NEO Trail Club

Tough event. The Trail sections are AWESOME and the road sections SUCK. Anymore I am like a broken record. But what can I say; I love single track and anything wide enough for a vehicle seems to drain my spirit in a run. Rocky and Technical gets me excited. Gravel and pavement bring me down.

Great weekend hanging with Bob Combs, Moose Novicky, and Rich Vrboncic. Felt like a junior high kid sneaking away to be an idiot. Got to see lots of the VHTRC alumni, met some new people, and overall it was just a great ultra weekend.

As far as the race, with Laurel the weekend before, I wasn't really expecting much. Felt good on the first big climb and started to pass people. Next was a big downhill and I was passing more people. Then with my head down chasing, I followed a half dozen runners off course and added a good 20 minutes to my time. Was fun passing lots of people back for a 2nd time. Most were surprised to see me again. Was able to crank out some good miles on the 2nd half of the course and just kept picking off people one at a time. Finished really feeling the heat and humidity, but felt strong the whole way and probably could have pushed a bit more.

The finish venue is very nice. Was able to sit in the pool and still watch finishers cross the hill and head down to the chute. Lots of little things that I could critique, but overall I see myself going back again for this event.