HELLS HILLS!

Friday afternoon we headed out for a full weekend of camping, with the main purpose of attending the Hells Hills 5K, 10K, and half marathon races. Jay ran the 10K (along with our fellow Vicksburg YMCA/running friends Amy and her husband Gabe) and Sophie ran the half with fellow 'burgers Kristi, Amy (our spin instructor), and Mack (and a few others from their running group), while Alex and I watched the kids. Our kiddos were up at 6am, so we helped Jay and Sophie get ready, then drove them over to the start pavilion so they could check in and get their race swag. I thought their numbers were hilarious!

After the kids and I parked over by the playground, we walked over to the pavilion so we could snap some pre-race photos of our friends and cheer the start of the race!

Posing with daddy in front of the start/finish line

Hooray daddy!

The Vicksburg crew (minus Jacob): Gabe and Amy, Jay, Lori, (?), Mack, Amy, Tom, Sophie, and Kristi

There's Jacob!

The racers, getting their detailed course directions...

Waiting down field for the race to start (and the kids were getting antsy)

There goes daddy! (We had him wear yellow so we could find him more easily in the crowd)

The parting of the waters (5K/10K to the left, half marathoners to the right)

Uh oh, somebody was NOT happy that daddy ran away from her. No amount of racing explanation appeased her either. Good thing she is easily distracted with food (in this case, breakfast).

After breakfast we went into the playground so the kids could play while daddy raced.

The 5K/10K and half course split right at the start, but all three groups ran past the playground shortly into their races. Kristi was the first to pass us by.

Then we saw daddy going past after his out-and-back.

I didn't get photos of everyone, but I made sure to grab one of Sophie and Mack when they came running by.

 For those interested, here are the courses for Jay and Sophie's races:

 As we neared the hour mark, I hurried the kids over to the finish line so we could cheer daddy in. It was a hot and humid morning (and since it was in the 30s just two weeks ago, these racers were not yet adjusted to running in such conditions), but everyone still came in with great times, despite those hellish hills.

A little muddy (there were a couple of stream crossings, and enough roots in the trails to cause a couple of falls), extremely sweaty, and happy to be done with a homebrew in his hand. Finish time of 1:10.

Mmmm... homebrew! Two IPAs, a Wit, and a Wheat.

The kids were fascinated with the bobble-head trophies!

5K and 10K awards, and raffle time. (The half marathoners were still out on the course at this point.)

Hoping to win a 6-pack of local beer. Or maybe a nice backpack. Or fancy watch. No luck though. James and Cora both highly enjoyed the free Cheetos though, and apparently daddy was unconcerned with Cora's attempts to sample the homebrew... (Just kidding grandparents, she was stealing ice from around the kegs.)

After Kristi finished (she won overall female), I headed over to hang with Alex and the kids so we could cheer in the rest of the Vicksburg crew and Sophie. Amy ended up winning her age group (not the same age group as Kristi, Sophie, and I). Pictured here is Sophie gunning for the finish line with Leo in her arms, and Cora chasing her down...

Tired mama! (I LOVE Manu and Leo's race day shirts!)

And guess who won her age group? Sophie!!

In fact, most of the Vicksburg ladies walked away with awards!

Sophie and Amy won their age groups, Kristi won overall, and Lori placed in her age group.

 Once again, the Forge Racing guys put on a great race with an excellent after party. We will absolutely be attending their future trail races, though Jay and I will have to keep taking turns, since he's now a trail convert - I don't mind at all though, anything to keep us running together until we're old and gray!