State #36, Run With The Horses, Green River, WY, 8/19/17, Part 2

Race morning I was awake before the alarm I had set for 5:00 am. I was up nearly every hour throughout the night due to nerves and all the water I had been having since arriving in Wyoming. It is crucial to stay hydrated in the dry, desert, high altitude surroundings here. I did my best to get ready without disrupting my family, but in one small hotel room, that proved to be pretty impossible. The noise from the microwave heating up coffee and water for my oatmeal was so loud in the pre-dawn hours. I felt bad that I was waking them up in such an annoying way. 

Pre-dawn selfie in the car on the way to the start with my gang!

We all had to get up anyway to get to the start. I’m so grateful to my family for making these sacrifices for me when we are away on vacation. It isn’t easy, I know.

Start/finish line for the race.

We made it to the starting line area of the race at Expedition Island Park in Green River. It is a small parcel of land in the middle of the Green River with a nice little park there. A small crowd of runners gathered just prior to the start at 6:30 am to hear the safety rules from the race director. He cautioned us to stay on the sidewalks while in the town area to remain safe from traffic, and (a first for me) told us to be aware of rattlesnakes while up in the horse country. Rattlesnakes??!! Yikes!! What in the world was I in for? 

Green River at Expedition Island Park.

Rattlesnake warning from race director.

We stepped off promptly at 6:30 am. I realized right away that I was having trouble starting the GoPro camera strapped to my head, so as I started, I ran over to my husband and asked him to hit the start button. Starting line blip! 

Running to Craig to get help with the GoPro.

We then continued on with a loop through the park area that led us out to the immediate neighborhood and up on to the main road toward where my hotel was. 

Problem fixed! Off and running.

This first two miles of the race was mostly flat, although a couple of cross-sections went slightly uphill. It wasn’t too bad though. We took the turn for Wild Horse Canyon Road, which brought us off the main drag and up to the start of “the hill.” Basically this next stretch was about 5 miles of a steep climb in to the high desert plateau. Although my test run the day before went pretty well, I knew I wouldn’t be able to sustain a strong pace through this part. My goal was to just run as much as I could and take walk breaks when needed. 

I ran under the underpass at the beginning of the road and could see my hotel up ahead, along with the first water station. As I got closer to the hotel, I could see Craig and the girls there taking pictures and cheering for me. I gave them a wave and some high fives and kept on going. 

High-five power!

I was hoping to make it up to the 10K turnaround point without stopping, but I fell short of that goal and had to walk sooner. I walked just enough to catch my breath and then started to run again. The next mile or so I kept in this way, and then I decided to try a stronger strategy. I knew I wouldn’t have a PR on this race, but I also wanted to run more than walk. So I started counting 100 running steps followed by 50 walking steps. I maintained this pattern for most of the climb up until things leveled out and became more “rolling” hills at the plateau. It worked pretty well, as I never ended up feeling completely beat up. 

[Hoping to add some of the GoPro footage here...check back later, as I need more time to find the right clip(s) and format.]

I caught up with a man probably around the 4 mile mark who was wearing this year’s Flying Pig Marathon t-shirt. We Right at about this point we came upon the wild horses grazing next to the road. We both remarked that this was the show we were hoping for. There were the horses…just as the race had advertised. Well done, race director!

We chatted for awhile as we climbed the final bit of steep hill and began on the “rolling” hills of the plateau. He was from Cincinnati and was working on completing full marathons in all 50 states. Wyoming was number 45 for him. We chatted about the Flying Pig and our families. He had two grown daughters ages 25 and 29, one of whom had just gotten married. We talked for probably about a mile and a half or so, and then I pulled ahead of him.

I knew the turn around point for the half was coming up fairly soon, based on the drive we did a couple of days ago and judging by the runners who had turned and passed me on the way back. I couldn’t help but notice that there weren’t very many people ahead of me based on those who had come by, and it also seemed that the women I’d seen were all quite a bit younger than me. At this point I was thinking that even though I’d been running fairly slow for my standards, I might have a chance of placing in my age category (40-49). I didn’t want to get my hopes up, but I tucked the idea in the back of my head, pledging to do my best on the downhill return to Expedition Island Park. 

I made my turn at the top of the plateau, and then took off running! The wind was in my face on the way down, but I didn't mind, as I was pretty hot and sweaty at this point. I took off my windbreaker and tied it around my waist. The cool air helped dry me off, and it felt really nice.The downhill portion of the run was of course easier in many ways, but running downhill on a gravel road was tricky at times, too. I had to be careful to keep myself from slipping on the rocks, and I had to avoid potholes, large rocks, horse manure and other minor obstacles. Mostly, though, I was making good time and knew I’d have a negative split for this race. I took water at all the aid stations on the way back down, but didn’t stop running…just grabbed and ran on. 

The run down provided interesting perspective. The view on the way down was just of the desert canyon, very much tan all the way. It almost felt like running on another planet because all I could see were the tan canyon walls and parts of the winding road. I couldn’t see around the corners, so each section was very secluded. It wasn’t until I was pretty close to the bottom that I could catch a glimpse of civilization below. Before I knew it, I was back at my hotel with only 2 miles to go. 

I made my way back to the main road and in to the town and neighborhood areas of Green River. I ran though the park and across the finish line at a time of 2:15:00. I met my family, and we took a walk around the park as I caught my breath and stretched my legs. 

Crossing the finish line.

The woman at the finish line who gave me my finisher’s medal mentioned that my results would be available on a card in a few moments from a man who was printing them out. When he handed it to me, I couldn’t believe it…I had come in first in my age category! My first first-place age group finish! Holy moly! And I thought this would be my worst race ever due to the hills and altitude. I was thrilled! I presented my time card to the lady at the finish line and she gave me a golden horseshoe as my age group trophy. Cool!

Age group win!

I walked around with my family some more and stretched out while the kids played on some swings. We eventually made our way back to the hotel so I could shower up, then we hit the road. We stopped midway to Jackson in a small town called Pinedale where we had lunch at a local brewery called Wind River. We celebrated my win with burgers and beers. 

Brewery stop in Pinedale. WY.

Race shirt, number, finisher's medal and first place age group  golden horseshoe award.

This was just the start of our trip, and it was already so awesome! The rest of our vacation was to center around Teton Village in Jackson Hole with sightseeing in Teton National Park and Yellowstone. Thank you, Wyoming, for a fantastic race and great memories! The Run with the Horses race is worth the trip and the experience. 

Teton mountain range when we got to Jackson after the race. So beautiful.