WWC Shot in the Dark 10k

 Last night, I ran the WWC Shot in the Dark 10k.I was a little nervous jumping in to this night time race. In a short race everything is happening so much faster. I am going faster so the potential for falling is increased 10 fold. Add on to it the trails are covered in leaves so those pesky roots and rocks are obscured by a smooth blanket of leaves. 

We ran a slightly different course this year. Starting a the pavilion, we rounded channel and headed in to the woods by the Jack Rabbit Trail. We then turned left on North Main to follow the trail along the river. 

When we turned in to trail, there seemed to be some hesitation from the group that I was running. I pushed to the front. I wanted to be able to set my own pace on the trails. No better way than to be leading the group. 

A few places my ankles rolled back and forth as I stepped on something that I couldn't see well. Nothing major happened. My ankles have become quite accustom to rolling and twisting. 

I could hear the guys behind me breathing pretty heavily. 

We dropped down on to South Main. The WWC guys had place lights along the course which was a nice touch. Thomas had added reflective tape to the course arrows which I really liked. Often I was able to see the reflective tape before I could see the arrow. That's a huge help when running at night. 

We came up to the Tower Trail, and I was wondering how many guys would following me vs go straight. This was a course split for 5k and 10k. Several did follow. 

Being this is my favorite trail to run at the WWC, I know every twist and turn. I was starting to get away from them on the climb up. Then, on the way down, I think they struggled a bit with the Mt. Bike jumps. But on top, it was really cool to pop out of the woods, and see the nearly full moon shining. 

Soon, I was back on South Main which we followed until we reached Goat. Here, we took the forest road to the top. This long climb does make the heart race a little faster. However, the WWC guys helped us a bit by having blown off the leaves. It was great to be able to see exactly where to step. 

At this point, I was intermixed with some of the 5k runners as we took the rest of South Main back toward the WWC. 

Coming up on the 10k turn for the Lake Loop, I was catching this runner. He was going way slower so when he turned off on Lake Loop, it caught me by surprise. I said something about 5k runners should have gone straight. He responded that he was running 10k. Still surprised, I asked if he missed the Tower Loop. Here he responded "how would I know that". Fortunately, he could not see the puzzled look on my face from his response. My reply was that I was leading the 10k runners and no one had passed me. Maybe a second passed then he said that he started early. After this, I left it alone. I was passed him and pulling away. Maybe what he said was true, and they did let him start early. 

Lake Loop was pretty much auto pilot for me. There is so much traffic on it that the trail is pretty much clear of leaves. 

I finished in 49:31, and I was the top overall finisher in the 10k. This kind of surprised me but then, the 5k race had so many more runners. I guess more people was a taste of the night time trails and not the full experience. 

While waiting around after the race, it was starting to get cold. I found myself cozying up to one of those heat lamps. I struck up a conversation with another runner from Atlanta. We were both waiting around for the awards. I asked him about his race. He had driven up from this evening and had arrived a few minutes before the race. Then, he was telling me that he placed in his age - actually our age group. He went to say that the top guy in our age group was also the race winner. I replied that I saw the same thing on the display. He never asked if it was me, and he only realized it when they called out awards. 

In all honesty, running at night on the trails is dangerous. For some reason, I dread starting it but love it once I am out there running it. There is something about having the entire world shrink down to just what my headlamp lets me see. 

Cool Down Runner Adventures