Perpetual Motion Race Recap.

It has been quite some time since I have recapped a race, yes?! With the PanDEMI Moore and such going on I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus on large crowds and races etc. So I decided I wanted my fall/winter race experience to be a bit more “mom and pop” intimate.

A friend of mine who is a race director told me about her race and after looking at the signup fees I decided this was going to be my choice! I simply wanted to close the year out with some fun miles, and time on my feet while rocking out to my jams.

In terms of training I put in a 20 miler as well as a few other longer runs – so I knew I could put in the distance. My concern mostly was “can my attention span hold long enough to keep going for 6 hours” on a little over a .5 mile loop. I didn’t read the details actually and thought the loop was a little OVER a mile. Once I arrived I saw the tiny circle and had to adjust my expectations a bit.

This particular race also includes a 12 hour and a 24 hour distance. So my plan really was to check out the 6 hour and if I liked this race enough I would return in some capacity to run something longer. The 6 hour folks lined up and the gun went off right at noon. The 12 and 24 hour peeps started in the morning so they were already off to the races.

I started off with a pretty conservative pace but knew it would be a run/shuffle event especially with the humidity and it was a WARM Texas day. Temps soared to close to the 80s and with no cloud cover I got a tad sun burned in the sun! It was funny the temperature conditions reminded me of our beach weather when I was in Florida.

I did enjoy the crowd though as it was a lot of peeps there that I’ve known being in the DFW runner community for so long. It was folks of all ages out there and a lot of “Marathon Maniacs” (a group I was a part of before I stopped paying fees HAHA) and ultra runners that I know and love. So we talked about running and such while we kept trucking along.

After 3 hours passed the whole race goes COUNTER CLOCKWISE which absolutely helps with this short boring loop! After the 3 hour mark I will admit my boredom set in…so with the change up it kind of keeps things a tad interesting. The race volunteers were so great as well, keeping us stocked with snacks and cold refreshments. That part of the run very much made it feel like the trail race community.

Trail races are really good at taking care of the runners needs especially running the ultra distance. That is also another thing I love about intimate races (as someone who has done the HUGE ones and the mom and pop ones)

At the end I got over the marathon distance which I was thrilled about!! Even with all of the power hiking/shuffling/running I wasn’t sure I would make it but my determination and grit made it happen. I also had a podium finish (3rd female overall) which I was so pleased about. Got a fun pretty glass award AND a medal.

Overall I was happy I chose this race and so happy to get in my mini ULTRA. Haha. I would absolutely go back for this race simply due to awesome volunteers, great swag and small race feel.

I’ve signed up for the 50 miler for 2022 – my 7th 50 miler – so I will be keeping things going with my running and of course teaching all of my classes at the gym.

Cheers and happy racing to you all who will be closing out the year as well with some race fun.

When is the last time you have podium finished a race (let’s celebrate you too)?! Running any races soon?