Ran the 6.5 Mile "Lumber Around the Levee" Race in Micanopy Today

Alachua County recently acquired some wetland areas lying between the town of Micanopy and Paynes Prairie.  At Barr Hammock Preserve, just off Wacahoota Road on the west side of I-75, Off-the-Grid Racing just held a 6.5-mile trail run on a looping levee...hence its name "Lumber Around the Levee".  The raised, mostly grassy trail cuts through low-lying marshlands and prairies, and we were warned about possibly encountering alligators and snakes during this morning's race.  There were only about thirty runners, making this easily the lowest-attended race I've ever run.  I say "race" tongue-in-cheek, though, because my goal here was just to cover the distance without trying to set any personal records or beat anyone.  That's good, because I did just that...I finished in 1:03:12, just a little faster than a 10 minutes per mile pace...and the great majority of the runners were much faster.  Even with that, though, at about the 5-mile mark and on to the end, I had some difficulty with the high 85% humidity...although the temperature was a pleasant 61.  It was overcast the entire time, which eliminated any glare.  I didn't see any 'gators, but there was one big, nasty-looking snake on the trail about a half-mile past the starting line...

My one mishap during the race came at about 2.2 miles, where I tripped over a tree root and went sprawling forward onto the ground.  My falling instincts must be pretty good for I came out of it none the worse except for some scrapes around my left knee...it was more embarrassing then anything else. I'm glad I got to run this event after missing two other local races last month.  Toward the end, though, my throat dried up and I went into some wretching coughing spells, forcing me to walk part of the race's remainder. Still, I'm going to need to do better if I want to be successful in either of the local area's two half-marathons coming up in January and February...

Here is the website for the race at Off-the-Grid Racing.  One of the attendants at the end of the race told me that they would be posting the race results on it as soon as they could...