Rock Creek River Gorge 10.2mi Trail Race

The River Gorge trail run was held March 28th by RockCreek in Chattanooga.  It was my second R/C race, and I was not disappointed.  

I went out Friday night with a friend down to Chattanooga from Nashville.  We arrived at Prentice Cooper Wildlife Management about 8:30pm or so where we were going to camp before the race in the morning.  After driving up the mountain, we entered the pitch black area on a gravel road and were greeted by the thickest fog I've ever driven in.  I could barely see ahead of the vehicle.  After going way down the road to the race start area, we turned around and came back to the interest where we found our elusive campsite.  There, we set up the tent - a Kelty Gunnison 2.1 which I really liked - and fixed some pita pizza for dinner.  We each devoured a couple pitas before preparing for bed.  

Around 4am, the fog and mist turned to a heavy downpour which lasted until about 6:30am or so.  We awoke to very wet conditions.  We gathered our things and headed down to the start to checkin.  There we picked up our notoriously good R/C swag - Marmot wicking T, SmartWool socks, Hammer gel, etc. - along with race numbers.  I ate some oatmeal (too close to start time) and we got situated.  A couple friends from Nashville were also running, so we said hey.  

The race started at 8am.  I wanted to go hard and thought I could go under 1:30 for sure and possibly 1:20, so I positioned myself close to the front for the gun.  The lead pack went out hard, led by my friend.  I knew right away I wasn't going to hang with them, so I settled into a hard and steady rhythm in the middle area between the studs and the main pack.  That is where I stayed the entire race.  I don't remember getting passed and passed several runners throughout the race.

The trail was great.  The entire race was single track except for one short jeep road climb.  There were also many creek crossings, ranging from shoe deep which you could jump over to knee deep and strong current.  Those were invigorating for the lower legs.  The race is also very rolling.  The climbs aren't brutal but they were plenty difficult at a hard pace.  

Never during my marathon or 50k have I wanted to drop out or quit.  My primary goals were to finish and I never doubted that.  This shorter, faster race made me hurt though.  I got abdomen cramps, I was breathing hard, my quads hurt.  It took everything I had mentally to push hard throughout the race.

The last third of the race is tough.  At mile 7 there is a big climb and then you run over fairly easy terrain for a couple miles.  Then you descend into the rock garden which is simply a trail through a rocky drainage area.  You have no choice but to leap rock to rock, risking a sprained ankle.  I tried to go as fast as possible, jumping and running and walking when needed.  That short section then leads into a few rolling miles into the finish which seems to spring out of nowhere.  I finished in 1:25:32, worn out.

I was very happy with that.  I felt like I had run hard and really pushed myself, which is exactly what I wanted.  The time got me 8th place, which made me very happy.  I top it all off, I won a jug of raspberry HammerGel.

After the race, I enjoyed some great BBQ with two friends.  Then it was back to Nashville.

My friend did very well also.  I'm proud of her.  It was a great trip.