Did anyone see the Terrapin chasing them?

Apparently, the Terrapin showed itself this year (a rare appearance) but this report might be similar to many Bigfoot sightings...:)

Aaron Mulder Terrapin 50k Race Report

So of my extensive experience of three, I think this was far and away the hardest 50K I've done.  According to Web sites, it's actually got less elevation change than the HAT Run (7560' vs. 9800').  However, the catch is, it happens all at once.

OK, maybe not once, more like two huge and two little bits (or perhaps, two giant bits and two huge bits).  But I'll get to that.

This time, there wasn't anyone I was particularly close to during the race.  I passed and was passed, but not by the same folks.  So it's more of a terrain report, I guess.  But I was hoping to come in under

5 hours, and I wasn't sure if that was realistic... I figured I'd give it a shot.  It was a nice day for it, in the low 50s, though the fog visible on the mountains was a little ominous.

Anyway, the race started with a short road section (in company with the half marathon runners), turning onto a gravel road, which eventually turned into more of a dirt/rock road (all uphill, though more steeply as we went).  That got annoying fast -- largely because it was *really* foggy, and my glasses kept fogging up, and it was hard to actually improve things by wiping them.  But it was a tough time, with lots of big and little rocks in the trail.  Other than the fog, it reminded me a lot of parts of the Arkansas Traveller, and I didn't look forward to going back down it (I was anticipating a steep downhill through rocks and fog).

Finally we crossed a big stream and got to just plain trail, and that was nice -- we got out of the fog a bit too.  Though it was still all uphill.  I was walking bits within the first 4 miles, which I'm not used to.  And I was passed by an aggressive race-walker, who I never saw again (I'm not totally sure he wasn't a half-marathoner, though I didn't think so for some reason).  Still, I was feeling pretty good about my position when I got to Camping Gap (the first aid station, which we'd also return to).  This ended the 4 mile (!) uphill, at about 2/3 of the maximum elevation for the day, and it's where the half marathon split off.  And hey, they had Rice Krispie Treats!

Awesome!  So then, the 50K went off on a hugely steep downhill.  I had been sooo looking forward to a downhill!

Mistake.  The first problem was, it was a really steep downhill.  In fact, it felt steeper down than up, though I guess it probably couldn't have been.  The nice part was that it was on a gravel road, so at least a (comparatively) smooth surface.  Though after a mile or so my legs started feeling a bit heavy, and I decided this wasn't going to be any better than the uphill.  It didn't help when I heard footsteps behind me, and a swarm of folks were running pretty hard down from that aid station.  One just shot by; most of the rest stayed close behind for the moment.  I guess that means I sped up a little.

Sigh.  Two miles into this, I was really wishing for some uphill again!

After maybe three miles, it leveled out for a second and there was even a momentary uphill.  My upper legs felt totally numb!  Uh-oh.

Then it went downhill again and I just resigned myself to it.  I skipped past the next aid station at a little over 7 miles, since I wasn't drinking much on the high-speed descent, and it was only a little over 2 to the next one.  Fortunately it wasn't as steeply down after that, but unfortunately that meant a couple of the lurkers passed me.  Oh, well.

Pulling into the 9.4 mile station after 4 miles of straight uphill and

5 miles of straight downhill, there were a bunch of spectators cheering people in.  I was a little bummed because it was the only one with crew access and I didn't think Erin was going to be there (I forgot to print directions to it and I knew she'd need to get Caelan breakfast and so on).  So I pulled up to the aid table, and imagine my surprise when I noticed Erin and Caelan there!  Woo-hoo!  That picked me up.  When I looked at my watch, I found I was ahead of my best-case time, which didn't seem right.  I guess that downhill went *really* fast.  (Looking at the results, I averaged, get ready for this, 6:13 per mile for that 5.3 mile segment.)  Heading out of the station, I was pleased to see it went right into a little uphill, so I didn't feel too bad walking while I sucked down a gel.  I think I did get passed, though.

This segment started out with uphill on gravel road, and eventually turned off to be uphill trail.  The trail section had some scary parts

-- very narrow trail (like, 8 inches!), just barely etched out of the steep mountainside, and in parts, covered with wet leaves.  I felt like if you slipped, you'd be going a very long way down.  Fortunately those sections didn't last TOO long, but there was nothing like that in the other races I've done!  On the up side, I did pass someone at one of the wider points.  Still, it was a slow 4 miles of solid uphill.

