Shaun, Marissa, and I went out to do the Muddy Marathon in New Jersey. Shaun and I were going to do the half marathon, while Marissa was doing the quarter. We got a late start driving out there and once we got there, we couldn't figure out where we were supposed to go for registration. There was no signage (this will be a reoccurring theme). By the time we figured it out, we were 20 minutes late for the half marathon. So, that mean all three of us were going to do the quarter marathon. While waiting on the start, I changed clothes and hydrated.
The start of the race was signaled by a simple "Ready? Go." by the race director. I had toed the starting line, and with the small field size, I was off and running out front with Shaun right behind. We had walked part of the course earlier and knew the first section was very runnable, so we decided to try and build a lead before the technical sections slowed down the field. After running across a parking lot to the cheers of a couple 10-year old kids (not) directing traffic, Shaun and I tore down a nice downhill of about 150 yards. We swung a 180 at the bottom and started back up the same hill on another trail. We slowed the pace and powered through, although I was feeling the effects of a late night with friends. Shaun went into the lead, and as I labored up the hill, she gave words of encouragement from ahead.
Once the hill was crested, it was a short jaunt before we were back in the woods. At that point, I had caught back up to Shaun and we were tearing through the trail with a decent lead. We ran down the trail and turned off to the left to go over a small stream. The course followed the shoreline for a short bit before merging with the stream for about 15 yards or so. Once we came back out of the stream, we were in uncharted territory, as it was the end of the part of the course we had walked. We lost the trail briefly a couple times, but Shaun and I worked as a team to find the markers and forge on. I took a few glances back to check how far back the rest of the field was and could barely see them through the trees.
The course merged with an existing trail and Shaun and I once again picked up the pace as the trail was flat and again very runnable. As we approached a cliff, arrows on the ground directed us onto an old road that went uphill. We had been instructed that the one "tricky" part of the course would be on this road. Shaun and I were on the lookout for the correct trail to turn on. As we came to what I thought was the trail, runners from the half or full marathon were crossing the path and turning down another path. We were told not to take that path, so Shaun and I continued on the road.
A couple runners who were on their second loop ran by and we asked them which direction we were supposed to go and they told us the course followed the road we were currently on. We passed a couple of other unmarked trails and then got to a point where the road headed downhill. We know that was wrong, so we stopped and started looking around for the course. I ran up the side trails for awhile and only noticed arrows pointing in the opposite directions. We started back down the trail on the way we came and eventually ran into a couple more runners who were also lost. Eventually a group of 6-7 of us were searching the area for the correct path. After about 15 minutes we finally ascertained that the turn was right next to where the runners were crossing the trail. The description of the turn we got prior to the race was confusing because we were not told that both turns were at the same place.
Back on the trail, I sped back up and passed many of the slower runners who had taken the correct turn or realized we were lost and were able to make the correct turn with us. The trail followed a ridge line and as I rounded a corner to find myself running on a slab of rock about 18 inches wide. At the edge of the rock, there was at least a 150 foot drop with no barrier. It was a bit unnerving to know that if I had been flying around that corner, I could have stepped wide and fallen a long, long way. A short distance later I entered a clearing and found the one aid station on the course.
I stopped a grabbed a quick sip of water and then asked the volunteer (a 12-year old kid who didn't really seem to want to be there) if I was going the right way. He pointed me to the trail and the group of us charged ahead. I blew out of the trail and back onto the old road trying to make up lost time. I followed arrows painted on the ground as I flew down hill. Soon, I was no longer seeing any course markings. I slowed down and started scanning my surroundings. A couple more runners caught up to me who now joined the search. We found nothing, so once again we were relegated to back-tracking again. We retreated back up the old road where we found a side trail on the left. We headed up the trail looking for some sort of course marking. Nothing was found, so we returned to the road and tried to decipher some course markings that we knew were not meant for the part of the course we were looking for.
As I became more and more confused (mad), a runner came from the trail that acted as the exit from the aid station. She directed us toward the trail that ran along the ridge line with the 150 foot drop. We arrived back at the aid station and found that there was a trail that went out of the back of the aid station, away from the old road. The kid at the aid station directed us to the wrong trail when we arrived earlier. We had all just ran part of the course twice and explored large portions of other trails and road due to misdirection given to us by the kid. I was furious as I plowed through the woods. There was no more trail. It was all bushwacking and looking for course markings.
At this point there were three of us that were in the general vicinity of each other. I was leading with a girl 20-30 yards behind me and another guy trailing her. The guy behind her was running the half marathon and was on his second loop. We thought he could give us some insight on the course, but unfortunately, he was as clueless as us. We were constantly losing the course. The course was marked with a mixture of lye on trees, flagging tape, and various arrows painted on rocks/stumps. However, these markings seemed to be getting fewer and fewer as we progressed on the course. My progress consisted of running a little ways and moving back out in front of the two runners behind, losing the course markings, slowing down to look around, stopping, the other runners catching up, all three of us wandering around the trees looking for a marking, me finding a marking, and then start running again. This happened over and over again.
