Race Report: Living History Farms XC 7-mile

Alternate title: Dirty Girl

Alternate title: XC Bitch

Alternate title: Water, water everywhere but none of it to drink

I ran the Living History Farms 7-ish Mile XC run on Saturday.

My first cross country race ever.

I was told to wear old shoes and clothes I didn't care about. I guessed that it might be muddy.

DUDES. I HAD NO IDEA.

Wait. I'll start from the beginning.

I got to the race early to pick up my packet - I heard that shirt sizes were limited so they suggested getting there early. I was there when the doors open...and they were still out of my size. BLAST. So I got my bib, chip and too-big shirt, and headed back to my car.

I had an hour to kill. I'd gotten four hours of sleep the night before (I was staying in Des Moines with a college friend and we were up until the wee hours catching up). I decided a nap in the car was in order. I cranked up the seat warmer, set the alarm on my phone, reclined the seat, and headed off to dream land. I slept for about 45 minutes. Best nap ever.

After my nap, I headed to the starting area, where I ran into Lisa - a White Bear Lake Lifetime runner. We ran 22 miles together at the Duluth retreat in May. Fancy meeting you here!

Also spotted at the starting line:

A swarm of bee-people.

A man wearing a loincloth. ONLY A LOINCLOTH. No shoes. No underpants. I definitely saw a little ass cheek action.



A cross country team wearing only boxers.

Shirtless guys in swimcaps, goggles and spandex-y pants.

There were lots of costumes. Lots of matching group outfits. And lots and lots of people. Jam packed!

The gun or horn or whatever sounded, and we were off. I started running with Brooke - a friend of Lisa's. There were people everywhere. And did I mention that there were people everywhere? It was complete chaos.

It continued like this for the first mile...and then it got WORSE. There was a tunnel and it was a huge bottleneck. So we waited and waited until we could take our turn. The tunnel was muddy. A-ha, I thought to myself. Mud! Here it is! I HAD NO IDEA.

After the tunnel, the crowd thinned a bit. We ran up some hills, near some fields, through tall grass. We entered a wooded area, and there it was. A cute babbling creek. That We Had To Cross.

It was another bottleneck - most people tried to cross by hopping the stones in the shallow area of the creek to keep their feet dry. I was one of those people. I crossed the first creek, shoes still dry.

I crossed the second creek, shoes still dry.

I crossed the third creek, shoes still dry.

I crossed the fourth creek, shoes...well, almost dry.



But the fifth creek? There wasn't a way to cross without going balls out and just running through it.

The sixth creek? Screw it, my shoes are already wet.

The seventh creek? This is fun!

The eighth and final creek? Oh goodness.

It was a sharp dropoff...made out of mud. So I slid down (mudslide...whee!)...down to the creek. But then I had to climb out on the other side. Which was also a big muddy dropoff. I clawed and climbed my way out, with a muddy boost from a person below. Evidenced by the muddy handprints on my ass.

And then I was in the home stretch. With a mile to go, I brought it home.

As I was in the final stretch, I saw a familiar face cheering in the crowd...Danielle! YAY for unintentional bloggy meet-ups! And 'tis true...she has me seriously considering the Doughnut Run next year. :)

I crossed the finish and they handed me my medal...in a plastic bag. Good call, because I was covered in mud.


Note to self: Don't touch face with muddy hands. Also, wear a hat.





I grabbed some water - there was NONE on the course - unless you count the creeks we crossed. And as soon as I stopped moving, I started to freeze my ass off. I was shivering and my hot cider was splashing all over my mud covered gloves...but I didn't mind because it kept my hands warm. :)

It was a great race. Muddy. Fun. Exciting. New.

Who wants to join me next year??

(And here's a great video clip from the Des Moines Register...)