Last Friday was another great,
crazy night at the Snyder Home. We had
more company than usual, this time from the Northeast Corner of Oklahoma and
from Tulsa. Matt, Chandler and Kyler, my
cousin, were three of the new guests, along with the normal crew of Kasey,
Aaron O, and Jordo. We ate an amazing
spaghetti dinner prepared by my wife Kristin Jo. We then headed out to the Snyder Rock Gym and
started climbing and watching Sam Young show us how to climb! We wore ourselves out climbing and finished
the 4th quarter with KD scoring 54 points!
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| Top of Winding Stair - (Pics - Jed Kirby) |
My father-in-law had come down to
watch the little ones and he looked on as Aaron and I mixed our bottles, and Kasey and I traded our Gels and Shot
Blocks. I looked up at him and he had
this crazy look on his face like, “What in the world are these guys
doing?” One of the joys of us all
hanging out before the race is us trading stories, training, clothing, and
always Strava GPS info!
We had an early start as always and
a full car this go around. Two weeks before at ABF Marathon, Aaron forgot
his GPS watch and iPod and this week he left his sports drinks in the
fridge. So I had Kyler put them in his
bag and off we went. I saw Aaron turn
around and I called him and he said, “I forgot my bottles,” and he was freaking
out. I told him I had them and he was
mad. Stihl ask what he said and I told Stihl
that I couldn’t repeat it! Always good
laughs it seems when you get me and Aaron together!
The course is a double out and
back, head west and then back, then east then back. My dad was running the Aid
Station at the top of Winding Stair Mountain, Chandler was running from Winding
Stair to the start of the race, Stihl was running to the top of Winding Stair. So trying to figure the logistics of people
in places at the right time was fun planning!
Tom Brennan has been racing for
years and he knows how to put on the best races! Keep them cheap, give swag, beer, and find
the crazy hard courses that will challenge you beyond your limits! He had been cleaning on the trail for many
weekends and for that Tom, I thank you so much!
I put in time on the trails and I truly appreciate your hard work on the
trails, almost more than putting the race on!
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| My dad working the Top Aid Station (Pics by Jed Kirby) |
We pulled into Pushubee Trail head
and the sun was just rising. I found a
great place to take a dig and watch the sunrise and Kasey thought that was pretty
funny so had to post it. Sorry if you
got a bad image of that! We took off at
8am and I had been pumped about this race because Justin Franklin had been
posting some crazy fast times and he had won a couple races coming into the
race. Add to that, Tom Brennan running the race this year as
well, and a long course you never know what is going to happen out there! I jumped out in the front at a pace that felt
a little slower than last year. Ran
through the Big Cedar Trail head aid station and Franklin stopped and ran down
to the first creek crossing. I crossed
this last year dry, but that wasn’t going to happen this year so I busted into
the cold water. I dropped them somehow
at the creek and used this time to talk to God for the next 2 miles. I couldn’t help but think of His wonder as I
ran past one of the most beautiful places on the Ouachita Trail with a creek
below. Then I came upon one of my
favorite places on the Trail, the massive Rock Glacier that makes you feel like
you are in Jackson Hole, WY and makes me think of God’s mystery and creativity!
Franklin had caught me at this point and was amazed also. We stopped and looked up and then down the
glacier.
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| Franklin and I at the Top |
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| Kristin my Beautiful Wife |
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| Stihl 9-year-old Son at the Top |
This
would end the gazing as we pressed the pace up the mountain and dropped Tom in
this next mile stretch. I knew Tom
wouldn’t be far behind and figured he would catch us by the bottom of the
mountain with his downhill speed. Great
to see my dad for all of 5 seconds at the top of the mountain as I turned to
head back down the hill looking at the amazing view one last time as we were at
the highest point of the entire OT. Then
I would soon see Tom and a crew of people behind him. It was great seeing so many runners coming
out to run, walk or crawl up the mountains.
Shortly I saw my wife and surprisingly, my 9 year-old son was with
her. She said he was doing awesome and I
gave him a high five! I was so proud of him that he had made it this far into
the race! I dropped a Gu and Franklin
would pass me and start dropping the hammer but it was all downhill so I didn’t
think much about it and was glad to finally get a little bit of uphill to
relief the pressure of my quads. We
would go through the next aid station and into a very hilly next 3 miles to the
28k mark. Franklin really pressed down
in this area. I felt it was easy but
hard at the same time, so I eased up on hill climbs. Getting to the aid station was nice, but
difficult because it would have been nice to call it a day right then! As we
headed out I grabbed many gels and a new bottle. I was hot, and this is when I notice Franklin
pulled his shirt off and I took my gloves off!
Yes I took my gloves off; this is a sign for me that I will never run
well if the gloves are off in a long distance race! I then began feeling upset at my stomach as we
started climbing a big climb and I watched as Franklin disappeared into the mountains. I then remembered back to last year and
remembered how this climb was so hard. I
tried to keep a good effort up and finally stopped to try to relieve some
stomach issues and nothing, but my heart rate came down and I started feeling
better so I started running again. At
this point in the race, on top of the east mountain, it is so rocky and very
difficult to run. Walking it is
difficult also, so I figured I would try to run as much as I could. Soon enough I see Franklin on a rock so I
check on him and then head down the mountain feeling better and better with
every downhill step! I then head onto
the new course and the change of dirt road as my feet say, “oh yeah!” I then feel my muscles say “oh yeah,” as I
crossed the Kiamichi River which was really astonishing.
Tatur Aid station is the best! Loud
music, great food and Brian Hoover ask “You want a daiquiri?” I did want one, but mainly I just wanted to set
there. But it was a race, and I was in 1st
place! Brian you’re the best! Crossing
the river the second time my toes were very cold, but it felt great and it was
great running the road again. I then saw
a dog in the distance and Tom coming around the corner. He and his dog Penny weren’t far behind. He said, “Now is the time to go for a
sub-5-hour run!” I was thinking
yeah! Then I hit the next climb and was
thinking yes, but my body was thinking no! But I pressed on with what I felt
like was a good pace. Another climb up
the hill until where that darn top is so rocky!
Crazy thing is, if you were hiking you have a great view of a mountain
to your North and to your South that you could really enjoy. But with racing you are glued to staring at
the trail in front of you so you don’t trip and fall on your face! I continued to get over the rock null and
down the backside, but I was out of liquids and asking another 50k guy for a
drink! He said I need credit for helping
you, I should have said, “I just lightened your load and helped you! But he did help me so much. So thank you random 50k brother! I then ran pretty well down the mountain and
hit the last flat section and picked up the pace as I came to the last dry
rocky creek crossings and the last little climb to the top.
I heard a yell and I fought to hold
in the tears as I remembered running last year with my favorite running buddy,
Jesse my 8lbs Toy Fox Terrier. She
finished the full 50k! She was amazing dog. She unfortunately was hit by a car this fall. I know she would have run again with me this
year and she would have torn the trail up again! I will never forget her
running so many miles with me, but especially at 2013 Ouachita
Switchbacks!
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| Finish Line |
Would love to break 5 hours on this
crazy hard course but will need some more training and need a colder day!
1st Place & Course
Record 5:17
(Sorry I didn’t give me course description)
http://ouachitaswitchbacks.blogspot.com/2012/10/course-description.html
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