Possum's Revenge 52 Miler (Race Recap)

Graford, TX

Saturday, May 22

Weather - Overcast and humid

We had originally signed up to run this in 2020, and when the race gave us the opportunity to roll our entry over to this year, we jumped on the opportunity. I had planned on doing the 69 miler for the amazing buckled, but a week out, I opted to drop down to the 52 miler.

Most of our friends that were signed up last year opted to join us, and we were excited to hit the trails! I had planned to run the 69 miler with Lesley, and even though I had dropped distances, we planned to stick together since our races started at the same time.

Race Day

I had the alarm set for 4:15, but shockingly, I woke up before the alarm went off. Since we had arrived so late the night before, I wanted to be sure I had time to get ready and take a quick shower before heading out. I had laid out most of my stuff, but wanted to double check my gear before leaving. Even though I was "only" running 52 miles, I still planned on having a drop bag with a change of clothes - mostly because I was starting in a sleeveless top and I wasn't sure if I was going to have my underarm chafing.

Thankfully, we were staying very close to the start line, and the map that was included was helpful in getting to the start line - especially since it was pitch black! We parked the car with plenty of time to find out where to leave my drop bag and use the bathroom a few times. I wasn't sure how dark it was going to be when we started (at 6:00), so I had my headlamp ready to go. Lesley found us before the race briefing and I got to meet her husband. (As a side note, Lesley is really tall, and her husband is even taller - 6'4"!)

Pre-race selfie!

Loop 1 (4:34:46)

Lesley convinced me that I could start without actually needing my headlamp, and she was right. She thought that even though it had been raining for a week, that the trail would be pretty dry - and at least the sand wouldn't be as bad. Within a mile, I was ecstatic that I had dropped distances. It was so humid, and the trail was way different than I expected. There was sand. Tree roots. Rocks. More climbing than I thought there would be. I was in a great mood because I was able to spend time with Lesley AND I was no longer worried about cutoffs, nor did I have to run nearly 70 miles.

The plan was to take it easy, and keep the pace where Lesley would be on pace for a finish. We had a blast chatting and the first loop went by without anything exciting happening. I don't think I even took any pictures the first loop. A guy named Eric latched onto us early in - he was also running the 52 miler. He kept up with us until the second to last aid station in the loop, where he said he was going to hang back and get more fuel.

We saw Ben a few times, and he was looking good the first loop.

Loop 2 (5:15:46)

We were in and out of the start/finish pretty quick after the first loop. Slowed down a bit, but not by too much. Lesley was starting to suffer a bit more, she was having some breathing issues. The other distances had started at staggering times after us, and the first person we saw that I knew was Lisa! Lesley knew a TON of people on the course (which makes sense, the race was only a few hours from where she lives). 

I finally took some pictures during this loop, although I didn't get any great shots of just how technical the trails actually were.

Because of the "complicated" route that was a lot of "crazy 8's" and loops, we saw people we knew! First was Mike, who was running the 17 miler, and then later we ran into Annette and Maureen - who were also running the 17 miler.

Every time I saw this I thought it looked like Jason's mask - scary!

This also looked like a scary cactus, haha

I wasn't sure that Lesley was going to continue. By mile-ish 32 she was in pretty rough shape. She said she was taking it aid station by aid station, but I wasn't super optimistic. We walked a LOT towards the end of this loop. I had noticed I was chafing under my arms mid-loop, so I planned on swapping shirts after coming in. The Colorado friends were all hanging out waiting for me (dawwww) and got some pictures.

Not a great picture...

This is better... I'm happy to see people!

Lesley veered off to chat with her husband and I opted to have a beer with my friends before heading back out for my last loop.

Loop 3 (5:29:31)

Lesley decided to go back out, which was nice! Between all of the walking and the extended aid station breaks, she was really going to need to pick it up to stay on pace for a finish. We had banked enough time that a brisk walk was fine. We were a few miles into our loop when we saw two girls walking towards us - on a section where there shouldn't have been two-way traffic. They were running the 52K and had missed the turn off for the finish line! We offered to let them stick with us until we could get them back to where they missed the turn. They were pretty upset about the additional mileage, and commented that we walked really fast. We got them on their way, and we continued on. We hit the first aid station of the loop and Lesley was in pretty rough shape. She still headed out, but we were really going to need to move it. We had walked the whole first 6.5 mile section, and continued walking.

About halfway to the next aid station, she decided to drop. We were at a trailhead that was accessible by car, so she used my phone to call her husband to pick her up. Once I was confident that she was going to be ok, I headed back in to finish things up. After walking so long I was in the mood to run, and the rest of the race went by pretty quick. I was in and out of aid stations fast and feeling good! At this point, the main goal was to try to finish before it got too dark so my headlamp time would be limited.

When I returned to the same aid station where Lesley had dropped, Maureen, Annette & Lisa were there! They told me that Ben had just been there maybe 10 minutes earlier... That boosted my spirits so I headed out in a run to see if I could catch him. I saw him sitting at the final aid station and I figured it would motivate him to get moving if he saw me come in, but he still sat there. I grabbed a cup of coke and told him I would see him at the finish line. I had to use my head lamp the last couple miles since I was in a wooded area. The girl who left right before me was someone we had met at Rocky Raccoon a few years ago - she apparently hadn't planned on being out that late as she was using her phone for light!

I ran pretty strong into the finish - and everyone was STILL waiting for me to come in!! It was really sweet.

Not QUITE as cool as the Kogalla, but still pretty nifty.

I had a beer, and Lesley had brought me a burger and fries (isn't she sweet??) It was another 15-20 minutes before Ben came in, and I think he was irritated that I hadn't waited and/or run with him for those few miles. He asked if I could come back with a battery for his Kogalla, so we would need to come back at some point.

Official Time - 15:20:03

Overall Place - 17/23

Gender Place - 5/8

Garmin Time - 15:19:51

Miles 1-5 - 15:34, 16:44, 16:36, 15:28, 14:40

Miles 6-10 - 17:34, 18:02, 17:21, 15:24, 18:01

Miles 11-15 - 17:27, 16:53, 18:28, 14:56, 18:27

Miles 16-20 - 16:02, 19:30, 18:08, 17:24, 17:54

Miles 21-25 - 16:51, 18:24, 21:46, 18:54, 17:55

Miles 26-30 - 18:47, 21:35, 17:18, 20:08, 17:43

Miles 31-35 - 23:26, 20:58, 16:45, 28:03, 20:39

Miles 36-40 - 20:39, 20:36, 19:17, 21:56, 26:57

Miles 41-45 - 21:24, 23:54, 16:04, 19:34, 15:10

Miles 46-50ish - 17:13, 15:48, 17:30, 17:25, 12:36

 

Ariel ran the 8 miler and did really well! She got 22nd overall and 7th female! She actually could have probably been a half dozen people up, but she ran into Ben and walked with him for a bit. Sharing the below picture of her with our friend Greg, who also did the 8 miler. Aren't they adorable?! 

Thoughts:

• The medal/buckle was what enticed us to run this in the first place. I'm a bit jealous of Ben's buckle, but the medal is cool too.
• Shirt is meh - cute pattern, but a unisex cotton tee, so I'll never wear it.
• TROT puts on amazing events! Great aid stations and good trail markings. I doubt I'll run THIS race again, but if there is ever a great airfare deal and car rental costs ever go back down I'd do another event with them.