We got a brief respite in a quick downhill back to the aid station I skipped last time, making about a 6 mile loop total.  This time I stopped, as it had been a while.  Someone popped out behind me to ask if they had tape -- they said only duct tape, so he took off, while I was still refilling my bottles. Sigh.

Now came a part I was really dreading.  Remember that super-steep 3 miles down from Camping Gap?  Now we got to go back UP it.  My only consolation was we'd again be like 2/3 of the way to the ultimate top.

I tried to jog whenever possible, and I did pass a couple folks who were walking more.  That cheered me up.  But I was feeling pretty beat when I got back up to Camping Cap.  Plus, it was tremendously foggy this time.  They filled me up and I asked which way to go, and they said up the hill.  I had taken a few steps away and couldn't see which the guy pointed, and I didn't see any of the streamers, so I headed up the grassy slope.  Hey!  Mister!  Yo!  The road!  Up the road!  Oh.  I went back to the road and carried on.  Then I saw a streamer.

So another mile or a bit more of somewhat more gentle uphill, and I saw the leaders coming back the other way.  That was cool -- there were two guys way out front of everyone else, but I tried to cheer them all a bit as they went by.  I saw maybe 5 runners going the other way before we split off into the loop section that went around and eventually to the top, the highest point of the course, and back down to rejoin the road back to Camping Gap.  The road had turned from gravel to dirt, and I figured it couldn't be too bad from here, since we had just added a mile or two of uphill to the previous massive uphill, and there couldn't be that much more elevation left.  Maybe you see where this is going.  Ha ha!  Joke's on me!

There was a lot of steep uphill, and I walked a lot.  I could only hope the people behind me were walking too.  Every time the trail turned I thought "oh good, this turn means we're just about there".

Wrong, wrong, and um, wrong.  At least the trail was nice -- it was probably technically a road, but mainly dirt, and nice and soft.

FINALLY I got to the summit, and headed back down.  At this exact moment I realized I was overdue on a gel and electrolyte tabs, and I didn't want to get behind since I figured all the fog meant humidity and I'd be losing a lot of salt.

So I sighed and slowed to a walk down the initial descent, feeding as I went.  Finally I got all my junk back into my belt pack and started jogging.  No one passed.  Whew!  Then maybe 50 feet later, I came around a turn, and guess what?  Steep uphill.  What the?!?!  I KNOW we were at the top!  The mountain did not agree.  So I trudged on, walking a lot as it was steep, with a keen eye out for the sign reading WELCOME TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD!  After 10 miles of straight uphill, I sure felt I deserved it!  Never did see it.  Eventually, the road-thing just started downhill again and this time it meant it.

Boy, did it mean it.  It quickly turned VERY steep.  But this was quite nice, because it was soft earth, easy landings, and periodic little bumps to slow down on before things got completely out of control.  After a mile or so, the loop finished, and became the "back"

part of the out & back to Camping Gap.  This was may favorite part of the course.  It was downhill but not too steep, fine gravel road, and I swear every single person going the other way said something nice to me -- way to go, looking good, big whistles or cheers, whatever.  Wow!

What a pick-me-up!  I'm afraid I just waved to most of them, I was beat.  But happy.

That brought me back to Camping Gap for the last time.  The elapsed time was around 3:35, meaning I had 85 minutes to make the last 9 miles or so and squeak in under 5 hours -- this seemed doable since a huge portion of that would be downhill.  There was one little uphill to the top of Terrapin Mountain (lower than the one we just did), and a little uphill after the last aid station, but otherwise a couple miles of flat and a lot of downhill.  Maybe now you can see where this is going...

I left the aid station and was fine with a steep climb because I could walk and eat on the way out.  It was a narrow twisty trail, but nice soft earth again.  I figured I'd start jogging once it leveled out some and widened a bit.  Never happened.  I don't think I jogged more than 10 steps between Camping Gap and the summit of Terrapin Mountain.

