Wild Turkey 10k (Anna)

Date/Location:	11/26/20 Beale’s Point
Distance:	5.8mi (~10k)
Time:	45:02
Place:	3rd female
Teammates:	Troy Soares, Suzanne Hartley

3, 2, 1, Go. I start running and take off my mask and put it in my vest. As I'm doing this my headband/ear warmer starts to fall off. I grab it just in time. I'm running with my dad and I hoping that if it's God's will that I can beat him in the end. I’ve just recovered from a hip injury and I'm hoping that it won't act up to in the race. We start to run down below the side of the Levee and we get ready to run back up it. It's pretty cold out but this uphill will hopefully warm me up. At the top of the hill, I'm all warm and my dad and I start to count and memorize the people ahead of us. I know that there are two girls ahead and one girl next to me. If I want to make the podium I'm going to have to stay ahead of the girl next to me. Running around the road and over across another Levi.

I've run here before with my cross country team and it was pretty flat. But we're going on another part of it where there are more trails so it will get pretty hilly. My dad has a lot of people ahead of him and it will probably be pretty difficult for him to get on the podium.

Mile 1. 7:41. As we're running along we start to pass the 5k’ers that had gone before us. I'm kind of surprised were passing them so soon. By now I'm starting to get a little bit ahead of my dad. I'm feeling pretty good and trying not to go too fast so I have energy at the end.

As I go around the corner I see Mom, Ariel, and Oscar in the distance. My dad caught back up and now we're running together. We go past mom and Ariel and they cheer us on. Now we're going out on the trails, it's about to get hilly.

Mile 2. 7:45.  Yes, only 4 more to go.  The girl is still next to me and I've found out that on the uphill she pushes it pretty hard but on the downhills, I can get ahead of her. I try to use the downhills to my advantage. As we continue running, my dad tells me that we're going to be going up a super steep hill that leads to the water tower. When we get close to the super steep hill we pass it. My dad says that the course is going to have us go down the steep hill instead. Supposably the other side is an easier climb, yay. My dad reminds me to drink some water, it's a good thing he does because I probably won't drink for the rest of the run. As we make the loop around, we're all mainly staying together. There are a few people in the distance and the girl still right next to us.

We run up, down, and around.  We turn and start going up the other hill to the water tower. I recognize this spot from the Chanoko 5 mile run. It is a pretty hard climb and I try not to let the girl get farther ahead of me. She pushes it up the hill but as she gets close to the top she starts to walk. Now is my chance. I tried to push hard up the hill but not enough to waste a ton of energy. I'm able to just pass her as I get to the top.

Mile 3. 8:33. My legs are like jello when I go from pushing up a hill to flat and they're exhausted. We start to go down the super steep side. It might have been better that we'd come up this side because we're running so fast down it and it's kind of dangerous. My dad tells me not to twist an ankle. I normally twist ankles a lot but I'm going to try to keep my feet firm here. I go down dodging the rocks and trying to keep a good speed so I can gain distance from the girl behind me. My knees are kind of getting a little sore going down this, but I'm almost to the bottom. I see a guy in front of me turn back onto the trail and I follow. We get back onto the trail we were on and start running back towards the levee where Mom and Ariel are. I'm feeling pretty good and we are almost done with this course. I see a younger boy who had started in the lead, I put him as my target. As we run around curves, uphill, and the downhills I'm slowly gaining. I pass him and tell him good job. I also hear my dad's breathing behind me, so he caught up to me again. I don't hear the girl so that's a plus. I know we're getting close to Mom and Ariel.

Mile 4. 7:33. We see Mom and Ariel and they cheer us on. They tell us that a friend of ours is up ahead. They also tell me I'm the third girl and should try to catch the second girl. Right now all I want to do is just stay ahead of the girl behind me. Sadly we don't continue on the levee and we go back on the trails where it's nice and hilly, boo. There's a guy up ahead and he looks back to ask where to go, I see a flag on a bush branch and tell him to go left. As we go through the winding trails we come to another intersection and the guy starts to go the wrong way. I quickly tell him to go left where the flag is. They have really bad markings, there's no chalk, there are only little flags in different spots to tell you where to go. They need to do a better job next time at marking the course. As we continue on the trails I continue to keep my eyes open for the flags to help guide the people behind me the right way. Later after the race, I found out the girl behind us got a little bit lost because she couldn't see where we went.

Mile 5. 7:44. We're so close to being done! But now it feels like I'm in a dream and I'm trying to run but I'm not going anywhere. My legs are dead and it takes so much effort just to move them. I hear my dad behind me and I tell myself I'll have a good attitude if he beats me. Surprisingly I stay ahead of him for a little bit but then he passes me. I get right on his tail though and I don't let him get any further ahead of me. We're coming up to a downhill and I'm able to get ahead. I know the downhill will help me get a teeny bit ahead of him. I run down the trail and across a road and continue on the trails. I can see the Levee way up above and I know we will soon have to run up it. I'm on a winding trail and I try not to let my dad pass me. I continue to force my legs to move and I have no idea how much longer my legs can go. I'm trying to keep my form good but I'm very tired. Hopefully, if it's God's will I will not be hurting my hip right now. I go around the corner and I see a girl ahead of us starting to go up the levee. Okay, this is the last hill and then the finish line. I know I just have to stay ahead of my dad. As I'm running my dad tells me that I missed the little cross-part over the small rock gorge. I jump from where I am and I make it over. Too bad I had to jump and use some of my energy.

I'm coming up to the levy and I try to get my legs going pretty fast. It's like God is pushing me up that hill because I have energy and once my legs started moving they didn't stop. I didn't know if they could keep me going this speed all the way up the hill. The top of the hill keeps getting closer and closer and I'm hoping I can just keep this momentum to the top. I know my dad is not close behind me for now. I get to the top and I'm tired. I'm not sure where to go. I see a trai off to the left so I start going down it. I get to the bottom and I realize I went to the other side of the finish line. I curve back and go into the finish line and finish. I went a little bit of the wrong way at the end, but it didn't add much distance, I still had the same race distance as my dad's.

I finish the race and collapse after pointing to God going through the arch.

God gave me a lot of strength especially up that Levee and now I could just rest and get my calories back at Thanksgiving. I thank God for giving me a great race, keeping my hip well, helping me get 3rd, and letting me beat my dad. The course was a little short so if it was the right distance my dad could have beat me, who knows. Happy Thanksgiving!

Praise The Lord For He Is Good His Love Endures Forever