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<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">After running a 15 mile race the weekend before, I wasn’t going to race again this weekend, but this event looked like so much fun I had to go. The website promised music, running and hippie days in the dirt. I got there early to make sure I got a campsite I could park at. I couldn’t find my tent so I was going to sleep in the car like I usually do. They were going to limit each campsite to one car, but I don’t think they really checked. They did have all the people who were just doing the Saturday races and not camping park on the other side of the road from the campground to keep the congestion down. The Saturday races included a Flower power 5 mile, Hippie half marathon, Mellow marathon, and Peace, Love, and 50k and 50 mile races. They also had a Hallucination 100 mile and 100k races that started Friday at 4 pm and ran all night. </span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">I arrived at the campground a little after noon on Friday, picked out my campsite and registered. There wasn’t much going on yet so I relaxed, listened to the music they had playing and read. Soon the Friday racers started arriving. A lady from Virginia who was going to run the 100 mile and a 68 year old lady from South Carolina who was going to do the 100k parked beside me and I talked to them for a few minutes. The festivities officially kicked off a little before 4 when Lemon James played the national anthem Jimi Hendrix style with her guitar. After that the hallucinators were on their way into the woods for many hours of running as a lineup of 4 bands started playing. The 68 year old lady did finish the 100k but the other had to drop out after 83 miles.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">My first event was the Far Out 5k. For each of these events, you got a small hippie button to pin on your shirt. If you did the 3 fun runs plus a Saturday morning race, you got a big button also and a chance to win a couple Nike watches. At least 150 runners lined up and after the instructions on which flags to follow, we were on our way. The first thing I noticed was that it was more uphill than I thought it would be but it eventually leveled off . After we got back in the woods, we soon came to the turn off if you wanted the “natural” option. I made the turn with a group of runners and we made our way along the trail. After taking a left turn and running for a little bit, we decided we may have taken a wrong turn and retraced our steps. We headed the right way and joined the other runners who were already there at the bar set up serving wine and beer(yes, in the woods). After a couple drinks we took off for my first mile of natural running. After getting back to the bar, we got our natural running pin and stood around drinking a little more until it was time to be not so natural and finish the 5k run. When we finished we also got our Far Out 5k pin. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">The rest of the evening included pizza, music, and a little skinny dipping in the pool (no pin for that) before I went to bed.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">I woke up about 2 in the morning to put a blanket on and it was raining. It was still raining when I got up a little after 6 and had rained all night. I knew the trails would be muddy, but I had no idea what we were in for. I put on my race gear which included jean shorts, a Jimi Hendrix style shirt, and a flower band tied around my head. I ran a mile warmup and was ready for the mudfest. The marathon and the half marathon I was running started together on the road for the first .4 miles before heading into the woods. I wanted to make sure I started at a good pace and was about 12<sup><span style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup></span> when we hit the uphill single track in the woods. It wasn’t bad initially but kept getting muddier and not falling was going to be the top priority. The choice was to run in the middle which was the muddiest or try to run on the outside of the trail where it wasn’t so wet. The problem was that most of the trail sloped towards the middle so the chance of slipping was greater. I kept a steady effort passing a couple runners and getting passed by a couple others. After about 30 minutes, we popped out of the woods onto a flat, wide, crushed stone rail trail. The pace picked up quite a bit as a couple more runners passed me. I stayed close and after a while the lead runners started coming back by us. I didn’t know the course but assumed there was a turnaround up ahead. I started counting the runners and was behind two marathoners and was in 13<sup><span style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup></span> place in the half. After the turnaround, I passed a couple runners before we took a right turn and headed back in the woods. It wasn’t long before we passed other slower runners and runners were coming in the opposite direction. We later learned a group of runners started late, took a wrong turn and were essentially running the course backwards. This part of the course was hillier and muddier than even the first section and I was increasing the effort a little more. I passed a couple more runners I knew were in