It was all super-steep, narrow switchback trails, over and through large sets of rocks, steep, steep, steep.  I walked the best I could but someone passed me anyway (this was to be a very good thing).  He asked if I had passed the first punch and I said no, had he?  See, there were two orienteering punches on the course, and you had to stamp your bib with each one.  One at the summit of Terrapin Mountain, and one in "Fat Man's Misery", whatever that was.

Finally, after eating through any conceivable time buffer I had, and joking about the punch a few too many times to be comfortable, we came to where we figured the top must be.  This was the only problem I had with the course markings.  We came up to tree with a streamer on it.

The path went right, with a couple streamers.  The path *also* went left, with a couple streamers.  What the?!?  The guy who was just in front of me ran down the left a bit and then hollered back, "it just keeps going down here!".  So I figured let's go that way, maybe this was some weird loop thing or something (note: brain not really functioning any more).  But he went to check out the right trail and said he'd call back, so I hung tight a few yards down the left trail.

Then I hear "the punch is over here!"  So I went back to the intersection, by which time there were three more people there

(aargh!) one of whom said "oh yeah, the punch is to the right.  Last year they had a sign."  Great.  I fell in and we went to the punch.

It was on a big pile of jutting rocks -- another pretty frightening place.  If you slipped there, there was no tumble down slope, it was fall through the air!  I crept over as cautiously as I could.

Supposedly, the rocks here look like a big turtle, giving the mountain it's name.  I'm afraid I forgot to look.  Eventually we all punched and headed back down the left trail.  The one experienced guy had just waited there and was directing more people (wish he had been there for me!).  As we headed down, he said I should pass, he was just running with the girl behind us.  I had still lost another place to the delay, but I made that up too.  But if anything, the trail got crazier!  It was steep, with frightful switchbacks when gravity had really taken hold.  And another big rocky area where it seemed the trail just went over a cliff, but the guy behind directed us through.

And then we got to Fat Man's Misery.  I took one look and just turned the other way to find where the trail ACTUALLY went, because there was sure no way it went through there!  Wrong again.  The guy says, "just jump in!"  I said "YOU jump in!"  So he went first.

Imagine a trail going down very steeply, with a big mud bog.  Now put two huge upright rock slabs, maybe 10 inches apart (not kidding!), that you're supposed to squeeze through while sliding down the muddy slope.  Now bend them 30 degrees to the left, so you can't even be vertical when you do it!  That guy hit the bottom, shimmied a little, and yelled back "Go!  Just slide down!"  I jumped in and immediately lost my footing and slid halfway down.  One water bottle went flying.

It felt like I scraped up my arm.  I'm kind of lying on the slab in front but my backside is pressed up against the slab in back.  No way could I get back up to the bottle, but one of the folks behind graciously offered to bring it through.  Holy crap.

I slid on out and there was a photographer, of course.  They found the "best" spots on the course, that's for sure!  I went and applied the second punch while waiting for the crew behind.  The first one got out and tossed me my bottle.  I turned to head out, and again, no trail.

Just a little round hole through the rocks about 4 feet up.  You got it, that was the trail.

And the hits just keep on comin'.  The rest of the descent was crazy steep, on super-narrow trails, with frequent switchbacks.  Imagine you're pulled to full speed and then realize you have 5 feet to make a 180 degree turn.  It was awful.  I mean, OK, trail surface is nice, weather is nice, scenery is nice.  But it was easily the slowest downhill I did all day.  Then we got to the rocky sections.  Still every bit as steep, but unnavigable unless you walk.  Coming down Terrapin was my least favorite part of the course.

FINALLY I saw a runner coming the other way.  I wasn't really clear on why, but it seemed like a good sign.  Of course, then I remembered that you double back a bit after getting to the last aid station.  I though it was only a quarter mile from one of the course descriptions, so I felt pretty good, but it just kept on going and going.  Steeply down and rocky, of course.  People (well ahead of me!) were walking back up.  Then I stumbled on a rock, and my legs all tensed up to keep me from falling, and BLAM!  Leg cramp.  My calf knotted up and I had to stop and try to stretch it and massage it back to life.  Sigh.

Fortunately it didn't take real long, and no one passed.  I made it the rest of the way to the aid station OK.  It had been nearly 50 minutes for 3.5 miles (my slowest segment of the day, despite including the largest downhill), and it was pretty obvious I wasn't going to make it in under 5 at this point.  I was well and truly ready to just coast the rest of the way in.

