Assault on Black Rock III

I was searching for local events on Active.com.  I came across ''Assault on Black Rock III'' and thought it was the coolest name.  It benefited the Community Table, a hunger-relief group in Sylva, NC.  This was a roughly seven-mile trail race.  I would go picking a difficult trail race for my first mountain race. The elevation increase was over 2000 feet, with the peak sitting at around 5000. My race bib was stamped when I made it up there. It says ''I swear I made it to the top.'' I took a quick look at the view, then got moving, as I was trying to make time. I refused to look at my watch...no need to depress myself. It took just over three hours. Those who did it in 101 minutes got a belt buckle.  I ran some, walked plenty. At some points, running wasn't practical or safe. I had planned to wear boots and hike, but decided to stick with my Asics. I wanted to have the option of running. It wasn't that rooty, but I did have to watch out for rocks. With the summit as high as it was, there was still some ice near the top. I made it okay going up, but slipped going down. I went slightly off the side of the trail. I let out a little scream, but quickly got moving again. I was quite dirty when I got done. Fortunately, I had a towel in the car (lesson learned). Someone came along shortly after I slipped and confirmed that it was me. It was kind of like doing a marathon; really hard, but I would do it all over again. And I got a cool lime green shirt out of it.    :)  

At 5,000+ feet!