Torreya State Park recap

WOOOOO EEEEEEE, what a run.

2 months and 2 completely different races.  Last month was the 50K in desert mountains of Arizona, yesterday was 50K in lush forest of Torreya State Park in the Panhandle of Florida. These 2 races were completely different as night and day in terrain, vegetation, sun exposure and technical aspects. BUT they were both very challenging physically and mentally, organized and run by great people who are also runners, staffed by amazing volunteers that spent hours at aid stations being nice to a motley crew of runners.

 I drove up early Friday to help Joe Edgecombe (the race director- www.draggintailrun.com ) with course set up and talk about training for altitude level Ultras. He told me that he would prep for the Pike’s Peak Marathon by training at Torreya State Park. I just scratched my head and wondered if he was serious. I had heard about Torreya’s hills but they are still just a blip above sea level.

Well, let me tell you. After I finally finished the race, with legs that felt like lead, I agreed with Joe. What a race it was. It lived up to its billing as toughest Ultra in Florida, outstanding beauty and great people. It is limited to 50 people in order to protect the trails. It did not have the 2,000 ft. climbs of the AZ race of last month, but a constant up/down and turn that blew out your quads and mashed my toes from slamming countless roots. At least in the glaring desert sun you could see all the rocks, here in the shade of this amazing forest, the countless roots blended in nicely with fallen leaves and shadows. They lurked there just waiting to grab your shoes, especially on the downhills. Luckily, I only had 2 big falls and managed to save myself on several other occasions.

A ½ mile long hill full of roots to the finish line was the coup de grace.