Up early and out the door for my 2nd annual running of the Cross Timbers 25 mile race at Lake Texoma. After a quick stop at Whataburger for a egg, bacon and cheese taquito and a large coffee, I’m off for the day’s adventure. It takes a bit longer than I remember to get to the Cedar Bayou pavilion, the site of the race start/finish, but I am there in plenty of time to help with the process of checking in runners who did not make the pre-race pasta dinner on Friday night.
After a quick visit with Race Director Tony Bridwell and wife, we get busy. With the addition of the ½ marathon and 5 mile race to the normal fare of 25 miler and 50 miler, there is a lot of race morning traffic. Kasey, Tony’s daughter shows up with a very nasty drawing of the Grim Reaper, indicating what may be to come for the runners! Tony explains that he has added a courtesy loop at the turnaround point of the 5 mile race (but 50 milers and 25 milers get to use it too!) that will keep the runners from turning back on themselves and "bunching up" too much. After getting the 50 milers started at 6:30, he admits that he couldn’t resist adding the SOB hill in at the turnaround, the real reason I believe he added the loop. Should be an interesting surprise for the 5 mile entrants who are in their first trail race ever! Sounds like Tony is going to put that liability waiver to the test!
Anyway, after getting most everyone checked in, I proceeded to get shoes/gaitors, additional mix for my Cytomax bottle, etc all ready for the 7 am start of the ½ marathon and 25 mile event. Tony issued the usual warnings about not taking the Lost Loop (easy to get on, but near impossible to get off!), the rugged trail, etc., and we’re off. Good running and good company for the first few miles out to aid station 1. It’s always interesting to hear comments from the newbies that are running their first trail run (lots of them in the ½ marathon)…wow, this is narrow, gosh, this is hill is gonna be tough when we come back up it, and so on….
The field quickly spread out and I find myself running alone. It is a very nice day, with temps ranging from upper 50’s to low 70’s and the sky cleared earlier than it was supposed to. We enjoyed a nice, gentle breeze all day, especially when near the water, that was very refreshing. I breeze into the aid station at Paw Paw Point, the turnaround for the ½ marathoners and replenish my bottles. Out to the end of the line at Rock Creek Camp and I learn that I am running in 6th place! Back through Paw Paw Point and I’m feeling great. Wow, it’s almost 10 am and I’m really enjoying this trail, winding through the rocks and the trees with the occasional dogwood tree in full bloom…it just doesn’t get much better.
I pull into the SF area at mile 20 and stop for a cool Ensure and to empty my left shoe of trail debris. It seems the rough trails have chewed through the underfoot portion of my gaitor and I have accumulated quite a collection! Oh well, off with the gaitors, a quick refill of my bottles and a banana. Oh no, two runners (a husband/wife duo) catch me in the SF area and blow right through! I just dropped to 8th! But wait, I see Matt Crownover in with his sandals on…could he be already finished??? No, he explains that he had built an 8 minute cushion on the 2nd place runner before getting thoroughly lost! He promised more details to come…
I must pull out of the SF area, now in 7th place (thanks Matt, for giving up a place for me) and kind of flat. It seems that although I was just running this as a training run, I really cared about a good performance. I was a bit ahead of last year’s pace and knew that if the last 5 miles didn’t turn into a death march, I would better my time. Up, down, repeat for the 2 ½ miles out to Juniper Point. Wow, the lake is gorgeous and the views are breathtaking! I am running completely alone and before I know it, it’s up SOB Hill and into the turnaround area at Juniper Point. What’s this, here’s a runner that looks pretty beat and a little confused. He jumped in behind me and we took off only to realize that the couple that passed me at the SF area just pulled out of the turnaround a few seconds ahead of us.
I had fueled pretty well at the SF area, mile 20, and didn’t need anything from the Juniper Point aid station. After a wave, my new partner and I push hard out of the station. A few turns later and we have connected with the couple. A few more turns, ups and downs and I hear, just let us know if you want by (the trails are quite narrow and hazardous in places). I say thanks, but I’m enjoying "drafting" off them. We all laugh a bit and visit a bit, then we hit a pretty flat strait-away and I say "this will do", so they pull over and let me by. My tired friend comes with me and we pull away. Now, I’m running in 4th place and feeling great! My new friend says that he doesn’t think the couple can stay with us if we keep up this pace.
Two miles later, we are running well and I am beginning to wonder if we are going to have to fight it out for the finish. I am beginning to develop a strategy to pick up the pace and WHAM, my ankle rolls and I almost go completely down on the trail. I recover my balance, but feel a lot of pain from my right ankle and am not able to put any weight on it for a few steps. My new friend slows, but I assure him that I am OK and to go on. He does and I walk it off while I survey the damage. It seems to be recovering quickly and I am less than ½ mile from the finish. Finally, after about 50 yards, I am able to resume a slow run, then feeling better, am able to pick up the pace. Too late to make a race of it, so I am happy to end in 5th place overall in the 25 miler. In addition to what I feel is a well run race, I have shaved 25 minutes off my time from last year.
I would like to add that that Tony Bridwell and the team of volunteers did a fantastic job. Considering the fact that the race date was changed at the last minute to April 3rd after being run for 22 consecutive years on the 3rd weekend of April, there was a very good turnout. The Hill Country Trail Runners Extreme (HTRex) really jumped in to help out with the last minute changes to team up with Tony to make it a great race. I, for one, really appreciate Tony’s flexibility in moving the race so as not to conflict with Grasslands, another great race. I would like to have seen better support from NTTR, given this race is in our back yard. As far as I know, there were only 4 of our club at the race. There is no reason we cannot provide more runners and volunteers for this fantastic event at this awesome location!