Race Report - 2014 Mystery Mountain Marathon

Race start.

If I remember correctly, I had registered for this race two times before and both times, I ended up with a DNS due to a previous commitment or injury. This time, I wasn't going to let that happen. After racing in the Fleet Feet Monte Sano 15K on Saturday morning here in Huntsville, AL I headed home to watch some soccer before loading up my car to head to Fort Mountain State Park just outside Chatsworth, GA. I didn't feel like making the 3 hour drive on the morning of the race, so instead I headed West Saturday afternoon to pick up my race packet and make use of one of the primitive campgrounds inside the state park that was reserved for runners. However, the weather forecast called for thunderstorms, so instead of unloading my minimalist tent and potentially having to deal with lots of wetness at night and on race morning, I decided to camp out in the back of my car. It wouldn't particularly comfortable, but it would be dry and warm.

Race Report - 2014 Southern Tennessee Power Classic Marathon

It was Thursday night and I was roaming on Facebook to see if I anyone was looking for a long run this weekend. Pinhoti 100 was only 4 weeks away and I was in need for another long run. When I came across Ryan's post about running a marathon or half marathon race in Winchester, Tennessee about an hour north of Huntsville, I was immediately interested. I looked up the Southern Tennessee Power Classic Marathon to find out more. I was still undecided when I came across a post where a fellow runner offered up her free race entry coupon. Initially, she was asking for a nominal fee, but when we both realized that online registration had closed prematurely, she offered the coupon to me for free in hopes that the race director would still honor it. When I contacted the RD, she did just that. Now I had a free entry and a free ride (compliments of the Chaffin family) along with great company (Blake came along to run the half with Ryan while Aleisha was doing the marathon as a training run), so how could I not go.