Race Recap: Quarryman Challenge 10 Miler – May 7th

The Quarryman. A 10 mile race filled with hill after hill after hill. And not just slight inclines, but HUGE hills. This race is no joke. 

I debated skipping it this year because it would make three race weekends in a row and I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it, but I love that it’s my hometown race and that it’s so challenging. I couldn’t resist. 

I haven’t been training on hills because my new home isn’t near any hills. At all. But I’ve always been fairly good at them, so I wasn’t too worried.

One of my good friends texted me the Monday before the race and said she wanted to sign up, but wanted to see if we could run together. I was thrilled. Running company can make all the difference, especially on this tough course.

Jen was running Quarryman for the first time this year and I was really excited for her. It’s a crazy challenge, but conquering it is an amazing feeling. I knew she’d crush it! And we’d be done with 5 months of our New Years resolution. 

Molly and I met up at the start and she seemed ready to go. Her goal was 7:45 average miles and I told her that I didn’t have that in me, but that I’d give it my all. 

The first major uphill is a half mile of an incline. It’s crazy. And we ran that mile at 7:46. We decided after that to slow down because we were already breathing heavy. We had a lot more race to go. 

  
We didn’t run with music and we chatted a bit, but we but were focused. I was able to see my Mom and my Dad at a few points of the course which made me happy. Always a little boost of happiness to see your fans. 🙂 

Molly told me to go ahead a few times, but I wanted to cross the finish line together. Her legs were screaming and I wasn’t going to leave her. We were in it together. 

  
After mile 8 it was pretty much smooth sailing. The major hills were done and we were so close. We picked up the pace a little and focused on the end in sight. 

The finish line was a little sad because an ambulance was in the way. A man had collapsed at the finish and that always freaks me out and makes me feel so sad. He looked okay, but the paramedics were still going to take him. 

  
We were still happy to finish. We crossed hand in hand at 1:26:58. 8:42 average. And we were actually 1st and 2nd in our age group! I was so proud of Molly and I loved that we were able to run the whole race together. 

  
Jen did really well too and we enjoyed some post-race local beer and laughed about just how hard the race was. She described the whole race as feeling like miles 20-26 of a marathon and I couldn’t agree more. Your legs are shot, you’re tired, but you push through. 

  
They don’t call it a challenge for nothing. The Quarryman is crazy, but this was year three for me and I keep coming back for more. You’ve got to challenge yourself, right?