grade in the 40 to 50 % range. Actually, the final hill on the course is 79%. Yep. I said 79% and believe me you actually have to crawl up this hill about 50 meters from the finish line. Someone remind me why I think this is fun. Please?
As for my race, I started out a bit too fast because you have to get as far out front as possible in the first ½ mile (did I mention it is uphill) before you enter the woods and the single track. From here you pass whenever there are a couple of feet to the right or the left or you dont pass. When I entered the woods I was moving at a good pace until the first climb that required more than just legs, then I slowed down, and then slowed down even more until we were all walking the conga line up the side of the mountain. At one point, I actually thought of the Klondike gold rush and the pictures of the miners climbing the mountain in single file. Anyway, this report is taking far longer than I thought and maybe as long as the race so I will summarize now.
At around mile 2 I stepped on a loose rock, rolled the left ankle, stopped to make sure it was ok, it was, and then we came upon the first long downhill section. This was cool because I just let er rip and flew by a large group down to the next uphill section and a new conga line. Up and over to the next downhill section, halfway down the hill (using the term loosely here kinda like all the rocks) a guy right in front of me steps on a fallen branch that snaps up and hits him on the side of the head and off he goes tumbling (checked and he was ok, just got tripped up and muddied). Right after this the runner right in front of me lets go of the bush that starts the blood flowing down my right cheek and then we are coming to the opening that leads to the final ½ mile sprint to the 79% mountain climb before the finish. Hands and knees fly grabbing any rock or tree sliding through mud and loose dirt then finally cresting the hill and a sprint to the finish. I crossed the line in 1:10:12 according to Garmin turn to the right and heave. Cool, I left it all on the course. Now, where are those eggs, pancakes and beer?
Great training all,
Mike "GG" B
So ready for spring 
