Sylamore 25K!!

Despite the weather, the Memphis Ultra crew had a great weekend in Allison, AR for the Sylamore 50K/25K! Drew, Michael, and I left Memphis around 10:45 Friday morning and had a somewhat uneventful drive over to Allison. We did get turned around a couple of times, but the craziest thing we saw was the tornado damage in Mountain View, which is about ten minutes from Allison. There was a stretch of about 1/2 mile that was destroyed in the tornadoes last week and here are some pics:


There is damage like that in places all over the mid-south, so keep those folks in your prayers.

We made it to Allison just as check in started at this fishing resort called Anglers. We picked up our cool sweatshirts then headed down to our fishing resort, Jacks. The White River runs through this town, so it has all kinds of fishing resorts in it. And the word resort is completely misleading!! The first pic is of Anglers and the second is Jacks:


The rest of the crew made it in and we all had some pasta at Anglers, then we turned in pretty early to get some good rest for the next day. The 50K start was at 7:00 and the 25K was at 7:15. We watched the weather and were anxious to see what we would wake up to. They were calling for low temps and thunderstorms!!

We woke up at 5am and started to get ready and the weather wasn't all that bad. It was drizzling and in the high 30s. We all debated what to wear - it's so crazy trying to figure out what to wear for these races! We made it to Angler's and the guys got out and I sat in the warm car as along as possible! Here are the guys before their start:

I watched them go, then I was off shortly after them. The first 1/2 mile is on pavement, then the course veers off to the right and we start to work our way to the start of the trail. But the interesting thing is that right as the trail starts there is a creek crossing. In years past it has been as high as people's chest, but this year it was only up to my knees (I don't have these pics yet, but as soon as I do, they will be posted)!! We had all debated bringing extra socks, etc, but decided against it. That was a very good decision considering the rain!! My new Mizunos did excellent throughout the race. They drained quickly and were light and my hips felt better after this race than the last few in my Hardrocks.

I started right behind the lead pack and we were just trucking along and I felt great. We had to slow down here and there because of slick rocks, etc, but we were making good time...until we went the wrong way!! There was a spot where the trail had a couple of options to choose from and we chose the wrong way. I think it took us about 5 minutes off course and in that time about 25-30 people got ahead of us, so we had some time to make up and people to pass. I did the best I could and was still feeling pretty good. The first aid station was at about mile 5. I decided not to stop at any aid stations the entire time, so I carried my water bottle and one gel and that worked perfectly and saved me a lot of time and allowed me to pass quite a few people. The aid stations were not located right on the course - they were about 40 - 50 yards off course. I just hollered out my number and kept on going!

Once we cleared the aid station that is when the climbing really started. Since I was only doing the 25K I pushed it up the hills and tried to just zoom down the downhills. I caught up to Michael and most of the other 50K Memphis Ultra guys here. Right before the turnaround I was mowing down a downhill that had a lot of rocks on it. There was one big rock and I was going to jump on it with one foot and catapult myself off...that was the plan at least...I hit that rock and it was super slick and I slid down it on my right knee and shin. Oh it hurt...but the funny thing about it is that there was this guy right behind me and he saw it happen and he bent down and picked me up under my armpits and swung me like a ragdoll back onto the course!! I bet it looked pretty funny. As he was swinging me he said, shake it off, shake it off!! But I had to stop for a second to make sure I was okay. Nothing was broken except my tights (hole!). I eventually made it to the turn around, then I started trucking it on back. I played leapfrog with about 4 girls until the we reached the aid station when they all stopped and I kept moving. I never saw them again, but I did catch up with Vinny here. Vinny is another Memphis Ultra guy who signed up for the 50K but he got hurt, so he dropped down to the 25K. We ran most of the last 5 miles together so that was cool having someone to talk to. Up to that point I had just been listening to my ipod. He took some pictures with a disposable camera, so hopefully I can get a copy of those and post them here!

The creek crossing felt great on the way back - I probably could have stood in there for a while! We finally made it back and our time was right at 3:30. Here is Vinny and myself at the finish:


My time was good enough to be the 8th female overall, which is pretty cool. This 25K was 17 miles.

I had time to go back to the room and shower before those guys finished, so I headed back to do that. I did take a picture of myself in the room!

When I started back to Anglers it was raining even harder! I found a parking spot right at the finish line so I sat in the car and waited on all the guys to finish.

Drew finished first amoung our guys followed by Michael and Patrick then Patrick's dad:




We were all pumped to be finished and we were all pleased with our times. That night was grilled some steaks, listened to Michael and Patrick play the guitar and exchanged race stories!! It was a great weekend.


We woke up early to get back to Memphis and the whole way home I doubted that I could run the 8K race. My knee was swollen and I was limping. I tried to run down the street when we got back and I decided not to run that race. Running the 8K was not worth me hurting myself more - I have bigger races that are more important to me. I will still run the 10K next weekend and if I win my age group I will still place in the top 3 for the whole series! I'm going to bike today and give running a whirl tomorrow - until then I will continue to ice and stretch these sore muscles!!

Happy running!!