State #15 Race Recap: Virginia Iron Mountain Trail Ultra Marathon- 30miler

This race will be one that stays with us, two days before this one we lost Thor and the day of the actual race was the one-year anniversary of losing Minnie Moo to cancer.

We knew showing up on race day, we were going to be fighting an uphill battle… aside from the fact it was literally up and down a mountain, we were going in exhausted and pretty under fueled from the past two weeks of stress.

But honestly, trail therapy was what we needed… and this course delivered! You started out on a gravel trail for about five miles which was a good warm up because then you were hit with all the elevation and technical trails. It was probably good the 40 and 50mile races were full because this race took it out of us, but it was a lot of fun and every single racer out there was more than friendly.

We took a couple of nose dives, around mile 10 and then again around mile 20 but we stayed upright more than usual so that was a win. The course had a lot of technical rocks and roots so we were happy we opted to wear our rock plated Topo Ultra-Venture Pros, or our feet would have been hurting!

A lot of people tend to cruise on the downhills/the way back since the course was a there and back, but I tend to move slower down because of being more cautious with my ankle and just knowing I am not very nimble on my feet. We met an amazing lady who had run the course more than a dozen times and also shared some other local races that we should try, she cried with me when I told her about Thor and when she shared about our stories and how we ended up on the trails that day, she reminded me that I can be pretty bad ass.

The course was marked extremely well, this was the first race I have ever don’t that I didn’t get lost or confused at any markings even with there being four different distances, it was easy to know which distance went where and we all started and finished in the same spot which was nice.

Josh and Reis aka Nugs made up our full crew and they were able to see us about six times, Nugs also brought a smile to many faces with her crew neck and overall Queen like behavior.

The finish line was a lot of really good vibes and cheering, which was refreshing since ultras tend to be a little lack luster at the finish with how long they are. There was a full cook out and array of food that both Josh and I got to eat and then instead of medals they gave out local baked goods and jams, which was fun but a little sad cause we like our bling. Josh ate the bread in like one day though so I think he was alright with the arrangement.

Overall this was a great race for State #15 and we paid greatly for our improper fueling going into it and all the elevation during the recovery week but are ready to hit the ground running for State #16 on Oct. 29th!