North Carolina: Hittin' the Trails of Medoc
Just a few weeks
after Maui, I was back at it again. Planning races so close together wasn't the
best idea. But after poor showing in Hawaii, I was more than ready to get
things back on track. This time however, I was switching it up a little bit.
For this marathon, I was getting off the road and hitting some great trails. Now
this wasn't always the way North Carolina was planned. There was a little
hiccup in the planning that landed me in Hollister, North Carolina, running up
and down Medoc Mountain.
Race: Medoc Marathon
Date: 10/17/2015
Finishing Time:
4:56:11
When checking out races to do in North Carolina, I had originally
planned to run the Greensboro marathon. My brother in law lives just outside
Greensboro, so it seemed liked the perfect race in terms of travel. A little
over a month before the race date, the Greensboro marathon posted on their
Facebook page that they were having to cancel the event. The reasons they gave
were due to low registration numbers but more importantly, a lack of interest
in the local community for the event. This was a total bummer. Kaela and I had already planned the trip to NC to visit her brother and family, but I was hoping to get a race in as well. I did some searching online
and came across a trail marathon in Hollister, NC.
I had lived in North
Carolina for 10 years as a kid and never once heard of Hollister. Come to find
out it was only an hour from where I grew up and about 2 1/2 hours from where we were going to be staying. I had
reached out to their contact email to go over my situation with Greensboro marathon
and also to find out what the proceeds of the race went towards (remember I
only support races that give back in one way or another). I heard back within
the same day from the race director with a little overview of the race and how
they help the local parks in their area. He was bummed to hear that a community
wasn't coming around the event in Greensboro and offered me a discount code to
get the normal pricing (instead of late registration) for their race if I decided to participate. As I read
the email, I was mentally deciding that I was going to register, but when the
race director went out of his way to be even more inviting, that was the icing
on the cake and I registered the next day!
Since the race was
on a Saturday, we left on Ohio on Thursday evening and drove overnight to NC.
Quick unrelated side note. On the drive down I listened to game 5 of the NLDS
as my Mets closed out the Dodgers to head to the NLCS. Lets just say I may have
woken Kaela up a few times from either punching the steering wheel in
frustration or screaming in celebration. Ok back on point. I spent Friday
relaxing, carb loading, and playing with my niece. Since we were no longer
going to a race that was 15 minutes away, we made sure to get to bed at a
decent time, as a 4:00am alarm comes quick.
Beware of Medoc |
The Medoc marathon
consisted of three 8 1/2 mile loops utilizing the trails throughout the park. From the
start, we headed out on a short out and back that would help round out the
needed distance that the loops wouldn't provide. It was a funny thing to start
a trail marathon with 1/2 mile of paved road but I think it did help me find a
decent stride to keep my legs fresh and loose before heading off on the trails.
For those not familiar with trail running, paying attention to the terrain and trail, as
well as, your pacing, will be what gives you best shot at success. Since this
was a late fall race, the trails were completely covered in leaves which can
cause some slippery conditions, especially on a cool damp morning like it was.
I used the first
mile to get accustomed to trails and to be mindful of the steps I needed to
take. The trail didn't start off very technical, I just had to pay attention to
the leaves and the occasional hole made by local wildlife. Just before mile 2
we made the accent to summit of Medoc mountain. Now we will call it a mountain
because that’s what they call it, but a mountain in central North Carolina is
really just a good sized hill. Don't get me wrong, it wasn’t an easy hill due
to the grade but "mountain" may be a stretch. Once at the top I
coasted down the long downhill into the first aid station. I grabbed a few
pretzels and kept on moving. Weaving in and out, up and down, I made my way the
next few miles
All smiles the first time I saw Kaela |
Kaela was able to find a nice spot on the course and setup with a tailgate chair, so she could see me on each lap. The first time I saw her was just after mile 5. For this pass I just gave a smile and an "I love you" as I passed by with a group of 5 or 6 runners. There is something about trail running that brings out the conversations between runners. Usually on road races, the most conversation I have is just a few thoughts based off a spectators sign, or maybe something funny we saw on the course. But on the trails deep conversations are had and you actually meet and learn some things about complete strangers. Over the next few miles we shared running stories and had a few laughs.
With my "group" |
After a few more
climbs we made it to the campground area where we hit some paved road again. It
was nice to get some of the dirt from under my shoes and also to get some
stable ground for my feet. It wasn't a long period as before you knew it we
were back on the trail. As we entered there was a volunteer that just kept
saying "keep an eye out for the root." By the time I processed what
she had said, I came up right on it. It was a large root coming out of
the ground and "floating" about 4 inches high off the ground. My
guess is something ate it hard and they decided probably better for someone to
inform others from following in those footsteps.
Quick down and up
and there I was, getting ready to start my second loop. I looked down at my
watch and realized that I had blown through that first loop in just over 90
minutes. My goal for this race was sub 5 since on some technical trail and I
was way ahead of that goal. I passed through the aid station, grabbing some
gummy bears, pretzels and refilling my water bottle, before heading back out.
Attacking the hill, Second time seeing Kaela |
3rd time seeing Kaela |
I didn't have time
to just sit around and be lazy, the next scheduled race was just 8 days later.
We were heading to Arlington, Virginia to run with the Marines!