That is, until the aid station volunteers told me my place.  I was doing a lot better than expected (even though, as it later turned out, what they told me was wrong).  Suddenly I didn't want to coast any more!  I took off with a new spring in my step...  until I got to the steep part very shortly and had to walk again.  But I pushed.  I saw people coming in as I was going out, and they were close, but they didn't get there before I left, so that was good.  Now I'm figuring how to stay just a bit ahead for the next 5.5 miles.  Crap.  I had nothing left, had already gotten a cramp... this was not going to be easy.

So anyway, I made it up the last serious incline to where the trail leveled out for a few miles (which just meant the parts I had to walk weren't more than 50 feet and the downhills never got out of control).

We were mostly keeping to a level on the mountain, meaning we went in and out at every crease in the side. And every one had a stream crossing, of course, but they weren't bad.  I kept looking back to see if I saw the next people behind me, and I frequently didn't, and I kept telling myself to stop looking, but it didn't work.  Then one time I looked and saw people pretty close behind.  Uh-oh.  I jogged more uphills.  I tried to pick it up on downhills.

Finally the trail turned downhill for real, which was great -- this was the last bit on the elevation chart.  I knew I was getting there!

I ran!  And got to a massive stream crossing, with, of course, a photographer.  My leg cramped when it really hit the icy water, and I heard the camera clicking just as I had a huge grimace on my face, but the cramp left as fast as it came and I tried to smile on my way out the other side.  We'll see what he got.

That led to the downhill I had feared at the start, but the fog was gone, and it turned out that when running fast enough the rocks don't matter.  At least, you have big strides to clear them with.  So long as you don't fall.

Then I made gravel.  I remembered them saying there was 0.7 miles of road at the start, so I was thinking I was home free!  I could run hard for 0.7 miles.  Then a few minutes later I passed a "1 mile to go!" sign.  Aaargh!  Apparently the 0.7 was the *paved* road, not the gravel part.  I didn't think I could keep the pace I was doing for a whole 'nother mile, but I tried.  I got to pavement!  I saw the start-finish pavilion in the distance!  I turned into the grass, and people cheered and I saw the finish line!  The race director called my name!  I crossed!

I just stood and tried to catch my breath.  I didn't make 5 hours -- a bit over 5:15 actually.  I sat down and didn't move for a while.  Erin got me drinks and food, and Caelan played with my discarded running gear (eww!).  Apparently my back was totally black with mud from Fat Man's Misery -- Erin called it my Terrapin Rorschach.

Anyway, I finished.  It was hard.  I am sore.  I'm not sure I'll do this one again.  At least, that's how I feel today.  But it was fun all the same.  Would I recommend it?  I guess to skinny people, not afraid of heights, looking for a challenge.  Otherwise, maybe stick with the HAT.

Official Terrapin Photos are now available

In addition to the many "amateur" photos that were shot for our webcast of the Terrapin Mountain 50k & Half-marathon, Andrew Wilds and Seth Trittipoe were, once again, on site for professional photography. As I mentioned several times throughout the event, you will now be able to click on the links below, view the many photos Andrew shot at Fat Man's Misery and Seth shot at Reed Creek, edited, and are now available for purchase.

Please consider purchasing a photo from Andrew Wilds or Seth Trittipoe:

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/STrittipoe/TerrapinMtn

http://www.shutterfly.com/pro/awilds/terrapin09

Terrapin Mountain Race Photos and Race Video

For some reason our photos our still not showing up:

Here is a link to all the Terrapin Mountain photos that we have posted so far. As of right now we have posted over 600 photos and still counting. Come back and see them all as we continue to post.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/36637673@N05/

Here is a link to the Terrapin Mountain videos we captured as well, our connection at the race did not allow us enough bandwidth to get these posted during the event hopefully we can resolve that by the time Grindstone 100M comes around.
http://www.youtube.com/user/ecoxsports

We had a great day posting split results, we had trouble with photos and videos but hope that in the near future we will have that all resolved for future races. We hope you all enjoyed it.

