TEAM LINDSAY: BLACK, BLUE, AND GRAY DEATH TRAIL

Sunday, March 9, 2014

BLACK, BLUE, AND GRAY DEATH TRAIL

Well that's certainly an intriguing title, isn't it?

Sophie sent me an email Tuesday morning asking me if I was up for an informal 20K trail race this weekend at the military park. No registration fee and no real organization - just the requirement to bring a compass and a personal first aid kit. That's not scary or anything, right?... After a quick debate in my head, then out loud with Jay, I decided to go for it. I figured Sophie could keep me from getting lost and I could protect her from snakes. So I found myself in the parking lot at noon today (in celebration of Daylight Saving Time), my hydration vest filled to the brim and pockets stuffed with the requisite compass (Sophie carried the first aid), my phone and camera (I knew there'd be ample opportunity for some good photos out there in the woods), some Gu and ShotBloks (20K equates to about 12.4 miles, so I knew I'd need some calories over the 3+ hours I estimated we'd be running - we knew it would be slow due to trail obstacles and elevation changes), and some salt capsules (I'm really disliking Gatorade/Powerade lately and wouldn't carry it in my hydration vest anyway, so the salt capsules are a good alternative, especially when it's hot and humid and you sweat a lot).

So why is it called the Black, Blue, and Gray Death Trail? Mostly because it circumnavigates the entire trail system in the Vicksburg National Military Park (AKA the Boy Scout Trail, because troops from all over come here to hike it and it takes them all day), where so many soldiers died in battle. But also because it's a rough course - lots of hills, some very steep, holes and major erosion, stream crossings, fallen trees and branches that require lots of climbing over and under and around, poison ivy and other vines to trip up your feet, one with gigantic thorns all over it, spiderwebs, bugs (mosquitoes, ticks, and chiggers - oh my!), and the ever-present threat of snakes!

We started our "race" with a debriefing from the guy in charge (and the only other person running it when we were, though a couple of guys ran it earlier in the morning - that put Sophie and I in immediate first and second place for females, ha!) He talked for almost 15 minutes about the tricky turns in the trail so we wouldn't get lost, gave us his cell phone number in case of emergency, and we headed out.

My gear, including the trail map (blue highlights were short sections that required road use) and the 12 page pamphlet discussing the mile markers and other things we'd see en-route. No, we didn't look at the history lesson while we ran, but we did tote it along as a navigation guide, just in case. Please note that we ran the entire thing and were never lost for more than a couple steps if we missed an orange blaze - we rocked as a navigational team!

At the start, following Doug. This was basically our last view of him until we got to the finish, where he was waiting in his truck to ensure we made it back safely. He had already gone home to get showered and changed, then come back out to take our official finish time and completion photo...

Some of the trail was flat and relatively hazard-free, but not much of it!

Nice views out there off the beaten path!

All entrances from roads or grassy fields were super well marked. The rest of the trail was pretty well marked. Some areas were not (mostly because the orange blazes had faded over the years or the marked trees had fallen down...)

THIS plant was horrible! (What the heck is it Jenny?!) There were a few sections of trail FILLED with the stuff, and it grew high, so we had it at our ankles, shins, bellies, and even shoulders at times. Yowza! My one bleeding episode occurred due to damage from this evil plant. And speaking of blood, by the end of the trail Sophie and I decided that they should change the name to the Black and Blue and Red All Over Death Trail ;-)

Another cool section of trail. We wound around through these for about a quarter mile.

Heading up the steepest climb of the run. Shortly after this photo Sophie was reduced to hands-and-knees climbing. The downside was equally steep, but Sophie excels at downhill running. I called her Sure-footed Sophie throughout today's run. And I called myself Danger-footed Denise, as I am not nearly as graceful. She literally takes 1000 steps and looks like she's just gliding over the leaves on descents. I bump and trip and grunt. Either way though, getting downhill is generally easier than the uphill!

Neat trail marker. And notice a dead version of the evil plant in the background...

Less than 2 miles to go, flying through the fields (where the trail was destroyed during the clear-cutting of the woods there a few years ago, so we were instructed to just head for the house and cross the road, then run down another set of hills back into the woods at the marker)

Finished! 3 hours and 46 minutes later (3:27 moving time, since I didn't pause the Garmin for our bathroom break or anytime we got lost and had to stop to consult the map) Those long socks saved our shins from lots of scratches!