Oak Mountain 50k

 On Saturday March 31st I raced the Oak Mountain 50k for the 10th time. Scott and Jackie Parker have been putting on this race for 13 years. In my ten years at the race it has been run flawlessly. It is always well marked.The aid stations are manned with volunteers who are knowledgeable about the needs of ultra runners and are eager to get you in and out in a hurry. A big thanks to all the volunteers who give their time to make our race day go so well. And the cook out at the finish, always something to look forward to. But what truly makes this a great race is the course. Oak Mountain State Park in Birmingham is a jewel. Beautiful, well maintained trails, waterfalls, rock formations and lakes make this trip to Alabama one of my favorite races each year. This race course has it all; climbs, sweet ridgeline singletrack, rocky descents, and soft dirt trails to give your feet a break.
 There are always a lot of familiar faces at this race. The Atlanta posse, the Florida bunch, and the Alabama locals. Middle Georgia had it's own crew this year. Tom Sloope, Chris Parrish, Thomas Flaherty, first time ultra runner Vince Lucas, and myself all made the trip over for the race.
 I started off with three Alabama runners, John Cobbs, Chris Dollar and John Gregg. We ran together into the first manned aid station at the north trailhead in 4th through 7th place. John Cobbs did not stop at the aid station and headed up the the blue trail and put a good lead on John Gregg, Chris Dollar and myself. When we reached the ridgeline we found a good pace and cruised to the rocky downhill where we cross the creek below Peavine Falls. A steep climb up from the creek leads to the second manned aid station at the Peavine Falls parking area. After the aid station I caught up with Cobbs and we ran together along the creek section before he put some distance on me on the long uphill to the unmanned aid station at the jeep road. From the jeep road we ran along a rocky ridge before coming to my favorite downhill of the race. It is a rocky switchback descent to some soft fast gentle downhill that leads back to the north trailhead aid station at 21 miles. I passed John Cobbs on the downhill but he quickly caught up with me on the flats leading into the aid station.
The section from 21 miles to the the next aid station at the Peavine Falls parking lot starts with a 3 mile climb up Double Oak Mountain on a jeep road. This is where the real race starts. John Cobbs and I left the 21 mile aid station together but he soon left me on the climb up the mountain. John is a strong runner, especially on the hills. He put 19 minutes on me in the last 10 miles. Last year he did about the same thing. He always finishes strong. I was able to enjoy the climb and the new section of singletrack that Scott Parker added at the top of Double Oak Mountain to cut out a couple of miles of the jeep road. This trail runs along the west ridge of the mountain. The picture above is from the trail. I really enjoyed this new section with it's great views and rocky singletrack.
 After arriving at the Peavine Falls aid station the second time at 26 miles it is only 5 miles to the finish. This section has a fun downhill on the BUMP trail down to the dirt road crossing. I fill my bottle for the last time at an unmanned aid station and know the race is almost done. The trail curves around several ridges and re-entrants where you can actually hear the finish line activities and smell the burgers before popping out at the finish. I cross the line in 5 hours and 36 minutes for a 5th place finish. Not my fastest time there or my slowest time, somewhere in the middle of my ten races at Oak Mountain. Hope to have several more here in the years to come.

 Another highlight of the day was having Bethany there with Teri. I hope this is her first of many times being dad's little cheerleader.