The three of us finally reached a point where the course went straight up a very steep incline. Just the type of thing I love. The course went almost directly vertical for 30-40 feet on dirt and rocks. I started scrambling up the hillside, and although my breathing was labored, I felt great. When I popped up above, I couldn't find any more course markings. The duo behind me eventually climbed over the ledge and we all searched together. Eventually the guy who was on his second loop thought he remember the way, so we ran through the trees and various weeds onward without seeing any markings. I was hoping the foliage I was running through didn't include any poison ivy, oak, or sumac, but it was much, much too late to really worry about that. After a 100 yards or so, we came upon another vertical section of the course. This one was almost all dirt, but did have a course marking at the bottom. Once again, I scrambled to the top quickly and began searching for the next course marker.
Just as the girl behind me made it up the embankment, I spotted a marker and we set off running, leaving the half marathoner on his own. The course moved onto to trail, which increased our pace and made it easier not to get lost. Several times we came to forks in the trail and had to take a guess as to which way to go because the trail was marked or previous ground markings had possibly been rubbed away. Eventually we came back to the aid station, which now had no water, and we were instructed which way to go--down the trail we had previously taken under misdirection.
I ran the quarter mile down back to the old road and took a left. This time we actually knew where to turn off the road to take the correct course. I knew at this point I had less than 1.75 miles left and figured the confusion was almost over. I thought wrong. The girl and I turned off the old road and headed down an embankment, taking care not to slide down the loose dirt. When we reached the bottom we found another pair of runners wandering around the forest trying to figure out the course. I found one course marker on a tree, but we couldn't locate another. The four of us searched furiously. The other duo started to backtrack and move off to the south saying they thought the direction I was going was incorrect. I knew they were wrong because they were headed in the opposite direction of the one course marking I found.
I wandered aimlessly about 50 yards in a direction I thought could be the course when I stumbled upon a marking on a tree. I yelled back to the girl and started jogging forward. She caught up as I found another marker. Then, once again, we couldn't find the course. After a few minutes of wandering the trees, the girl spotted a piece of pink flagging tape. So we ran to it. And then couldn't find anything again. She spotted another. And another. So we started following flagging tape. There was no explanation as to why the course markings changed to flagging tape, but at least we were following the course again--hopefully. We ran past a couple of deer stands and some "No Trespassing" signs, which made me a little unsure of our route, but flagging tape was the only thing we could find to follow.
The ground underfoot was becoming softer with every step, eventually giving way to some muddy areas that we tried to step around. Stepping around soon became moot as the course wound through large boggy areas. I just embraced it and plowed through. The girl I was running with was a bit more reluctant, but she had no choice. Sinking up to mid-shin, I could only hope I had tied my shoes tight enough to not lose them in the slop. We forged through the sections and then eventually came out onto a grassy area. The girl commented she was glad to be done with the mud.
We rounded a corner and I realized where we were. I pointed out to the girl that we were at the base of the first big downhill where we did a 180 to head uphill at the beginning of the race. We passed the turn and then faced a long uphill. I looked up and saw several runners struggling up the long ascent. They were all walking. I put my head down and started my assault. It was slow, but I was running. I could hear the girl right behind me. We passed one of the runners and I saw two more ahead. By the time I caught the second runner, I had put some distance between myself and the girl. The incline turned and I passed another guy who was walking. The ascent flattened slightly and I spotted Marissa ahead ducking under some trees to follow the course.
I caught up to her and we both complained about the course as we ran toward the finish. We rounded the fence from the baseball field together and then I ran ahead to the finish. I finished 3 seconds ahead of Marissa. I knew I had been out on the course for a long time, but since I didn't wear a watch, I had no idea how long.
The course was 6.5 miles. It took me 2:01:08 to finish. I still have no idea how far I actually ran, probably between 8 and 10 miles. Countless time spend stopped or wandering around aimlessly. It was the worst marked course I've ever run. To put things into perspective: I started ahead of Marissa, yet I still passed her twice during the race. I was ahead of Shaun the last time we saw each other. I went the right way. He went about 3/4 of a mile the wrong way. He never "passed" me, yet he finished almost 30 minutes ahead of me. There wasn't a single runner that didn't get lost on the course. I feel fairly sure that if the course hadn't been so confusing, Shaun and I would have finished 1-2 in the race.
The course was great. The course markings were terrible. However, there was post-race BBQ, beer, and plenty of door prizes. I walked away with a stomach full of foot, a pint glass, some recovery stuff, and a large bottle of hammer gel.
Would I do the race again? Yes. However, I'd expect to get lost and just have fun. If the course is better marked...well then I'll go balls to the wall and see if I can win.
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