Terrapin Mountain Quick Summary

We had a great day at the Terrapin Mtn 50k & Half-marathon.  It poured rain most of the night but held off for the entire race, except for the last 45 minutes!  Temps were in the upper 50's with some nice cloud cover.  This made for near-perfect racing conditions and a slick Fat Man's Misery...

In the 50k, 144 finishers from 146 starters = 98% finishing rate!

In the 1/2, 71 finishers from 71 starters = perfection!

Thanks to all!

Top Ten Terrapin Mountain 50k Finishers

Place	Finish	Bib Number
1	4:13:27	2 Jordan Whitlock
2	4:19:45	3 Jason Bryant
3	4:49:03	76 Darryl Smith
4	4:55:23	15 Jack Kurisky
5	4:57:27	4 Christopher Clarke
6	5:04:03	157 Micah Scott
7	5:06:20	6 Chris Miller
8	5:07:45	9 Greg Zaruba
9	5:07:45	10 Byron Backer

All Live Results

First Women in the 50k!

Heather Fisher at a time of 5 hours 10 min wins the inaugural Terrapin Mountain 50k run!



Click here for Live Stats

1/2 Marathon Results - Women

The women's results from the Terrapin half marathon:

1 Heather Zealand 2:19:34
2 Selena Smart 2:22:38
3 Jazmin Siaca 2:26:47
4 Robin Grossman 2:34:32
5 Stephanie Beem 2:43:12
6 Krystal Matheson 2:50:19
7 Jeanne Craig 2:53:18
8 Missy Perry 2:53:47
9 Gabby Milam 2:53:47
10 Liz Heavner 2:55:28

Congratulations Heather!!

1/2 Marathon Results - All

Place Name Gender Time
1 Elliot Nuss M 1:58:50
2 Joseph Sontgerath M 2:11:59
3 Heather Zealand F 2:19:34
4 Selena Smart F 2:22:38
5 Mike Donahue M 2:24:08
6 William Weber M 2:24:18
7 Walker Wright M 2:24:46
8 Jazmin Siaca F 2:26:47
9 Barry Prandi M 2:28:54
10 Chris Montgomery M 2:31:54

Congratulations runners!

Audio Post #1

The 2009 Terrapin Mtn. 50K & 1/2 Marathon is Underway

The 2009 Terrapin Mtn. 50K & 1/2 Marathon is well underway and the runners are progressing their way through the course wonderfully. Please stay tuned to the website for 50K & 1/2 Marathon updates on your favorite runners and where they are at in the race. It is about 51 degrees and overcast and the rain has stopped.

Terrapin Mtn Live Webcast

Just a reminder that you can find the live webcast for this Saturday's Terrapin Mtn. 50k at the following link:

http://www.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=3&year=2009

and the half-marathon webcast at:

http://www.eco-xsports.com/livestats.php?race=4&year=2009

Rain, rain and more rain here at Terrapin!

Cheers,

Clark Zealand

2009 Terrapin Mountain 50k & Half-marathon Seedings

Here they are...

