Weekend in Memphis

This past weekend saw me travel to Memphis for the Swamp Stomper 25K through Meeman-Shelby Forest in the Mississippi River floodplain. My friend Jacques and I drove there the night before because it's about 3 hours away and the race started at 8:30 AM. Downtown Memphis is a ghost town on a Saturday night, which is kinda creepy and the complete opposite of Nashville. We met Brad Montgomery for dinner at Aldo's pizza to do our pre-race carb loading together since he was also running the 25K.

Race morning was overcast and chilly - perfect weather to race in! The organizers also claimed this was a good year because it wasn't too wet, however most of the course was mud! I had the hardest time running downhill without slipping and twisted my ankle more than once on the hidden red cypress roots poking up from under the leaves. I only full on fell once though. It was quite an enjoyable race otherwise, with well-provisioned aid stations including port-o-potties that are a must on races of that length. Still, the mud slowed me down and I finished at 3:11:45 - about 10 minutes behind Jacques and Brad who finished just past the 3 hour mark. Now I really want to do another one though!