the half as well as tons of other runners I had no idea which race they were doing. It had still been raining most of the race and we came upon the muddiest section I have ever seen in a race. For at least 200 yards, the trail was 6 feet wide and filled with 6 inches of sloppy mud. It would have made those Warrior Dashes that are getting popular seem easy. The only thing we were missing was the nets to crawl under. I eventually came to a turn and the race director was there telling the runners they only had 2.5 miles to go that included a 2 mile loop that would bring us back to this same spot and then .5 miles to the finish. My watch showed I had been running for 1:23. A quick calculation told me I was around 8 minute pace so I would have about another 20 minutes to the finish. This part of the trail was much drier as I headed up a large hill. I got to the top and was on a wide trail with large pine trees all around. Looking straight ahead, I didn’t see any of the blue flags that we were following, but looked to my left and saw a set of flags around a sharp turn. Remembering the director saying we were going to be running a loop, I though this was it so I turned. After a couple hundred yards, the next flags I saw were also to my left to I made that turn and was soon back at the race director. I looked at my watch again and it said 1:29:30. There was no way I ran two miles that fast but you never know how accurate these trail runs are. The race director told me to enjoy my win as I only had a half mile to go. I had no idea what he was talking about other than maybe he told everybody that. (completing the race is winning?) It took me almost 6 minutes to run this last part so some of the doubt I had about the 2 mile section went away. I finished a little over 1:35. I was tempted to go right back out on the course to see if I had taken a wrong turn, but it was so muddy and filled with other runners, I didn’t want to take a chance of getting in their way. I watched a few more runners finish before taking a shower and getting something to eat. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">Race results were posted and my name wasn’t among them. I saw the second place overall runner had run slower than I had so I now knew I cut the course. I went to the timing tent and asked the guy who to talk to about the results. He asked if I was #548 and they already had me disqualified. I got a course map and tried to figure out where I took the wrong turn. Like I did a few weeks ago, I was going to run that section later in the afternoon and see how much of the course I cut.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">Little did I know I would have to go to Hell and back before I would find out where I went off course. Coincidentally, our Hippie Hike to Hell, Michigan (another pin) for lunch took the exact trail I was going to run. After reviewing the map, I thought I knew where I went wrong but it was pretty embarrassing when we got to the point where I somehow missed the 8 blue flags marking a right hand turn. Apparently my problem paying attention to course markings happens primarily on steep uphills. I like to attack the ups and must just zone out and forget to pay attention. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';"> I was starving by the time we got to Hell and the large veggie wrap tasted great. I decided to run the missed section on the way back from the walk so when we got there, I put the chips and pop I was taking back in one hand, started my watch and took off. It took me 8:20 to run the loop. I also figured out when I made the first wrong turn, I took another wrong turn that put me back on course. If I hadn’t taken the second wrong turn, I would have run the missed loop backwards. I have no idea what I would have done at that point though and would probably just have cut another section. The path I did take actually added about 10 seconds so I subtracted this from the 8:20 to arrive at how much time I was short. Adding this to my finish time and I would have run close to 1:43:20.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">I kept running back to the finish. and after doing the whole race without falling, I slipped in the mud less that 150 yds from being out of the woods and knew I was going down. The problem was that I had on a nice shirt I liked and didn’t want to ruin it in the mud. Instead of turning to fall on my back, I went straight down and took a little skin off my knee, shin, and ankle. I limped out of the woods and headed for the water faucet to get cleaned up. After that, I listened to the bands, read a running magazine, and ate until it was time for the Trippin 10k.