The Forever 5 & 10 Miler is a race that joined the RNUTS series last year. It is so named because it takes place on a part of the Hellgate 100K course called the “Forever Trail.” This trail is a notoriously challenging section of Hellgate, a 66.6 mile race, and I was intimidated to participate in a 5 mile race on it. When they added the race last year, I didn’t think I would ever sign up for it. But you know how things go. I’m doing the RNUTS series this year and I needed this race to get my 5 out of 7 races for the series.

We have had some harsh and nasty weather over the past couple of weeks, with three or four snow storms and frigid temperatures. The course received about 3 inches of fresh snow the night before the race, and the temperatures plummeted to 20 degrees with a windchill in the single digits on race morning. Have I mentioned I can’t wait for January to be over?

Barry and I made it to the race safely, dealing with a few slick snow and ice-covered roads. We got parked, checked in and got our race bibs, and then hunkered down in the truck until go time. Barry was running the 10 miler and he ran in shorts (!!) while I had on two pairs of pants and three layers up top. The 10 milers started first at 9 AM and then the 5 milers were off and running at 9:10 AM.

I had decided to put sheet metal screws in the bottom of my shoes the day before the race. It’s something I’ve heard of for a long time, but I had never tried it until now. As we headed down the first section of snowy trail, I was pleased to find the screws did help a lot with traction. I also heard a turkey gobbling in the woods as we headed down the trail (Go Hokies!).

The first mile was primarily uphill, and I alternated running and hiking. We also hit a few creek crossings through here. They were mentioned in the pre-race email, but I didn’t consider that there would be several of them for whatever reason. I wasn’t about to have a repeat of Terrapin, when I fell completely into the water when it was 20 degrees outside, so I just walked through the water instead of trying to rock hop and risk slipping. It did not feel good to have soaking wet feet, and with the out and back format I think we crossed water about 8 times.

After mile 1, we hit some downhill. I was cautious at first before I realized that I really did have great traction going downhill and I wasn’t slipping at all. Part of what makes the “Forever Trail” so challenging is how technical it is. I think we actually lucked out with the snow, in a way, because it was covering the rocks in most places.

Around mile 2, the trail started climbing up to the turnaround point. It was very steep at times. Since the race was an out and back course, and I was towards the back of the field, there were a lot of runners coming back down. So on my way up the trail, I kept having to step into the deep snow on the side of the trail to let oncoming runners pass by.

Once I made it up to the tippy top of the hill, I said hi to Gina and collected my rubber band (to prove I made it to the halfway point) and turned around to head back down. I was able to make quick work of the downhill and enjoyed some pretty views along the way.

As I made my way past mile 3, the lead 10 mile runners started passing me. I hit some more uphill towards mile 4 and started wondering to myself how this race could be uphill both ways! Finally, I reached the top and enjoyed cruising primarily downhill to the finish.

I finished the race in 1:42:06, which was actually a bit quicker than I anticipated. I didn’t have a lot of energy that day and tackling the snowy trails was a challenge. I did manage to dress correctly for the temperatures, which was good. I went with capris and pants on the bottom and a long sleeve, quarter zip thermal, and wind breaker on top.

After finishing, I mingled in the finish area briefly before grabbing some water and the infamous Mountain Junkies pumpkin bread. Then I headed for the truck to put on some warm clothes and get out of my wet socks and shoes. Barry finished shortly thereafter and after he enjoyed some post race food we headed for home.

I’m back to following a training schedule now and it feels good to have some structure again. It’s about a month until our next race, the Explore Your Limits 10K. I hope the weather is better! (Did I just jinx us?)

Happy New Year! Let’s hope we see some return to normalcy in 2022, because I’ve got some big goals on the horizon (see upcoming races on the sidebar). Barry and I decided to participate in the Mountain Junkies Roanoke Non-Ultra Trail Series this year. The “RNUTS” series is a set of trail races ranging from 5K to marathon distance that takes place from January through June. The first race of the series kicked off yesterday, January 8, with the Frozen Toe 10K.

The Frozen Toe 10K is run on the Chestnut Ridge Loop trail in Roanoke and has about 800 ft of elevation gain. This year the race delivered on its name, as we had snow the week leading up to the race and the temperature at the start on race morning was 17 degrees. A little cold in my book!

Barry and I arrived at the race about 45 minutes before the start, picked up our race bibs and swag, and then hunkered down in the truck until it was time to run. When it was race time, we gathered in the parking lot. At 9 AM on the dot, we were off and running. The race started and finished at New Hope Christian Church. From the church, we did a short out and back on the road before hitting the single track trail.

My running hasn’t been very consistent since Christmas, especially the past two weeks, so my goals for this race were to run steady and stay on my feet! I’m happy to report, I accomplished both of those goals. About 4 tenths into the race, we turned onto the trails.

The race alternates which direction we run the loop from year to year, and this year was a clockwise year. I think both directions are similar and I don’t really have a preference. The clockwise direction has rolling hills with three main climbs. I alternated running and hiking as we made our way towards mile 1 and up the first main climb.

As we ran along, we spaced out some and I found myself mostly running alone. The trails were in great condition and I enjoyed how pretty the woods were. There’s something about snow that makes things seem so peaceful and quiet.

The miles ticked by with some more downhill through mile 2 before the second of the three main climbs. After that climb we had the longest downhill of the day and I enjoyed letting go a bit and just letting it roll.

It can be tricky to dress appropriately for the cold. You don’t want to overdress, because then you’ll sweat a lot and be freezing from that. I decided to go with pants, a short sleeve, a quarter zip long sleeve, mittens, and a beanie. My back did sweat some from my pack, but otherwise I think I got it right. Before I knew it, I hit mile 4 and had just two miles left to go.

A little past mile 4 we hit the biggest climb on the course. I’m very familiar with this hill. It’s long and has a switchback or two in it. I hiked all the way up and was glad to get it behind me. From there I only had a little over a mile to go.

It was funny to see how some parts of the course were snow covered and in other parts it had melted completely. The snow covered parts felt much cooler than the sunny parts – I supposed the snowy parts were on north-facing parts of the loop.

It’s essentially a net downhill to the finish over the last 1.2 miles, and I clocked in my fastest mile of the day. I didn’t push hard on this race, but just stayed around a threshold pace and tried to stay steady. I finished with one of my slower times on the course, in 1:26:04. But I felt alright overall, except that the cold air was hard on my lungs and made me cough.

After I crossed the finish line I met up with Barry and grabbed some post-race food (including the famous Mountain Junkies pumpkin bread!). We didn’t stay in the finish area long since it was so cold outside. I was ready to go get in the truck and put on a dry shirt.

Overall, it was a good start to what I hope is going to be a big year. I’m looking forward to getting back into some structured training, and the next race on the calendar is the Forever 5 Miler on January 29.