Andrea and I bought a car on Friday. We got rid of our gas guzzling Durango and are now proud owners of a Toyota Camry. I’m going to miss the Hemi but I’m not going to miss the gas bill. It took forever to get the paperwork done and we didn’t get back to Lake Jackson until 10:30 Friday night. That is when mine and Jakeb’s Hog’s Hunt adventure began.I pulled into the garage from our car shopping trip and I went into ‘let’s go’ mode. I threw the last of our stuff together and went up stairs to wake Jakeb up. We drove to a hotel on the north side of Houston and were ready to fall in bed since we had to get up early and run. There was some guy in the next room talking loudly. He never paused to stop talking. It was like he was practicing the Gettysburg Address. I thought ‘Oh great we are never going to get to sleep.’ But in about 20 minutes he stopped and the world was silent.
We woke up the next morning after what seemed to me like almost no sleep at all and drove to Huntsville State Park. We got there around 6:20 and picked up our packet and went back to the truck to warm up. It was amazingly cold for April 4th. I think it is weird that Sunmart in December at Huntsville State Park was hot and Hog’s Hunt in April was cold.
Jakeb and I wandered around before the start of the 50k and saw Karen and Katy. They took off and we went back to the truck to put on our shoes, race number water bottle and belt. We stretched for a little while and then went to the starting line where we saw Adrienne and her mom. We talked some and after some race instructions took off.
Jakeb and I were pretty evenly paced as we ran the road for a mile. My legs felt a bit dead but by the time we made it to the trails they started loosening. Jakeb ran strong the whole way. When we made it to the trails we were in single file with a group of runners and the pace slowed. Jakeb and I maneuvered past a couple of people and by the time we made it to the road in the back of the park we were running at a decent pace again. A ways down the road we started seeing the leaders coming back. Adrienne passed by us in first place in the women’s race and looked strong. She went on to win.
In the middle of the race we ended up behind a group of people who were running slower than us and we stuck behind them for a couple of miles. I think it was good to run behind them because it kept us from running too fast. I asked Jakeb how he was doing more than once and he continually said ‘I’m good.’
We made it to the boardwalks and passed the group ahead of us. I asked Jakeb if he wanted to pick it up and he said ‘Let’s go’ so we up’ed the pace into the aid station.
After downing a couple of peanut butter sandwiches and having our water bottles refilled we took off. A woman that was leaving the aid station told us that there was only about 3 miles to go so we ran a bit harder. In the last four miles I would guess we passed ten people.
In the last mile there is a hill (or two) to climb and I started walking and after a couple of steps Jakeb said ‘were not walking’ so I started running again. My kid is a slave driver.
We turned the corner and ran the power line right-of-way to the pavement at the finish. Jakeb sprinted at the end and I couldn’t possibly let him go alone so I ran with him as we laughed at each other. He finished a step in front of me. I stopped my watch at 2:30:52 - a 9:44 pace. It was a good race. I am proud of how Jakeb ran.
Jakeb just got his learners permit so he drove from Huntsville to the Woodlands. We stopped at Pei Wei on the way home and refueled. I drove the rest of the way home and had a horrible time staying awake.
You can read Jakeb's report here ... link.
