My night trail marathon is almost here

This Saturday is my night trail marathon at Eagle Creek Park on the north side of Indy. It sold out and has a total of 500 runners. Both the quarter and half marathon groups are 200+ and then 70 of us doing the full.

They decided to do a wave start - 6:00 PM - quarter, 6:10 - half and 6:20 - full with a 2:00 AM cutoff. They will have heated aid stations about every 2 miles or so on the 6.5 route. It will be a little crowded at first with the tight single track in the first mile or so and then it spreads out. I would guess by 10 PM the trails should be pretty empty with the remaining full marathoners and that would be me.

It will rain in Indy today & tomorrow, but will be clear through Saturday. So I expect some mud, but it should not be too bad. The temps will probably be low 30's to mid 20's - again, that will be just fine. My goal is to be done around midnight, but we will see. I will use a headlight and my Knucklelights too.

I made a video for Planet Adventure using a bunch of stills to give the runners an idea of the route. Not exciting, but it shows most of the route. Not hilly and not overly technical, so it should be a fun night. We made a video stabilizer for our Canon Vixia, but we had to move too fast and it was too jumpy to be sped up.

I will post a report on Sunday afternoon. We are staying at a Motel 6 near the race and then will get up and drive to church on Sunday morning so I can play guitar as usual at our church in Columbus. Hopefully I will not have a broken wrist or arm!

Have a good run, Charles. Can't wait to hear all about it.

Boy, do those trees bring back memories! All you need is a few near-vertical climbs, and it'd be Tecumseh all over again!

And doing it at night should quite the adventure! Bring extra batteries for the headlamp!

Best of luck Charles!

Yes! Have a good race!

I had checked out the website after one of your last posts and reviewed your video of the course. I've spent a lot of time at Eagle Creek, so it all looked pretty familiar to me. I've been there when it was snow covered by at least 6" and then in the summer. Never with it wet from a recent rain.

Ah, the adventures never stop! Enjoy and I'm really looking forward to your report.

Sounds like a fun race. Good luck!!!

Charles, good luck and have fun! I know we will have an interesting report to read next week.

Sounds pretty wild can't wait to hear about it! Good luck and be careful!

good luck. Should be a nice temp.

I realize that I must be patient, but I'm looking forward to hearing how you did on this, Charles. I love your reports!!