Terrapin Mtn 50k

Bib #	First	Last	Gender	Age	State
1	Mike	Mason	Male	38	NC
2	Jordan	Whitlock	Male	21	VA
3	Jason	Bryant	Male	36	NC
4	Christopher	Clarke	Male	24	VA
5	Bobby	Gill	Male	25	MD
6	Chris	Miller	Male	35	VA
7	Timothy	Driscoll	Male	39	VA
8	Mario	Raymond	Male	36	MD
9	Greg	Zaruba	Male	42	MD
10	Byron	Backer	Male	44	SC
11	Michael	Stratton	Male	25	VA
12	Jared	Hesse	Male	33	VA
13	Bryan	Banning	Male	25	VA
14	Kent	Gallup	Male	38	NC
15	Jack	Kurisky	Male	41	VA
16	Anthony	Lee	Male	36	FL
17	Kevin	Townsend	Male	36	VA
18	Mike	Pflieger	Male	35	VA
19	Torry	Brennan	Male	39	VA
20	Wes	Mountain	Male	26	VA
21	Rick	Gray	Male	48	TN
22	Christopher	Calfee	Male	41	VA
23	Bill	Vickery	Male	38	VA
24	Marc	Griffin	Male	33	VA
25	John	Bocek	Male	28	DC
26	Adam	Eidson	Male	35	VA
27	Jeromy	Gallant	Male	25	VA
28	Jarett	Tighe	Male	41	VA
29	Mike	Dunlop	Male	39	VA
30	Blake	Edmondson	Male	25	VA
31	Tony	Escobar	Male	45	VA
32	Kelly	Golden	Male	42	VA
33	John	Green	Male	32	VA
34	Micah	Jackson	Male	29	VA
35	Shawn	Krause	Male	29	MD
36	Kimani	Long	Male	35	NC
37	Jim	Morrison	Male	50	Ontario
38	Jim	Orr	Male	53	Ontario
39	Paul	Hennick	Male	58	Ontario
40	Horacio	Ruiz	Male	43	NY
41	David	Snipes	Male	41	VA
42	Pedro	Soto	Male	31	PA
43	Jared	Yeoman	Male	27	VA
44	Anthony	Sweitzer	Male	36	VA
45	Mark	Mckennett	Male	30	MD
46	Richard	Michael	Male	36	VA
47	David	Main	Male	45	VA
48	Will	Jorgensen	Male	49	TN
49	Jim	Harrison	Male	51	VA
50	Grattan	Garbee	Male	46	VA
51	Wilbert	Hooper	Male	50	VA
52	Monte	Evans	Male	57	VA
53	Ed	Duval	Male	51	VA
54	Ling	Dao	Male	31	VA
55	Scott	Carson	Male	34	VA
56	Steven	Brown	Male	41	VA
57	Vince	Bowman	Male	44	VA
58	J.R.	Ankney	Male	50	VA
59	Patrick	Allen	Male	30	VA
60	Ted	Bielawa	Male	38	VA
61	Darvey	Bressi	Male	34	PA
62	Billy	Cabell	Male	31	VA
63	Nick	Derenzis	Male	30	VA
64	Ted	Diss	Male	45	VA
65	Farouk	Elkassed	Male	59	VA
66	Tommy	Field	Male	40	VA
67	Russ	Gray	Male	42	WV
68	Matthew	Catoire	Male	23	VA
69	John	Cooper	Male	54	VA
70	Joseph	Endicott	Male	21	NJ
71	Bert	Horsley	Male	30	VA
72	George	Lee	Male	37	VA
73	Aaron	Mulder	Male	34	PA
74	Mark	Persinger	Male	35	WV
75	Michael	Ryan	Male	31	NY
76	Darryl	Smith	Male	37	VA
77	Philip	Thompson	Male	22	MD
78	Kevin	Vioral	Male	38	VA
79	Barry	Wright	Male	52	NC
80	Matthew	Ripley	Male	44	VA
81	Casey	Pence	Male	27	VA
82	Dennis	Norris	Male	45	NC
83	James	Miner	Male	60	NY
84	Chad	Kibler	Male	37	VA
85	John	Hampton	Male	32	MD
86	Tim	Fager	Male	41	PA
87	Steven	Desantis	Male	48	VA
