A muddy day at the HAT run

Hopefully Lorrin will post a report too, but here is a short recap...

MUD MUD MUD... it rained most of Friday and Friday night and all morning until about an hour into the race. Temps were perfect though- mid 40s - shorts, sleeveless top, light gloves and running hat were perfect. This course gets muddy though, and the snow really just melted completely in the past week so the ground was pretty saturated anyway. The race has about 4-5 miles of pavement but the rest was muddy singletrack. It was mostly the slick type of mud, not a ton of shoe-sucking mud (only lost a shoe once!). I was 4 mins slower than last year (finish time this year of 6:08). Last year we had perfect, dry conditions. I had hoped to be about 15-20 mins faster than last year (which may have been optimistic anyway). This was my last long run before Bull Run in 3 weeks and I was sort of trying to train through it, as I didn't want to taper specifically for it. I could really feel the effects of training on my legs, especially in the second loop, which was physically and mentally tough for me. But, I love this race- it's hilly but not ridiculous and on very pretty trails. The aid stations are great and it's always a fun mix of people. Pics are here.

Lorrin's Recap:
Results and pix are now up on the HAT website. Mark was there as well to represent MoCo and we had a good time socializing at the start with Jim Cavanaugh, Pam & Alan Gowen, and met some Trail Dawgs from Delaware/Penn. Saw Caren Jew & Mark Zimmerman briefly too.

For those who ran last year, there were some changes to the course:
1. It was muddy. But more of a 'tacky' kind of muddy, rather than a frothy, foamy muddy. Maybe because it stopped raining shortly into the race.
2. This year I did not get behind a group of smelly frat guys.
3. But I did get passed by a girl in an almost ankle-length long skirt - we're speculating Mormon or Mennonite.
4. Instead of the wooded section where the girl said "go crazy" when we asked to pass her, we instead had a couple mile loop on the road through a campground, which connected to the long dirt then paved road. So that may have helped us make up some speed the mud took away.
5. Psychedelic gummi bears at the aid station and what I have now learned were HOT FRIES that I foolishly passed over because I thought they'd be cold. Lesson learned!
6. Finisher award was a bag, so the swag this year was a black bag similar to last year's red one, a cap-style HAT hat, a coolmax HAT shirt, ultrarunning mag, and the finishing duffle.

I finished in 6:37, so that is 20 min. faster than last year despite the mud. At the end, my legs felt strong, but the bottoms of my feet hurt (There was a good slab of mud stuck to each sole at the end) and I emptied my shoes of sand twice on the course. In retrospect, gaiters would have been a good idea. I either banged my ankle against a rock or my shoe is chafing the ankle (let's hope not!) so I have some tweakiness there. But I feel ready for Bull Run and hope we've paid the penance for the mud gods -- or at least we will be well prepared if there is mud!