Friday, June 1, 2007

Quicksand Warning

While searching for a new adventure back in March I came across a 50k Ultra in Aiken, SC. Once I realized the sign up fee was only $10 I signed up and the planning began. With a fee that low it would offer no race shirt and no medals. Perfect… I don’t care to have another cotton race shirt but would like a medal.

Anyway, with the help of my brother-in-law we designed our own running shirt and my girlfriends and I will wear them on Sunday at the race. How cool is that?!



So yesterday I received an email from a fellow runner who ran the loop of the race course on Monday. This was his report of it....


Robin,
BTW – I ran out at Hitchcock this past Monday. If you haven’t run there before, be prepared for sand: soft, beach-like sand and lots of it. There are even quicksand warning signs. Seriously.
Put it this way: Any thoughts I had about an aggressive time went by the wayside during my reconnaissance run. Hitchcock is essentially rolling terrain with a few decent hills, nothing too crazy. You’ve run Black Mountain so this should not phase you. The thing that makes these trails tough is the soft sand, which covered most of what we ran, including the hills. Our feet hurt after an hour on trails that, according to Terri, are part of the loop she has created. It was also very dry there. Running kicked up dust. Horses kicked up a whole LOT of dust.
That being said, it is a very lovely area and most of the trails are under the canopy. And we don’t run ultras to be comfortable, do we? So I’m looking forward to a tough but rewarding day for yes, my first ultra.
Oh yeah, and the website is 100% accurate about restrooms. There are NONE.
See you there,
Dean


This is going to be a great adventure indeed. Without it life would be boring ...right?!!!


Happy Running.


Robin





12 comments:

Scott said...

Uh...yeah....I think I will wait for you at the finish line.

QUICKSAND ! ! ! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

David said...

Sweet shirt! I guess you are going to start looking down on us 5k and 10k-ers now, huh? Elitest snob! :-p

Have a great race and stay safe. Maybe you should put one of those really long bicycle safety flags on your waist in case you start going into the sand?

Wes said...

Cool shirt :-) I can't imagine having to run through sand. That's tough on the lower extremeties! I'm with Scott. I think I'd wait for ya at the finish line with a beer ;-)

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Love da Shirt Robin!!!!

Ahhhh the cool sand between my toes, a beautiful full moon evening beach walk with a glass of wine and my girl on my side...(oooops) I was reminiscing a little bit, saawy:-)

I run the beaches and the SOFT sand parts are a bit of a pain in the butt...nice challenging event! WAY to GO!!

Mendy said...

Robin! Have sooo much fun out there. Good luck to you and the rest of the ladies!

Just think sunday afternoon, you will be an "Ultra" girl, not just a Marathon girl... (not that that is a bad thing, :-)

Love the shirts, pretty funny! I think David's safety flag idea is hilarious. Can you imagine.

Stay away from the sinking sand! and I'll talk to you by the end of the weekend to see how it went.

Unknown said...

that is one cool shirt. have fun at hitchcock. you'll do great.

Marcy said...

ROFLMAO! I love how the e-mail starts out talking about quicksand and throwing out any thoughts of having an aggressive time and then ends with "it is a very lovely area" Actually it does kind of sound like fun (does that make me crazy too? LOL JK!)

That shirt kicks ass!! Love it!!! Maybe one day I'll be crazy enough to wear one LOL

I can't wait to hear about this run!! Sounds like an adventure for sure!

Gretchen said...

Wow, sounds like a tough one, good for you! Like the shirt too. Can't wait to hear your race report, I'm sure you'll do awesome. Have fun!

Unknown said...

Quicksand? Quicksand??!! Damn, as if running 50k wern't a challange or anything.

That shirt is awesome. If I ever dream up a race, I want you to come up with the race shirt.

Good luck on Sunday.

Jason The Running Man said...

Robin - Have a great race and be safe! Love the shirt! You are a running fool! Good luck with the quicksand!

Randy - Maniac #788 said...

Sounds like it will be an interesting and unique challenge, one that I'm sure you are up for.

The shirt looks very cool too....

Good luck on the run.

Stephanie said...

Running in sand? OUCH!!!!!!!

Love the logo!