Three words: This was hard.
About 500 people participated in the Xterra: Thrill in the Hills Marathon/Half Marathon at Fort Yargo State Park in Winder, GA. This race was put on by a company named Dirty Spokes Productions, LLC. They do bike races, trail races, and duathlons. They put on a great event – they’re really nice people too. This was one of a series of trail races they do in Georgia.
At the start we went about a half mile on the road just to help thin out the crowd and queue up for the single track trail in the woods. When I got to the trail head, it was a fairly long line, 20-30 people waiting to single file on to the trail. Yep – this is sure different than a road race 
the first mile or two the trail took us through a recently (controlled) burn area but after that it was good. Gorgeous day, temp at start low 40s, temp at finish high 50s.
the first mile or two the trail took us through a recently (controlled) burn area but after that it was good. Gorgeous day, temp at start low 40s, temp at finish high 50s.
I did not bring my iPod to this race – knowing that this was going to be winding, up and down, roots, rocks, mud, puddles, and briars – the focus is very different. Almost every step was an active negotiation between eyes, brain, leg, and foot. It got harder and harder with each mile – there were multiple steep inclines – body ached – it was hard. I did enjoy it though and will look for more trail races. Time was 3:07.
They had water/gatorade at mile 3.5, 6.5, and 10. The end of race food was: pizza, sub sandwiches, bananas, gatorade, and water. The pizza sure tasted good!!!
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