Well this weekend delivered a big time adventure! The Skunk Ape 30k night run in the Green Swamp. The means 18-ishhhh miles of Florida trails – In. The. Dark. – with about a hundred other crazy humans!
As an experienced road runner, I was somewhat suckered into this by my local trail running group, the O-Town Blazers. A few of us psychopaths toed the line to take on this challenge at 7pm-ishhhh Saturday night. While I’ve run trails here and there, I was very underprepared for what this evening would bring!
But, the O-Town Blazers are truly amazing people, and thankfully our fearless leader Lovelyn stuck by us back of the packers to see us to the end. I truly don’t think I could’ve finished this race without her!
The scenery was pretty beautiful, at least until night fall. After that the most striking views were those of the sparkling spider eyes all along the trail 😂
There were things that went thud in the dark, delirious sugar high conversations, grass and water up to our knees, hog ruts, and armadillos the size of Texas out there. All in all, terrifying, but a total blast!! Would I do it again? Absolutely!!!
Take aways: TRAIN for the distance. Get a MUCH brighter headlamp. Face your fears!
Stats- Finish time was 5:05:43 – 96th of 100 finishers. 108 signed up with 8 that either DNS or DNF. This leaves quite a bit of improvement for next time! 😄
Determined to Tri AND Run 