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">After the Trippin 10k was a short hippy hike but with the weather being a little cool, no hippy dipping was involved. There was some hippy dipping in the pool again but with the water more like an ice bath, I passed and went and sat by the bonfire. With over 21 miles running and another 4.5 miles hiking, I was pretty tired so I went to bed to rest up for the last run the following morning. The following morning came a little fast and I hit the snooze a couple times. Finally got woke up, got something to eat and waited in the car. When they announced the run was in 10 minutes, I put my shoes on and walked to the start. It wasn’t a race but the director started the big clock and we took off. I jogged the first 10 minutes to get woke up and then picked the pace up a little. After about 25 minutes we hit the ridiculous 200 yd long mudpit for one last time and I finished the short 5 miles in 36 minutes. After the drawing for the watches (which I didn’t win) it was finally time to go and just like that, I was back in 2011 instead of 1969. </span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">I arrived at the campground a little after noon on Friday, picked out my campsite and registered. There wasn’t much going on yet so I relaxed, listened to the music they had playing and read. Soon the Friday racers started arriving. A lady from Virginia who was going to run the 100 mile and a 68 year old lady from South Carolina who was going to do the 100k parked beside me and I talked to them for a few minutes. The festivities officially kicked off a little before 4 when Lemon James played the national anthem Jimi Hendrix style with her guitar. After that the hallucinators were on their way into the woods for many hours of running as a lineup of 4 bands started playing. The 68 year old lady did finish the 100k but the other had to drop out after 83 miles.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">My first event was the Far Out 5k. For each of these events, you got a small hippie button to pin on your shirt. If you did the 3 fun runs plus a Saturday morning race, you got a big button also and a chance to win a couple Nike watches. At least 150 runners lined up and after the instructions on which flags to follow, we were on our way. The first thing I noticed was that it was more uphill than I thought it would be but it eventually leveled off . After we got back in the woods, we soon came to the turn off if you wanted the “natural” option. I made the turn with a group of runners and we made our way along the trail. After taking a left turn and running for a little bit, we decided we may have taken a wrong turn and retraced our steps. We headed the right way and joined the other runners who were already there at the bar set up serving wine and beer(yes, in the woods). After a couple drinks we took off for my first mile of natural running. After getting back to the bar, we got our natural running pin and stood around drinking a little more until it was time to be not so natural and finish the 5k run. When we finished we also got our Far Out 5k pin. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">The rest of the evening included pizza, music, and a little skinny dipping in the pool (no pin for that) before I went to bed.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">I woke up about 2 in the morning to put a blanket on and it was raining. It was still raining when I got up a little after 6 and had rained all night. I knew the trails would be muddy, but I had no idea what we were in for. I put on my race gear which included jean shorts, a Jimi Hendrix style shirt, and a flower band tied around my head. I ran a mile warmup and was ready for the mudfest. The marathon and the half marathon I was running started together on the road for the first .4 miles before heading into the woods. I wanted to make sure I started at a good pace and was about 12<sup><span style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup></span> when we hit the uphill single track in the woods. It wasn’t bad initially but kept getting muddier and not falling was going to be the top priority. The choice was to run in the middle which was the muddiest or try to run on the outside of the trail where it wasn’t so wet. The problem was that most of the trail sloped towards the middle so the chance of slipping was greater. I kept a steady effort passing a couple runners and getting passed by a couple others. After about 30 minutes, we popped out of the woods onto a flat, wide, crushed stone rail trail. The pace picked up quite a bit as a couple more runners passed me. I stayed close and after a while the lead runners started coming back by us. I didn’t know the course but assumed there was a turnaround up ahead. I started counting the runners and was behind two marathoners and was in 13<sup><span style="font-size:small;">th</span></sup></span> place in the half. After the turnaround, I passed a couple runners before we took a right turn and headed back in the woods. It wasn’t long before we passed other slower runners and runners were coming in the opposite direction. We later learned a group of runners started late, took a wrong turn and were essentially running the course backwards. This part of the course was hillier and muddier than even the first section and I was increasing the effort a little more. I passed a couple more runners I knew were in the half as well as tons of other runners I had no idea which race they were doing. It had still been raining most of the race and we came upon the muddiest section I have ever seen in a race. For at least 200 yards, the trail was 6 feet wide and filled with 6 inches of sloppy mud. It would have made those Warrior Dashes that are getting popular seem easy. The only thing we were missing was the nets to crawl under. I eventually came to a turn and the race director was there telling the runners they only had 2.5 miles to