Whispering Pines Race Report

Last weekend, Endurance Buzz Adventures hosted another great trail race at Tyler State Park.  I have never run there before, and haven't spent much time in East Texas.  A couple hours from home, it felt like traveling to another region, with the tall piney woods that seem so different from Fort Worth's trees.  Tyler State Park is a beautiful park, and the trails are hilly but very runnable.

In a rare moment of realistic expectations, I actually registered for the 20 mile race rather than the 50K.  I felt like I had enough of a base built up that I could do relatively well in the 20M, but knew 50K would be a stretch.  I was right.  The warm, humid day slowed me down.  I took it pretty easy most of the day, then really slowed the last couple of miles.  I was exceedingly glad that I did not have another loop to run!  I ended up finishing in 4:55:27, good for 31st out of 40 overall, 20/22 male. 

This was a hot, sweaty, steamy race for me.  My clothes quickly became completely soaked with sweat, but I managed to stay well hydrated.  I have eaten my last Sport Beans.  Every time I ate some during this race, I got nauseous.  Thankfully, the aid stations were well-supplied.  Dave Hanenburg continues his streak of awesome races with Whispering Pines.  This was my fourth EBA race, and every one is better than the one before.  Thanks, Dave!

The bonus for the weekend is that the whole family came out to camp!  The boys each brought a friend, and they played like crazy men all weekend.  After the race, we went canoeing and swimming, then back to camp.  Thankfully, they weren't too disappointed when I declined to go on a trail run with them in the afternoon.  We would love a return trip to Tyler S.P., although I think all of us would like to go back when it's a bit cooler.

My friend Brittany ran in her first trail race, and took 2nd place in the 10 mile!