Capt’n Karl’s night run
July 4th, 2007
I went into this racing thinking it would be good to aim for 30+ miles but not knowing how far I would make it. I wasn’t familiar with the trails or really racing at night. I’ve done plenty of training runs before sunrise up at the Northshore trail, but have not done a race that lasted after sundown. Since this event started at 7pm, I’d be running in the dark in just a couple hours after the start.
Before the start of the race, I’m in navy ~ Photo: Traverse Trail Running
Deborah and I drove down for the race, leaving Dallas around noon. We stopped at Braum’s in Hillsboro (YUM!) for hamburgers, french fries, and shakes. I couldn’t think of a better way to start the race. We took I-35 down to Hwy 29 and went west into Burnet. Then we turned left onto Hoover Valley Road (CR 116) all the way to the Youth Camping Area. It was really a snap to find, though once on CR 116, I wondered if we were going the right way.
Once at the race headquarters, we made haste to get the tent setup. There were already 10+ tents in the area and a fifth-wheel trailer. After getting the tent up, we made trips back and forth from the car (only about 50 yards away in a small parking area) to get our gear. It’s a good thing that tent was up because it started pouring rain about an hour from the race start.
Brad Quinn, the RD, started handing out maps before the pre-race briefing. The original 10K course had to be modified to a 5-mile loop due to flooding from the heavy rains and because the spillway was opened on race morning. The course would now be a double lollipop where we’d be doubling back on the same trail that connected the two “loops”. At first it seemed really complicated, but once out on the trail, it was pretty easy to follow, even after dark (at least I thought so … others had some trouble and got slightly lost). I liked having some traffic on the trail and seeing people slightly (or several laps!) ahead.
The race got off to a casual start and we headed across a small bog and the wet and mud was on. I settled into a comfortable pace behind Linda Rust and Diana Heynen, two runners I knew from HCTR. It was nice to once again be running with several of the club members that kind of got me into trail running in the first place.
My first loop went really well. I didn’t push at all in hopes of saving energy to take me long through the night and into the next morning. There were plenty of long-ish uphills, particularly after the park road after Pecan Flats camping area, and again at the end of the lap before heading back into the race headquarters to meet the lap counter.
I stopped after my first lap to take 2 Succeed caps and considered topping off my new Hydromedary Cloudliner bladder that I bought to replace the stock one in my EMS (Eastern Mountain Sports) pack. I decided I’d wait another lap instead of carrying the extra weight. I actually wasted minimal time in the start area and headed back on for loop 2 ahead of most of the people that came in at the same time. However, I did end up heading back to the tent after forgetting my head lamp since I figured it would be pretty dark at the end of the lap.
I was mostly on my own for lap 2 but I was actually catching a few people in front of me. Just before I started on the park road, I caught up with Ryan Lauck. But then on the road, David Johnson came flying around and sped off in front of me. I’d originally met David at the Prickly Pear 50K back in 2004 and we were both lost during that race. I had plans of avoiding getting lost here at Capt’n Karl’s and it would soon take more effort than I thought it might.
After I left the Karl’s Canoe aid station on the far side of the course (and after Mark gave out riddles to runners–we would try to come up with an answer while running and then give an answer at the start area for a chance to win a t-shirt), darkness started setting in. Brad hadn’t yet met it to this area to hang glow sticks and I was wishing he had. At points it wasn’t clear if I was on the right path or not, particularly since I wasn’t really near many other runners. Several of the granite areas were a bit difficult to navigate but I ended up finding the right way with little effort. I was really concerned that I’d wander off the trail though and end up lost. This actually made me decide that I’d stop and wait at the start area until Deborah came through. Then I’d think about doing another lap.
I got back to the start area and decided I’d had enough. The mud was making things miserable and I’d already cut my ankles up pretty badly. I tend to catch the inside of my shoe on the ankle of the other foot. Without my Dirty Girl Gaiters on, it eventually cuts the skin. With the cuts and the dirt, I was feeling quite a bit of burn. So I wimped out and decided to change out of my wet clothes.
I brought my camp chair over to the lap counter area where I chatted with Brad’s parents who were visiting from Wisconsin. I sat there almost an hour until Deborah arrived at the end of her second loop. She decided that I was absolutely doing another loop, even without my running clothing on. So I reluctantly headed out for loop 3, though we’d be walking since Deborah has a pretty severe case of PF.
Loop 3 was nice. Deborah and I chatted the whole way. Laurie Underwood and Clay passed us shortly after starting the loop, followed by Sammy V. and another runner. We weren’t blazing the trail, but were both happy to be out there getting in more miles. It was fun now knowing I probably wouldn’t get lost and if I did, someone else would be stuck with me :-) We made it over to Karl’s Canoe again and talked with Mark and Gina for a short bit. Then we headed out to finish off the loop.
After getting back to the start, we sat around and chatted with other runners for a while. When it seemed like there wasn’t a big need for additional volunteers, we decided to pack up and head home early. We’d end up stopping north of Waco for a short nap since we were both zapped. We wound up making it into Dallas around 7:30am … and I was glad that I hadn’t stayed at the race til the finish because I was feeling completely wiped out!
All in all, this was a good race, but I should have pushed myself to keep going through the night. It would have made for some good after-dark rough terrain training in somewhat miserable conditions. Even still, I had a great time and will likely be back next year.