go that included a 2 mile loop that would bring us back to this same spot and then .5 miles to the finish. My watch showed I had been running for 1:23. A quick calculation told me I was around 8 minute pace so I would have about another 20 minutes to the finish. This part of the trail was much drier as I headed up a large hill. I got to the top and was on a wide trail with large pine trees all around. Looking straight ahead, I didn’t see any of the blue flags that we were following, but looked to my left and saw a set of flags around a sharp turn. Remembering the director saying we were going to be running a loop, I though this was it so I turned. After a couple hundred yards, the next flags I saw were also to my left to I made that turn and was soon back at the race director. I looked at my watch again and it said 1:29:30. There was no way I ran two miles that fast but you never know how accurate these trail runs are. The race director told me to enjoy my win as I only had a half mile to go. I had no idea what he was talking about other than maybe he told everybody that. (completing the race is winning?) It took me almost 6 minutes to run this last part so some of the doubt I had about the 2 mile section went away. I finished a little over 1:35. I was tempted to go right back out on the course to see if I had taken a wrong turn, but it was so muddy and filled with other runners, I didn’t want to take a chance of getting in their way. I watched a few more runners finish before taking a shower and getting something to eat. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">Race results were posted and my name wasn’t among them. I saw the second place overall runner had run slower than I had so I now knew I cut the course. I went to the timing tent and asked the guy who to talk to about the results. He asked if I was #548 and they already had me disqualified. I got a course map and tried to figure out where I took the wrong turn. Like I did a few weeks ago, I was going to run that section later in the afternoon and see how much of the course I cut.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">Little did I know I would have to go to Hell and back before I would find out where I went off course. Coincidentally, our Hippie Hike to Hell, Michigan (another pin) for lunch took the exact trail I was going to run. After reviewing the map, I thought I knew where I went wrong but it was pretty embarrassing when we got to the point where I somehow missed the 8 blue flags marking a right hand turn. Apparently my problem paying attention to course markings happens primarily on steep uphills. I like to attack the ups and must just zone out and forget to pay attention. </span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';"> I was starving by the time we got to Hell and the large veggie wrap tasted great. I decided to run the missed section on the way back from the walk so when we got there, I put the chips and pop I was taking back in one hand, started my watch and took off. It took me 8:20 to run the loop. I also figured out when I made the first wrong turn, I took another wrong turn that put me back on course. If I hadn’t taken the second wrong turn, I would have run the missed loop backwards. I have no idea what I would have done at that point though and would probably just have cut another section. The path I did take actually added about 10 seconds so I subtracted this from the 8:20 to arrive at how much time I was short. Adding this to my finish time and I would have run close to 1:43:20.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">I kept running back to the finish. and after doing the whole race without falling, I slipped in the mud less that 150 yds from being out of the woods and knew I was going down. The problem was that I had on a nice shirt I liked and didn’t want to ruin it in the mud. Instead of turning to fall on my back, I went straight down and took a little skin off my knee, shin, and ankle. I limped out of the woods and headed for the water faucet to get cleaned up. After that, I listened to the bands, read a running magazine, and ate until it was time for the Trippin 10k.</span></span></p>
<p> </p>
<p><span style="font-size:medium;"><span style="font-family:'times new roman';">After the Trippin 10k was a short hippy hike but with the weather being a little cool, no hippy dipping was involved. There was some hippy dipping in the pool again but with the water more like an ice bath, I passed and went and sat by the bonfire. With over 21 miles running and another 4.5 miles hiking, I was pretty tired so I went to bed to rest up for the last run the following morning. The following morning came a little fast and I hit the snooze a couple times. Finally got woke up, got something to eat and waited in the car. When they announced the run was in 10 minutes, I put my shoes on and walked to the start. It wasn’t a race but the director started the big clock and we took off. I jogged the first 10 minutes to get woke up and then picked the pace up a little. After about 25 minutes we hit the ridiculous 200 yd long mudpit for one last time and I finished the short 5 miles in 36 minutes. After the drawing for the watches (which I didn’t win) it was finally time to go and just like that, I was back in 2011 instead of 1969. </span></span></p>
