I won! I had to be talked into doing the race and I actually won it! haha!
My first Winter Wolf Run is in the books. Brief race report with pics....
Okay, so it wasn't really a trail race like I was led to believe. Probably less than a mile was on trails. Thank goodness too, cuz that short section was hard! I was right behind Matt until that point and then he had an easier time through the snow and took off on me. I never caught back up.
Running at night with the Yak Trax on pure ice and a head lamp for vision was just fine! I wasn't scared at all, could see well enough and the Yak Trax let me run fast and with confidence on the ice. I was very impressed with the Yak Trax. They even did fine on the sections of asphalt. I know you're not supposed to wear them on asphalt, but I wasn't about to take them on and off, on and off, in the middle of a race.
The river crossing was scary! They built an unsteady, double plank bridge over it. It was only about 10-15 feet across, but when you're as scared of heights as I am, that's a huge distance. The creek was down in this valley with very steep sides. It was a steep, snowy descent down to it and quite a climb back up on the other side. My hams were aching for about a half mile after that climb!
The vast majority of the 15 miles was on iced-over dirt roads or two-track, so that part was mostly easy going. Had chicky noodle soup with lots of saltines at the end. Chili was also available but had way too many evil tomatoes in it for my taste. No coffee though. What's wrong with people!? ;-)
After warming up a bit and waiting for other racers to finish, the awards began. Pics of my award, my hubby's award (he won his age group) and other random photos below!
Receiving Overall Female award. Nice shot of overloaded trash can there too. heh
My award is transparent.
A slightly better photo of the award at home. Hard to get good shots of transparent things!
It lights up!!!!
Matty and his original award. He traded it later for...
This is the award Matty traded for.
Pre race all geared up and ready to run! Proof Matty wears shorts in the winter. Goof. The other man in the photo is Dennis, a fellow member of RUT (Running Fit's Ultramarathon Team) which we just joined. Just met a bunch of the members last night.
Mmmm... post race chicky noodle. I was still shivering even after the soup.
Congratulations to you on winning the race. The award looks awesome lit up in the dark.
ReplyDeleteHi there, and congratulations on winning the Winter Wolf! We found your blog searching for info on the race. I know you did the whole 15 miles, but do you by any chance remember how long the relay legs were? A few friends and I are wanting to do the race this year but we can't find any info on how long each leg is. We did the Witchy Wolf in September but that one was slightly longer and divided differently. Anyway, I thought I would check to see if you could help us out. Thanks for the review of the race-it gives me a little more of an idea of what to expect. :)
ReplyDeleteHi there, Vanderklok Family. I couldn't find a way to email you, so I hope you check back here! You're right, there is little info on the Winter Wolf website concerning the relay. It only says that it is a two-person relay. My husband says he remembers the relay hand-off being about halfway, right where the river crosses the main road (Grove Street). You can see the river crossing on the map on the Winter Wolf page (link is provided in my write-up above). Hope that helps! :-)
ReplyDelete