This morning as I woke up, I crawled out of bed as my body is killing me. I am very sore. I have not ever felt like this before. I hurt from my toenails to my hair on my head. I forgot how much torture your body goes through when running trail races. Rocks, gravel, roots, jumping small trees. It all takes the toll on your body when your done. But hey, it is fun.
I arrived with my wife at the forest around 6 a.m. to start putting things out and there was one runner who started before I got there. It was cold and windy. The wind was coming across the lake and I thought it was going to change to snow but it didn't. As we were trying to prepare the bags and goodies, runners were starting to pile in. This was great because we were not sure how people were going to show up. When the race started 5 years ago, there were only 5 runners. This year we had an all time high of 90 runners. Thank you for all who came out.
We had some changes in the course this year due to changes in the forest. Normally we had a figure 8 course but this year we had some small changes. For a 1st time runner at Bartram, it is a little confusing. It has taking me about 2 or 3 times before I have finally gotten comfortable with the course. We had some runners saying that they had gotten lost and that is normal. We are going to try and fix this problem next year with more signs and ropes. But one problem I can't fix is that we were told that some runners were cutting corners and making their race short. I told them that is between them and God. I can't do anything about that and they were NOT going to place in any awards. If we had to, I would look at their Garmin to see the total distance, but we did not have to do it.
I would like to thank all the volunteers who showed up yesterday. We could not have done it without yall. Their were so many that I can not thank everyone personally. Whether you brought something for us to eat, helped out in cooking and cleaning, sat at one of the aid stations to help with food/drinks, thank you to everyone. Yall are awesome and races could not go on without yall.
Today is going to be a day of rest and thinking of how the race could improve next year. I truly hope that everyone is o.k. this morning cause I know there were some that fell and twisted some ankles. Bartram Forest is a technical, off road course that will get you off your feet if you are not looking. Once again thank you to all who came out to help us with keeping the race going this year.
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