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| The group Photo! |
I heard of this race through RUT which is a local trail running group. It is another Fat Ass type of event but this FA was very well organized with course markings and finisher prizes etc.. It was a 2.5 mile trail loop in the snow at Cass Benton Park off Hines Drive in Northville, MI. Participants could choose from the following time limits: 1 hour, 2 hour, 3 hour, and 4 hours. Which ever time you chose was how long you had to complete as many laps as you could. I went into the event knowing I wanted to do four hours. Jess decided to come with me and she wanted to run the one hour event. Through facebook I found out that Steve "Trail Runner" Pierce was coming up from Toledo to run this event as well. I was surprised at how many people showed up especially since the temps were pretty cold and we just had a few inches of snow fall the night before. We took a group photo before the run started. Somehow Jess, Steve, and myself happened to be standing right in the front of the group when they announced it was picture time. I tried to duck out of the way since I felt like I was blocking most of the group standing behind me!
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| Lap One! |
The run started and we were stuck in a slow moving group which was fine for me. I was not looking to kill this run or anything like that. Running in the snow is a little tougher then a dry trail and I was just there to have fun. Jess was also ok with the slower pace at the beginning. Steve had too much energy so he darted around most of the group so he could resume his normal faster pace. We settled into a group that had a perfect pace for us. The landscape was really neat looking with all the fresh snow that had fallen. Footing was not too bad for me and there was not really any ice which was a good thing. The traction on Jess's shoes was not that great and she had trouble with footing. After she was done with her one hour run she said goodbye and I kept at it. I wanted to see how many miles I could complete in four hours. Slogging through the snow really starts to wear me out after a few hours and the day was getting tougher. I met a lot of cool people during the remainder of my four hour run. It is good that I was able to meet some local Michigan ultra runners. Most of my ultra running friends live in Ohio. I do not really have anyone up here in Michigan to run with.
When I finished my seventh lap I still had ten or fifteen minutes until my four hours was up. I
decided to call it good at 17.5 miles total. I was ready to be done and go find some hot coffee. I got to meet the two guys that put this event on; Keith and Paul, and they are both really cool down to earth kind of guys. I hung out and talked with Steve and his friend Jessica for awhile. It was a top notch event for being a FA. The guys really went all out to make this a cool event. I would highly recommend it to any of my running friends for 2016. It's a great way to start out the year!
