Saturday September 9th
Race day!
This photo is from the race company but it shows the "smoky" of it all since none of our pictures picked it up. The fog hung low for almost the entire race. There were at times that runners 75 meters ahead of me basically Disappeared into the fog! It was the coolest experience ever!
These photos are from someone on facebook who started/finished after me but the fog was still hanging around for his photos.
First 3 miles by farmers fields.
Running along the old highway next to the river. The fog was more dense when I was running that you couldn't see most of the runners ahead of you like in this photo.
Last 3 miles towards the finish line.
The race ran next to a river where there were some cabins for rent and campsite. I swear everyone was up cooking bacon!
Mile 9.5 eating honey
Everyone who ran the race..
This guy.. I passed him on the course and he let me pet his dogs for Jessica since she was getting married that day.
The medal.. a lot different than the others I have but I really like this better.
My hips were hurting the most during the run.. I never had any issues on any of my 11 - 15 mile training runs.. but I had a structure massage 2 weeks pior which I think is what did it.
Me with my cheer squad.
Having an elevation advantage was amazing. All the turns were banked- which sucked. I only had chest pain issues at mile 8.5, 11, and 12.5, which was amazing compared to some of my other longer runs. You couldn't even tell that it was an uphill race. The race went down the Old Walland Highway
After stopping at a market for some breakfast type foods, it was post-hiking time! We ended up going 5 miles.
Heather, Shaun, Geri, and Ralph.
These blue butterflies were all over the place!
There was this row of cabins from the 1920's the the National Park just took over to renovate.
I told Ralph to smile so I could immortalize him in this photo and he said it'd only work if my photos get backed up to the cloud!
The Smokies.
Miles 1-9 of the race.
After a drive through Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge (while stretching in the back of the truck for everyone's entertainment at the car show, we didn't even go faster than 5 mph the roads were so packed) and lunch at 5 guys because every place we passed they said was gross. We arrived back at the house around 3pm, just in time to watch The Mask, Liar Liar (Shaun's movie was a Jim Carey 4 movie deal, and we've been wanting to watch The Mask for weeks!), Dinner from Full Service, and this applesauce cookie dough that Heather made for us. It was just a nice relaxing evening hanging with my Tennessee family. Just what my body was needing.
Sunday September 10.
After sleeping in and church, we went to check out a swing bridge I notice during the race, and which they didn't know was there.
You can't really tell, but there are christmas lights strung along the bridge which would look so cool in the evening.
The Little River.
People have started making this a love lock bridge.
Lunch at Smokin' Joes.
Sweet potato fries with cinnamon on them. The dip was a mixture of marshmallow fluff and cream cheese that basically tasted like frosting.
Then back to the airport where they have these rocking chairs everywhere.
And a mini art gallery.
I did make some friends with some UT Nuclear Engineer students en route to San Francisco for a conference. They were fun to chat with during the flight and although they offered me to join them for lunch on the UT tab, I had to literally run to my connecting flight (however not as much as a hurry as when I was flying in).
Back to Chicago..
When I got home, I noticed that my medal was warping and becoming unglued. So the race sent me a new medal which was far worse than my original. So they sent me another one wrapped up tight and I'm not going to unwrap it.
Original on left, replacement on right.
So beautiful. No humidity. Great memories with my Tennessee family.
(Hurricane Irma was scheduled to hit Monday after I left, but they only got heavy rains and winds, nothing too horrid.)
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