Dupont Forest 12k

Yesterday morning, I got up and drove an hour to Brevard, NC to run in the Dupont Forest 12k. One of my friends was supposed to run it with me, but came down with the flu this week, so I made the trek alone.
It was 35 degrees, a wind advisory and two minutes from the start of the race; it began to snow. Perfect running weather!

I ended up finding a few people that I knew at the race (the former Robin Raulerson and a woman whose daughter is in school with Asher) and so it wasn't such a lonely affair.

About 200 people showed up to endure the race and as we crossed the start line, we realized that the last week of rain was going to make this an interesting trail run as the single track turned into a mud bog and the entire first mile needed to be taken as a walk rather than a run. I tried to avoid the puddles, but near the end of mile one, I stepped full into a puddle. With that under my belt, I was freed up to forget avoiding getting wet and just going for it.

I felt really good for most of the race. I warmed up quickly and settled into my pace. But I was not familiar with the trail and had no idea how challenging the slope of the hills would be. Around the 6th mile, we pretty much just had a steady uphill climb for the remainder of the race and my legs were beat.
I managed to push through and it started to REALLY snow on the final mile.
I finished the race at 1:09:30. I wanted to be under one hour so I am a tad disappointed with my results. I am trying to convince myself that the first mile went so slow that I could have probably finished in that time range had I been at the front of the pack. But what are you going to do? I did well and finished and had a great time. It was a great race and now I am looking for my next one!

**This is a picture from the actual race, I was just ahead of these people. On the official race tally, I finished 5th in my age group, #123 overall.