Chattanooga Stage Race 2, Raccoon Mountain

Yesterday, My buddy Ed an I drove to Chattanooga early in the morning to run stage 2 of the Chattanooga Stage Race put on by Rock Creek in Tennessee. Stage 2 was suppose to be the easiest of the 3 trail races. It was 18 miles and described as fairly flat. After our trail race in May we thought after reading about the race decription and distance this was a good goal for June and fit into our Marathon training plan. This run / walk was my longest distance yet. I was prepared endurance wise but I had no clue how difficult the terrain and sense of surroundings would affect me mentally.

There were about 40 runners. Most of the runners had run the previous day and were making a long weekend of running all 3 races on 3 different mountains in the Chattanooga area. For June the weather was very nice. Heat was not a factor at all. Most of the running was done in deep cover of the trees. In fact I felt better when it opened up and I could see the sky. At the start of the race the trail was fairly flat and or downhill. We ran a while with 2 other runners at a good easy pace for the first 5 miles to the first aid station.

We decided to slow it down and let the other runners go in front of us after the aid station. The trail was pretty narrow and not easy to pass. I did well the first 8 miles to the 2nd aid station - then going into the small intestines trail. The trail was designed for bikes and given the name Small intestines due to the numerous turns and switchbacks. My feet were soar from the pounding on the rocks. I was wearing my normal trainers and my bottom of my feet felt bruised. I found it difficult to stay so focused on watching for roots, sharp rock and small stumps in the trail. I took a spill about halfway through the small intestines. Luckily I fell into a soft part of leaves and brush and not rocks. Another runner helped me up and made sure I was OK and that I kept going. We had to start walking the hills out of the small intestines - although not very long hills they seemed to be many. My sense of direction and distance really affected me mentally. Not being able to see any real landmarks and several times I felt like I had been down the same path before. My buddy Ed, he turned 56 yesteday was having a real tough time. His stomach was bothering him and I wanted to stay with him. When we started walking the hills I found it very hard to keep a steady pace. Especially since the hills and and downhills were so short.

After the last aid station we walked most of the way up the mountain. I found very little spots where I could get a good pace for a run and my feet hurt when I did start running on the rocky terrain. I started talking to someone on the last stretch who had run the previous day- we didnt help each other mentally. He told me the previous day was easier and he was already out there longer today and was glad he didnt sign up for stage 3. I could only run one of the stages and chose stage 2 because it fit into my training schedule for the marathon and it was described as flat. I dont really think that flat was a very good description : )

I think I finished in about 4 hours. Not sure of time and my Garmin GPS was pretty useless for tracking the distance due to the cover of the woods. I have learned a couple of things - one is I need some real trail shoes. I believe my road trainers didnt do me any favors yesterday. Also I think I went out a little too fast to pace my self consistenly throughout the race and that being in the woods on unfamiliar terrain affected me mentally. Not something I had experienced during any of my training.

Im glad I did it. Not sure I would do it agian today but maybe next week : )

My official time was 4:08:15. Official race results posted on Boonies message board.