88	Dennis	Bridges	Male	53	MD
89	Nicholas	Brantley	Male	25	VA
90	Geoffrey	Baker	Male	50	MD
91	Josh	Ahier	Male	22	VA
92	Steve	Bowles	Male	62	VA
93	Robert	Dolan	Male	42	VA
94	Jon	Hayden	Male	40	NC
95	Daniel	Laslie	Male	53	VA
96	Keith	Mattox	Male	48	VA
97	Michael	Mitchell	Male	52	VA
98	Paul	Noll	Male	60	PA
99	Michael	Tietz	Male	22	VA
100	Marc	Vengrove	Male	53	PA
101	Heather	Fisher	Female	23	VA
102	Jenny	Anderson	Female	35	VA
103	Krista	Meisch	Female	24	VA
104	Donna	Elder	Female	46	VA
105	Kerry	Owens	Female	45	DC
106	Sophie	Speidel	Female	46	VA
107	Jill	Devereux	Female	42	VA
108	Linda	Newman	Female	47	VA
109	Stephanie	Place	Female	21	VA
110	Ruthann	Helfrick	Female	42	PA
111	Peggy	Ankney	Female	45	VA
112	Marianna	Inslee	Female	43	VA
113	Megan	Hendler	Female	26	NJ
114	Pamela	Long	Female	34	NC
115	Alicia	Taylor	Female	30	VA
116	Heather	Royer	Female	47	VA
117	Renee	Draney	Female	43	VA
118	Lesley	Mcphatter	Female	45	VA
119	Elizabeth	Minnick	Female	28	VA
120	Suzie	Spangler	Female	38	MD
121	melissa	schmitt	Female	33	OH
122	Tiffany	Tigh	Female	23	GA
123	Brandy	Tate	Female	24	VA
124	Mackenzie	Prandi	Female	30	VA
125	Wendy	Golden	Female	41	VA
126	Brenda	Carawan	Female	32	VA
127	Janice	Heltibridle	Female	51	VA
128	Dorothy	Hunter	Female	35	NC
129	Helen	Lavin	Female	31	MN
130	Vicki	Kendall	Female	56	VA
131	Whitney	Robinson	Female	23	VA
132	Carter	Wiecking	Female	39	VA
133	Anne	Parsons	Female	21	VA
134	Kari	Anderson	Female	47	VA
135	Twila	Brown	Female	51	VA
136	Robyn Annette	Burgess	Female	22	VA
137	Courtney	Chappell	Female	19	FL
138	Eugenie	Heebe	Female	38	LA
139	Barbara	Isom	Female	61	MD
140	Natalie	Kennedy	Female	41	VA
141	Sharon	Lapkoff	Female	56	MD
142	Maureen	O'connell	Female	44	VA
143	Jean	Richards	Female	56	NJ
144	Terri	Ripley	Female	46	VA
145	Martha	Wright	Female	48	VA
146	Jaime	Azuaje	Male	21	VA
147	Pete	Johnson	Male	22	MD
148	Jeffrey M.	Nicholson	Male	37	MD
149	Rob	Rives	Male	19	NC
150	Skyler	Mccurley	Male	40	VA
151	Christopher	Woll	Male	23	NY
152	Kenny	Wheeler	Male	48	WV
153	Benjamin	Taylor	Male	20	VA
154	Craig	Penrose	Male	44	VA
155	Brian	Brunetti	Male	40	NC
156	Robert	Hagan	Male	41	VA
157	Micah	Scott	Male	19	OH
158	Travis	Wingfield	Male	32	VA
159	Bob	Anderson	Male	62	VA
160	Aaron	Williams	Male	29	VA
161	Herman	Richards	Male	55	NJ
162	Jason	Nuss	Male	46	VA
163	Jason	Duelge	Male	40	MD
164	Steven	David	Male	48	MD
165	Gene	Bachman	Male	55	VA
166	Scott	Taylor	Male	20	MI
167	Matt	Vandonsel	Male	22	VA

