The Pretzel City Sports Ugly Mudder Trail Race!

A few weeks ago my friend Alex Barth calls me up and says, "Hey Mike, do you want to come out and run the Ugly Mudder with me? Yea, we can race the race, then head back out and run it again!" My response, "uh, well, uh, I don't know - I'm not too thrilled about racing on the trails. Lets wait until it gets closer and I will let you know." Well, I decided to make a change of pace from the road and try out a trail race!

I had a weird feeling before this race - not nervous, but more anxious because I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't know the course, I knew there were some really good trail runners there, and my footwork on the trails isn't all that great. So my main goal was to go out with the lead group and hope my footwork would keep me there for the majority of the race. I wanted to prove to myself that I really wasn't that bad of a trail runner!

This was one of Pretzel City Sports biggest turnouts - they had over 800 people show up! WOW - that is so awesome! With that many people it made the start line a bit crowded. So I knew once that gun went off, I needed to bolt as fast as I could to the front so I didn't get stuck.


Photo Courtesy of Helene Horn from Pretzel City Sports

So we start down the road, make a right hand turn, go up a short hill, and then BAM - there we are popped onto the trail. I'd say there was a good group of about 10 - 15 guys off the front. When we get on the trail we then make a super sharp left, straight uphill! There were three guys really pushing the pace, but I stayed back a bit not really knowing how this course is going to be.

So we get about a mile in, there are two guys a bit off the front, then two other guys, Alex, me, then the rest of the group right on our heels. So we head up this hill, Alex makes a giant step around the two dudes ahead of us and I think, 'this trail stuff is ridiculous but fun at the same time.' I go with Alex and we settle in nicely, still a few steps behind the two guys off the front.

Josh Emery picks up speed, comes by us, and at this point I am starting to feel it. Uphill, uphill, uphill, hopping over trees, rocks, slipping on leaves, my eyes watering making it hard to see, reaction after reaction. These first 3 miles were very very intense. We were, or at least I was, absolutely redlined running as hard as I could - trying to hang, picking my line hoping it was the best line.


Photo Courtesy of Helene Horn from Pretzel City Sports

So we hit this gnarly downhill section and it was so chaotic. There wasn't a definite turn and I'm in this group - we all ended up picking different lines to get through it. I ended up losing a few steps there. We pop out on the road, cross the road, then run straight uphill to another road and turn left. WOW, I was hurting by this point. We run up the road and go around this building and what happened here was the pace started getting faster!!! Aaahhhh! I couldn't keep up. I lost touch with Alex and another guy passed me. So there were the two dudes off front, Josh Emery, Alex, and another guy in blue, then me, and a couple other guys behind me.

Once we get passed this building, the guys behind me caught up to me and passed me. I was thinking to myself, 'ok, my legs are completely dead, I'm losing ground, I don't feel like I am running that fast - I either need to pick it up and catch back on, or just keep dropping back.' So I decided to pick up the pace a bit. So I re-pass Louis Secreto, and now we are running through a super nice flat and windy section. I loved this because I could really get it cranking again. I was at max, but I was able to catch back up to Paul and Patrick.

So where we are at right now in the race we have I believe a group of 6 guys about 45 - 60 seconds ahead of us. Then in my group is Paul Wallace and Patrick. Then about 30 - 45 seconds behind us is Louis and Tadd. Then I think the next group was a few minutes back.

So we come barreling down this hill and I am doing all I can to hang with Paul and Patrick. All of a sudden they stop and one of them says, "Damn, I think we are off the course - we are off the course - where do we go?" So we stop, look around, and we are at a T intersection - to the left of us it is a downhill with pink ribbon and to the right of us it is uphill with pink ribbon. We must have missed a turn. By this point Louis and Tad catch up to us. Without much hesitation they bolt to the right, not trying to stop and correct where we went off, and go up the hill. Paul, Patrick, and I are still standing there wondering which way to go. By the time Louis and Tadd get up over the hill on the other side of the rock - we decide to head up that way hoping we were right.

So now Louis and Tad are probably 45 - 60 seconds ahead of us, ha! Paul, Patrick, and I pick it up and we are talking - "what do we do?" "are we sure we went off course?" "if so what do we do about it?" So in about a mile we pop out onto a road with an aid station and they shout, "great job guys - you are 3, 4, and 5 (because Louis and Tad are ahead) and instantly we say to eachother "yep, we went off course."

So Patrick says, "guys why don't we just wait for the group who was ahead of us, we will let them go, then start running again." I say, "Alright man" but as I look back I don't see anyone. So we run a little further at an easier pace and we decide that our race is over and the three of us won't cross the finish line. So I say, "alright guys, that works - so lets just pick things back up and at least get in a good workout. Our race is over but lets just work together over these last few miles and get in a good tempo." So that's what it was.

There were sections that were technical where we slowed down a bit just because we were out of the race. But slowing down - there were actually three guys from the group ahead of us that ended up catching us. We actually moved to the side, stopped, and let them go through because we thought they ran the right course. And no point in impeding their progress because we knew we went off course.

So anyway, we get up to the finish and pull off to the side and start walking. Ron says to cross the line and finish because the guys in front of us went off course too - so we will figure it out. So here we come to find out that some random person/people actually cut down one of the turn markers and the majority of the top 20 people went off course. AAAhhhhhh. So it was just a bummer of a situation that really was not in anyone's control. It sucked. It sucked for me because it was my first trail race and I felt I was hanging pretty well. It was a great pleasure to run with Paul and Patrick as they were trying to figure out where we went wrong. I ended up getting put in 8th place on the results (http://pretzelcitysports.com/userfiles/file/11%20UM%20res.pdf), which that is cool with me. When the top 20 or so head off course and that is noted within the results - I don't think you can really sit down and believe it. Although I will say I think anyone in this race who went off course should have been disqualified and not listed in the results (including myself). But that is not how it happened, so lets just all be happy we are healthy and enjoy what these great trails have to offer! AND I am sure there will be another day when we are all out on the trails again, random folks don't mess with the turn markers, and we stay on course. I am REALLY looking forward to that day for sure :)

Alex Barth kept back tracking because he got lost too. He ended up running almost 8 miles (of the 7 mile course)!!! Once he came in, we chilled out a bit, then Alex and I headed out to run the course again at an easy pace. This made the day because we were both a bit fired up about getting lost, but ultimately came to the conclusion that we enjoy being out here on the trails, we didn't get hurt, we still got in a good effort, and we will go home happy. But as we ran the 2nd loop we found the spot where we went wrong. Alex ended up running extra because he kept going back and forth never finding the marker because it was ripped down. As for me, I'd say by missing that turn, I cut it short by about .2 miles (my garmin read 6.78)?? But with all the stopping we did, it might equal out my time.

I definitely look forward to hitting up some more trail races. They are great workouts and those first few miles are filled with some serious adrenaline!!!