This is a bit of a work in progress as I still have to find all the photos taken during the race and post those, but I wanted to get these words out of my head so I can write other stuff.
So the Yellowstone Half Marathon….it was well, challenging.
First I’ll get all the details about me that no one really cares about out of the way.
1) I should not sign up for races with no course maps and vague descriptions. I was not prepared for an actual trail run. When the course was released, it was too late in my training to do much about the giant hill. When the course description popped up, I expected a gravel road with some trails, and only a quick mile or so of technical trail, not the technical trail throughout the entire middle of the course.
2) I need to stop believing course descriptions that say mostly flat for the next two miles. Mostly flat means, it’s a hill but we don’t want to scare you.
3) Needless to say, I was not prepared for the hills or the trails. I failed. Let’s just call this a 13 mile hike, which is what many people were doing all around us.
4) I beat the guys who just wanted to finish under 3 for a change. They were trail runners who do a lot of trail races, no road races. At the beginning of the race, I laughed at that. I finish under 3 all the time, even walking the whole thing. I’m glad I didn’t laugh out loud. I didn’t finish under 3 here.
5) Bells are the most annoying thing in the world. Please don’t ever wear them in a race. And they don’t scare bears, they attract them! More about that later.
Now onto the race itself.
The Yellowstone Half Marathon offered a beautiful 13.1 mile trek through some hills just outside West Yellowstone, Montana.