Terrapin Mtn Half-marathon

Bib #	First	Last	Gender	Age	State
201	Chris	Montgomery	Male	27	VA
202	Britt	Beasley	Male	32	VA
203	Bryan	Miller	Male	26	GA
204	Micah	Phillips	Male	23	SC
205	Walker	Wright	Male	29	VA
206	Jeffrey	West	Male	28	NC
207	William	Weber	Male	28	VA
208	Ken	Sturm	Male	34	SC
209	Joseph	Sontgerath	Male	26	DC
210	Matt	Thomas	Male	33	SC
211	Elliot	Nuss	Male	17	VA
212	Bradley	Sweeney	Male	17	VA
213	Barry	Prandi	Male	35	VA
214	Declan	Pratt	Male	39	VA
215	Todd	Hacker	Male	29	VA
216	Derek	Bennion	Male	24	VA
217	Josh	Oppenheimer	Male	34	VA
218	Mike	Donahue	Male	36	VA
219	Craig	Ashley	Male	35	NC
220	JJ	Jessee	Male	53	VA
221	Tony	Martin	Male	39	VA
222	Everett	Mounts	Male	64	VA
223	James	Rea	Male	45	NY
224	Bob	Sites	Male	55	NC
225	Donnie	Wilkerson	Male	57	VA
226	Alan	Borst	Male	45	MD
227	Jim	Glidewell	Male	64	VA
228	Charlie	Hesse	Male	55	VA
229	Wayne	Ingram	Male	50	SC
230	Al	Mcdorman	Male	56	VA
231	John	Snyder	Male	60	MD
232	David	Robertson	Male	56	VA
233	Keith	King	Male	38	SC
234	Drew	Fratrick	Male	45	VA
235	Robert	Burgess	Male	57	VA
301	Anne	Lundblad	Female	42	NC
302	Katrina	Williams	Female	20	GA
303	Robin	Grossman	Female	34	VA
304	Petra	Gerber	Female	20	VA
305	Sarah	Dunlop	Female	36	VA
306	Jeanne	Craig	Female	39	VA
307	Rachel	Burgess	Female	25	VA
308	Stephanie	Beem	Female	28	VA
309	Monica	Herman	Female	26	MD
310	Gabby	Milam	Female	39	VA
311	Jazmin	Siaca	Female	21	NY
312	Amy	Clark	Female	35	VA
313	Sara	Cunningham	Female	31	MD
314	Julie	Stone	Female	32	VA
315	Ann	Townsend	Female	34	VA
316	Missy	Perry	Female	37	VA
317	Glory	Jadin	Female	21	VA
318	Kellie	Hudson	Female	35	VA
319	Liz	Heavner	Female	47	VA
320	April	Haury	Female	25	DC
321	Heather	Zealand	Female	29	VA
322	Lauren	Zealand	Female	27	VA
323	Andrea	Zealand	Female	34	VA
324	Dawn	Dunlop	Female	42	VA
325	Cindi	Bowen	Female	48	VA
326	Andrea	Chapman	Female	42	VA
327	Chelsey	Lester	Female	21	VA
328	Sarah	Hannes	Female	20	VA
329	Christy	Howard	Female	35	VA
330	Krystal	Matheson	Female	26	MD
331	Whitney	Garrett	Female	43	VA
332	Mary	Riser	Female	53	VA
333	Lorraine	Moore	Female	45	VA
334	Krista	Moore	Female	40	VA
335	Mindy	Biddle	Female	49	VA
336	Bobbie	Glidewell	Female	60	VA
337	Tammy	Gray	Female	54	TN
338	Anne	Green	Female	44	VA
339	Carter	Jennings	Female	43	VA
340	Lisa	Light	Female	47	VA
341	Susan	Robinson	Female	45	VA
342	Selena	Smart	Female	41	DC
343	Toinette	Staley	Female	53	VA

Terrapin Mountain 50k Map

Here's a look at the new Terrapin Mountain 50k course with aid station locations. In the world of ultrarunning, new race course designs are intriguing and exciting for runners but can be "nerve-wracking" for race directors.  From a management perspective over the past year, I've experienced many new race courses and this year's Terrapin 50k course is another however, I feel it is much-improved over last year's marathon course.

This map will give you a good idea of the 50k course aid stations.  The Goff Mtn. Rd. station is the ONLY location open for runners' crews.  The half-marathon course also uses Camping Gap and Terrapin Lane aid stations.

Finish line photo from Holiday Lake 50k

Here's a great photo of me just after I crossed the finish line at this year's Holiday Lake 50k.  Saying a prayer of thanks to God is important not just in times of "good" performances but also for simply being able to run.  This day I was thankful for both :)

Photo by Seth Trittipoe

Biggest Conservation Proposal in Years comes to and end...for now.

This is a real shame - only two more votes were needed for this important piece to pass. If we don't protect the places in which we run, they won't be around to enjoy! CZ

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Published on Campaign for America's Wilderness (http://www.leaveitwild.org)

Omnibus Public Land Package Falls Shy of Passage

Statement of Mike Matz

We applaud the House leadership and our Republican champions for trying to move the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 as expeditiously as possible, and thank them for their diligence in rallying members to approve this bipartisan measure which has the support of Americans from all walks of life, as evidenced by the 282 to 144 vote in favor of the measure. However, the Omnibus public lands package fell two votes short of the requisite two-thirds threshold, so although a majority of members of Congress do support this important piece of legislation, it appears as though it will need to move through Congress under a different process.

We will work closely with key leaders in the House of Representatives to move ahead, and greatly appreciate their herculean efforts to this point to act on the will of the people to protect their special places.