Worries, Overthinking and Indecision - The Hobo 25k Trail Race

I'm a worrier.  Just ask my sister.
With some (or a lot of) encouragement from my friend Connie, several months ago I signed up for the Rock Cut Hobo 25k Trail Race. 25k is roughly 15.5 miles.
It's been many years since I've visited the park, but I know that it's heavily wooded, with beautiful trails.  I've been so excited, and a little nervous, to do this long race.  I've waked a few half marathons over the past few years, but not something this long. And those were road races; paved surfaces.  Trail races can put you onto just about any surface. Dirt, grass, gravel...and always at least a few tree roots across the path.
The big race was yesterday, Sunday September 15th.  But a few days prior, we had torrential rains across a large area of northern Illinois. That included the site of this race.  Oh, and here at home too.
And the rain found a new route into our basement, through a window well.  Sort of a waterfall feature into the finished area of our basement.  Can you see where I'm going with this "worry" theme?

So, in addition to the basement ordeal (twice within 2 days) I was stressing about the trail conditions. I almost forgot to tell you that the race location had to be moved from Rock Cut State Park, due to bridge construction that got a late start due to flooding this Spring.  Water, water everywhere!
The races were held at Deer Run forest preserve. It was a beautiful area, just not as heavily wooded as the park.

This race was a 3 event race. A Friday night 10k, Saturday 25k, and Sunday a 25k/50k simultaneously.
You could choose 1 event or all 3. We chose the Sunday 25k, since it's supported for more hours.
Want to see the photo that REALLY had me worried about the trail conditions?  Take a look.

Photo credit: James Wright

See????  The Kishwaukee river was rising rapidly during Saturday's 25k. Deeper with each the 3 race laps.

On Sunday morning the weather was chilly and very cloudy. Dark clouds. Still some thunder hanging around from the overnight deluge. Yeah. Worry about being struck by lightening during the race. Worry about what to wear. Will I ruin my clothing if I have to wade through knee high water? Wear my worst, old pair of shoes that don't have much arch support anymore? My new shoes feel great, but I don't want to ruin them. ETC, ETC & ETC.
Stop the worrying, already!  OK?

Now, the big race!

Overnight, the race organizers created a completely different route for the Sunday races.  Those people were amazing!  A big thank you Rockford Road Runners!

Pre-race video.  It was exciting and we were more than ready to get started!

This is the deepest water we encountered on Sunday.

I had soggy socks and shoes, but I didn't mind at all.
As the 3 of us went through race check in/packet pick up we realized that, since our last names all begin with the letter W, our bags were easy for the volunteer to find.  That same volunteer later called us The Flying Ws, as we completed our first lap of the race.  These volunteers were fun and so supportive!
This will be a long post with lots and lots of photos.  You've been warned.  :)

Me, Connie and Christine

We had a great time. The running community here is SO supportive, encouraging and inclusive.  There were so many times other participants gave us encouragement.  Great job...way to go.....you've got this!   I can't say enough good things about them. Hey, and our trio...The Flying Ws?  Awesome!
Here are more photos from race day.

 Right before these photos were taken we had dark skies and rumbles of thunder to the West. Fortunately, the storm turned and went to the north of the forest preserve.

The skies cleared!!!

I think this was during lap 4 of 5.

Christine is a little rascal!

Heading UPHILL!

Getting wet again!

Photo bombed by a new friend we met along the way!

AND....post race pics!  We were spent, tired....whatever you want to call it.  But so pumped!  We did it!  Muddy legs and all!

Wearing our mud proudly.

We're muddy, but happy.

We finished!

Pffft….just a little water and mud.

Guess what????  Connie and I each won 2nd place in our respective female age groups.  What an awesome surprise!  The award is a railroad spike.  When this race event was created, many years ago, the railroad still ran through the park and hobos hopped onto and off of the train, as it passed through the park.  Hence the spike.  :)

My spike!

I love the striped race tee.

My total mileage for race day!

 Awards waiting for the award winners for the Triple Crown. Those that did ALL 3 races.

I iced my arthritic right knee after I got home....following a very refreshing shower.

Photo credit: unknown

If you're interested in stats, my total time for this race was 4 hours, 39 minutes & 21 seconds. My pace was 18.01 minutes/mile.  Race start time was 8 am.

Oh, but sometimes it's BOTH!

Wooohoooo!  I can't even try to describe this entire experience. To be blessed with the physical and mental strength that this race required, I am so grateful.  Especially at my age of almost 67 years.  I adopted this active lifestyle only 6 years ago.  Up until then I led a very sedentary life.  I wish that I had made these eating and activity changes many years earlier, but thankful that I didn't wait any longer.

Life is short.  Enjoy it.  Do anything and everything you want. Don't wait.

Susie