2016 Harbison Race Report

 6th Harbison 50k Race Report

January 9, 2016.

(I somehow missed this one and am writing it 8 years later!)

This was my 6th straight start here in the Harbison State Forest just outside of Columbia, SC. I flew down from St. Paul, MN for this on Wednesday as I had moved in April 2015. I worked 2 days in our Greenville office (where I used to work), and rode down with a friend (Merle) the night before to avoid the early morning 90 mile drive before the 7:30am start. The course changed a little bit due to rain/flooding, but had great temps of 46° at the start. It would never get over 55°. 

On the double-loop course, I started off with another friend (Kerrie) the first few miles, and then mostly was alone for the a good 14-mile stretch. My left knee had been sore going into this event, but, oddly, never bothered me. However - my Right knee IT band decided flare up at mile 6! It really limited my running and got progressively worse and allowed for 15seconds of running at a time.  

At the halfway point, I was just behind Kerrie and our other friend Terry. Kerrie decided to stop and I pushed to catch Terry. (I don't have any mid-course times for this race - not sure where my mind was).

I did catch Terry around mile 18 and we walked it in from there with a few short bouts of running. It was cloudy all race, and some rain started up around 2pm, but there was less mud than expected. 

Terry and I finished together in 8:16:10!

Flew back home the following day, back to the snow and took two full weeks off before doing some cross-country skiing and my first snowshoeing outing!

Photos:

Starting line - my in my blue jacket and hat (and knee strap) to the right

Chatting with Sergio pre-race

RD David Nance giving instructions

Post-race!