Sawnee Mountain
nice tech shirt
Last Saturday I had my second Dirty Spokes Trail race. We were in Cumming, GA at the Sawnee Mountain Nature Preserve. I was immediately impressed with the new visitor’s center. Everything still seems so fresh and new. My buddy, Jason, and I got there a little late to take advantage of the small parking area so we were directed down the street to park in a cow pasture. I dropped the TL into 4-wheel drive, splashed through a couple of pillow-sized cow patties and got us parked.
We walked over to the visitor’s center and got checked in. The Dirty Spokes series of trail races are so well run. As I mentioned, this was only my second one, but, once again, I was impressed. We not only got a quality technical shirt again, but also got our timing ankle strap to ensure quick results after the race.
Jason and I jogged around for a mile to get warmed up and then took our spots at the start. This being the last race in the series, there seemed to be a bit larger crowd than normal. The race was supposed to be 3.5 miles. The first 2+ up Sawnee Mountain and the remaining back down on a different trail. I wasn’t necessarily excited about the uphill portion of the race. I couldn’t keep my mind from flashing back to the Boling Park trail run and the steep inclines that had me walking and on the verge of puking. However, I was excited to get going because Jason and I had been putting in the work on the road and the track lately and I felt stronger than before.
At the start, we did a lap around the small parking lot to get a bit of spacing before we headed into the woods. The trail up the hill was double-wide so you could pass folks if necessary. I felt strong early on and was steadily making my way up the hill. After about a mile, Jason was long gone ahead of me, but another friend of mine, Freddie, was nearby. We were struggling up the hills making decent time. About 1.6 miles in, Freddie asked how much farther we had until the top. Another guy nearby said we were getting close, but the worst was still ahead. Great. Thanks pal. At about 1.9/2 miles, I couldn’t handle it anymore and stopped to walk a couple times. It was so steep and my calves and thighs were burning. I’m a wuss. What can I say? A bunch of the guys around me were walking too. We would pass each other over and over as one guy would start walking and another would stop walking. Freddie pulled ahead of me at this point, but I thought I could possibly catch him on the downhill.
At the top I was actually concerned I wouldn’t be able to run the downhill. My calves were like jelly. After a couple minutes though, they chilled out and I was able to start chugging down the mountain. The problem was that the trail down was so steep that you actually were out of control in a couple of places. Everyone was forced to go down about the same pace: breakneck speed. I passed a few people, but never could catch Freddie. He ran a great race. That P90X stuff must really be working!
I finished in 29:29 and the course measured 3.28 according to my Garmin. I was kind of disappointed in the race. I did better than Boling Park, but I hate the fact that I stopped to walk again. Jason and I checked our times and I was surprised to see that I finished 3rd in my age group. Sweet! Jason finished in 26-something and 2nd in his age group. We hung around and got our little Dirty Spokes medals. The overall winner was in 21-something and was the same guy who won the Woodstock Freedom Run in 15-something.
3rd place 35-39 age group
I really enjoy the trail runs even though both of them have kicked my butt (I was sore until Wednesday evening probably). I vow to run more of the races in the series next year and maybe even finish top-3 in the season ending overall point standings. This year by just running two events (7th place & 3rd place), I finished 4th in the overall point standings.
- Official Results (don’t know why they have me at 30:00. That’s not correct. Everyone’s time was inflated in their results.)
- Garmin stats
- Photos of me (courtesy of Defiant Photography): #1, #2, #3
This Saturday I’ll be at Cherokee High School for the Etowah River Run. A notoriously fast course, I’m hoping to really put down a good time. We’ll see…
I think I was the guy making the comment at mile 1.6. Did you run boling park too? I think I ran near you at the end of that race also. I was they guy who was making sure you were not in my age group at that race.
Matt: LOL. That’s so funny. Yeah, I was running Sawnee Mtn thinking that I’m pretty sure I was following the same guy that I followed around Boling Park. So, now, not only was it the same guy, but he also read my blog post. Crazy. Good run! You were right, the hill did get worse.
By the way, was your time a bit off from the official time as well? Hope to see you at some future races. I really like the Dirty Spokes runs and I think I’m going to try to do more of them next season.
Tony,
I like your blog. Quite a goal you have set for yourself. …and I thought my running hobby was expensive! I had my time as 29:09 so I think it was off by a good 30 seconds. Congrats on the 3rd place.
I know it looks like your year is full but check out http://www.christianrunners.org/frogtown/ -its one sweet killer race. And if you want to race me on labor day for a 5k… http://hideandseekdaycamp.net/news/index.php?id=1043186474426338261 .
I’d like to try to do the whole Dirty Spokes series next year. We were just too busy this year. Too bad, I think I could have placed and my son Could have taken 1st. A couple of us at work are planning to fly our to Big Sur Next May to run the marathon on the coast. Hope my knees last.
Hope to see you at some more races.
Matt: It’s definitely expensive, but still cheaper than golf and better for me. Both of those races look awesome. I really wanted to do the Frogtown race, but my wife and I are running the 13.1 Atlanta on 10/3. The Hickory Flat race looks good too (and right down the street from my house), but I’m doing the U.S. 10K Classic. So many races, so little time… Good luck in getting everything together for Big Sur. That sounds incredible.
Hey Tony, me again. My son and I passed you on the trail tonight at Sequoyah Park.
Hope your running is going well…
Hey Matt. I thought that was you. I had first just noticed it was someone with the same shirt on as me, but then, after you passed, I realized it was you. I run that trail a couple times a week during my son’s football practice. Easy way to get some miles in and kill some time. My running’s going great. I’ve cut back on the races as I get closer to my marathon, but everything is going well. Hope all is well with you.