January 5, 2013
The Phunt 25K is really a 50K made up of two 25K loops, most of it on single track with lots of roots, hills, and some rocks. I signed up for the 50K when I was still on my post-Tussey high. But alas, my recovery took longer than planned....and I decided to punt on the Phunt and just do the 25K. The race is put on by the Trail Dawgs running club out of Delaware and best of all, it's free! All you do is RSVP and show up!
It was a chilly morning, this being January and all, and I couldn't wait to get going and warm up. The Trail Dawgs had a nice fire pit near the registration tables, so I squeezed my way between people to get close to it. Pretty soon, we were off!
They had a well-stocked rest stop at about 6 miles. By the time I arrived, the middle-of -the- packers were heading in the opposite direction, finishing the last 5 miles of the loop. This was my decision point. Do I keep going and make this a 15 mile run? Or, do I head back and make this a 10ish mile run. My legs said turn back; my head said keep going. So I kept going.
As soon as I started running out of the aid station, a volunteer rushed toward me and exclaimed, "You're going that way?!" She sounded alarmed, like perhaps I was lost, perhaps I had misread the helpful paper plate directions and was accidentally doubling back! I mean, how could it be that someone was so slow as to be only at mile 6! Everyone else was running in the opposite direction!
I said something like, "Yes, I'm bringing up the rear... I'm only on mile 6." Actually, Gramps was bringing up the rear....but she would figure that out soon enough.
The next 5 miles seemed to be a bit easier than the first 6, so I tried to step up my pace. I was starting to get tired and yes, even bored. A few stream crossings later, I arrived back at the aid station. My legs were feeling heavy. I would be running 5 miles farther than my previous run of 10 miles, and I started to wonder if I would have to walk it in.
As if on cue, I overheard a volunteer at the aid station describing a "short cut" to another runner. "Just keep going straight down this dirt road for about two miles and you can figure it out from there." Sounded easy enough!
Great, I'm taking the short cut. This isn't my "A" race, I rationalized, So why kill myself? I let Gramps pass me and watched as he turned onto the trail and disappeared into the woods.
I started down the dirt road, feeling pretty sneaky and even a little smug about taking a shortcut. I'm so brilliant.
It wasn't long before the road narrowed and suddenly I began to feel a little nervous. You have no idea where you are, yet you've decided to go rogue and cheat anyway! You didn't bother to tell anyone that you were venturing off the trail and you really aren't sure about the route back. How smart is that? You don't have your pepper spray or even your camp whistle, for crying out loud. How many stories have you covered that involved careless people inadvertently winding up lost or even dead because they took a wrong turn?!
Just as I was about to turn around and get back on course, Gramps comes bounding out of the woods.
"Are you lost?"
Busted! No I'm trying to cheat, I thought.
"Come on, the trail is this way," said Gramps.
"Well...I'm sort of thinking about taking a short cut...."
"A what?"
"A short cut..." I said meekly. WTF, is he hard of hearing? Dammit, Gramps, I'm trying to cheat here!
"You're going the wrong way. This is the trail."
And with that, I reluctantly followed Gramps into the woods and down the trail.
I'll admit, I kept checking the crude map they gave us to see if I could figure out another way to cut the course. In pilot training I had learned to use dead reckoning for navigation. Essentially, that means using a chart to identify markers on the ground--power lines, bends in the road, rivers, towers--to guide your way.
The Phunt 25K is really a 50K made up of two 25K loops, most of it on single track with lots of roots, hills, and some rocks. I signed up for the 50K when I was still on my post-Tussey high. But alas, my recovery took longer than planned....and I decided to punt on the Phunt and just do the 25K. The race is put on by the Trail Dawgs running club out of Delaware and best of all, it's free! All you do is RSVP and show up! It was a chilly morning, this being January and all, and I couldn't wait to get going and warm up. The Trail Dawgs had a nice fire pit near the registration tables, so I squeezed my way between people to get close to it. Pretty soon, we were off!
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As usual, I positioned myself at the back of the pack and in no time everyone was out of sight. Almost everyone. There was one man behind me, an older guy, and soon enough I had resolved not to let "Gramps" pass me! He did a pretty good job of keeping up and that made me push it a little harder on the OH SO MANY hills. And that included the steep bidness hill below--OMG! It's "paved" with rocks! Sort of a rock climbing wall motif.
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| A steep and rocky section |
The course consisted of serious hilly single track with a few interesting variables thrown in, like this tunnel we hit at mile 5ish.
They had a well-stocked rest stop at about 6 miles. By the time I arrived, the middle-of -the- packers were heading in the opposite direction, finishing the last 5 miles of the loop. This was my decision point. Do I keep going and make this a 15 mile run? Or, do I head back and make this a 10ish mile run. My legs said turn back; my head said keep going. So I kept going.
As soon as I started running out of the aid station, a volunteer rushed toward me and exclaimed, "You're going that way?!" She sounded alarmed, like perhaps I was lost, perhaps I had misread the helpful paper plate directions and was accidentally doubling back! I mean, how could it be that someone was so slow as to be only at mile 6! Everyone else was running in the opposite direction!
I said something like, "Yes, I'm bringing up the rear... I'm only on mile 6." Actually, Gramps was bringing up the rear....but she would figure that out soon enough.
The next 5 miles seemed to be a bit easier than the first 6, so I tried to step up my pace. I was starting to get tired and yes, even bored. A few stream crossings later, I arrived back at the aid station. My legs were feeling heavy. I would be running 5 miles farther than my previous run of 10 miles, and I started to wonder if I would have to walk it in.
As if on cue, I overheard a volunteer at the aid station describing a "short cut" to another runner. "Just keep going straight down this dirt road for about two miles and you can figure it out from there." Sounded easy enough!
Great, I'm taking the short cut. This isn't my "A" race, I rationalized, So why kill myself? I let Gramps pass me and watched as he turned onto the trail and disappeared into the woods.
I started down the dirt road, feeling pretty sneaky and even a little smug about taking a shortcut. I'm so brilliant.
It wasn't long before the road narrowed and suddenly I began to feel a little nervous. You have no idea where you are, yet you've decided to go rogue and cheat anyway! You didn't bother to tell anyone that you were venturing off the trail and you really aren't sure about the route back. How smart is that? You don't have your pepper spray or even your camp whistle, for crying out loud. How many stories have you covered that involved careless people inadvertently winding up lost or even dead because they took a wrong turn?!
Just as I was about to turn around and get back on course, Gramps comes bounding out of the woods.
"Are you lost?"
Busted! No I'm trying to cheat, I thought.
"Come on, the trail is this way," said Gramps.
"Well...I'm sort of thinking about taking a short cut...."
"A what?"
"A short cut..." I said meekly. WTF, is he hard of hearing? Dammit, Gramps, I'm trying to cheat here!
"You're going the wrong way. This is the trail."
And with that, I reluctantly followed Gramps into the woods and down the trail.
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| Yeah, okay... |
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| Not sure what this was, but it looked interesting |
But I finally gave in and decided that I could cowboy up and run the rest of the way. If Gramps could do it, what the hell was my problem?! (I later learned that Gramps was running the full 50K, not a mere 25K like me. Kudos to Gramps!)
More than four hours later, I had finished the 25K. Not my fastest effort, for sure, but it was really just for the fun of it. Oh---and I got this handy water bottle for my efforts!
