Triple Lakes Trail Marathon Race Report!

On Saturday I ran my 10th marathon, the Triple Lakes Trail marathon just north of Greensboro, NC. The course was mostly single track trail over gently rolling hills through woods circling a couple of fake lakes. The scenery and terrain reminded me of Land Between the Lakes, a trail marathon in Kentucky that I did a few years ago, except instead of 6 inches of snow and starting time temps in the teens we had sunny skies with highs in the low 80s by the end of the race. I didn't really mind the warm weather, as this was a "just-for-fun", practice marathon for me. My target race is the North Central Trail Marathon, which is not a technical trail race like this one - North Central is a flat, fast, PR-worthy course. Actually, I set a PR here last year (personal WORST of 4:52) and I hope to PR at the OTHER end of the spectrum this November.

Anyway, back to Triple Lakes - here are the 10 best - or maybe I should say "Most Notable" - things about this race:

10. I was running the marathon and NOT the concurrent 40 mile event.

9. Powerade at all the aid stations was just the right strength. Also, jelly beans at mile 20 totally hit the spot.

8. It was frickin cold at the 8 am start, which actually ended up being an 8:08 start. It took me a good 5 miles to warm up, hands to toes. I knew I'd be hot before long, so I tried to enjoy my shivering and goosebumps.

7. I am not sore at all. At all! As I type this it's been about 34 hours since I finished the race. Of all the marathons I've run, this is the quickest recovery I've ever had. It's taken me longer to recover from some of my training runs! This is good, because I'm supposed to run 22 miles in less than 2 weeks, ideally at 9 min/mile pace.

6. Maybe part of the reason I'm not sore is that the race was DEFINITELY not a full, honest 26.2 miles. I ran most of the race with Robert (more about that below), and around the mid-teen miles we were chatting about how the miles seemed to be passing quickly (they weren't really - our pace was steady, about 10:30 min/mile). I commented that usually it's mile 24 when I think those remaining 2.2 miles - which in any other situation are nothing at all - seem so daunting and painful. Robert reminded me of this comment when we passed the mile 24 marker, though we were both feeling good and not pushing hard, so 2.2 miles sounded fine. So imagine our surprise when less than 10 minutes later...it's the finish line! We heard cheering as we came out of the woods, and I thought it was one of those cruel tricks where they make you run near the finish line when you actually still have >1 mile left. But no. We emerged from the woods, ran around this little pond next to an open field, then followed flags up through the field where the spectator-lined finish line was right there, about 50 ft in front of us. People were cheering, the clock was ticking around 4:35 (my watch was around 4:28 at mile 24), and Robert and I were totally confused. So we STOPPED, right in front of the finish line and asked each other "did we miss a turn"? Robert was wearing his GPS, which said we only ran a bit over 24, and he wanted to go back to see if we accidentally cut the course. If I had been by myself, I probably would've just finished, but I agreed, and we turned around and cut back over to the part of the course before the pond loop. The spectators stopped cheering and were probably wondering "what the hell?!" But we saw all these other runners that we had passed earlier running the same way we had. We checked the arrow signs, tried to find race volunteers, but we just came across more spectators who told us we were going the right way - out of the woods and around the pond. So, we ran that portion of the course again and finished ~4:42. After the finish we asked race volunteers and other runners about the shortened course, and everyone just kind of shrugged their shoulders. No one else had seen mile 25 or 26, but no one else really cared. So the one marathon when I'm feeling strong and ready to take on those final 2.2...they're not there! Oh well. Okay, enough of #6. On to...

5. Beautiful lake-side scenery! This is only mid-way down the list because you had to spend more time looking at the ground to avoid tripping. Which brings me to...

4. I didn't fall or bleed! Though I guess I wouldn't have minded the latter because it's considered a badge of honor among trail runners. I saw plenty of other runners who did both, including one guy who scared a bunch of us when we came across him lying on the ground with blood all over his face. But it was near an aid station, and help showed up quickly (and he assured us he was fine).

3. There was a Krispy Creme shop only 5 miles from the race, right on the way back home! Boy, did a post-run glazed donut and bottle of milk hit the spot.



2. The AWESOMEST race shirt EVER! The finishers medal had the same design:



And the best thing about this race...

1. Running miles ~11-finish with fellow Godivan Robert Moody - thanks for the company, Robert! It totally made the miles fly by. Robert was also using this race as a practice marathon. His target event - Richmond marathon - is coming up even sooner than mine (his is Nov. 13, mine is Nov. 27). I think we'll both be ready!

All in all, this was a good race and I would run it again, especially given its proximity to Durham. I'm still a little dissatisfied about the shorten course, but at least I wasn't one of the two guys who I overheard at the beginning of the race telling each other that it was their first marathon!