Well the 4th Annual Barkley Book Fair Race is behind me. It was my first Barkley Book Fair race & will be the first of many more. I believe it is taken from the Barkley 100 Mile Endurance Run.
Brian is here doing his pre-race stretches on the generator.
The race started @ 9:30 PM (in the dark) at Turkey Mountain on the trails. So what boundaries are we breaking out of here? Well, night time trail running can be a bit daunting as there are rocks, roots, limbs, climbing, sliding & other exciting things all of which you cannot see until you are there. It is sort of like faith in GOD; you have got to step out in faith without that solid knowledge or sight of what will be there only that things will be okay. Night time trail running is like that, You have got to trust your instincts & be able to react quickly.
We were given our instructions & our map. Along the trail, we were to find (12) books the titles of which we soon found were very appropriate. We were to tear pages from the books corresponding
to the last (2) numbers of our race number.
to the last (2) numbers of our race number. For me it was #36.
After this, we were pointed in the right direction sent off into the darkness.
Desiree is here finding her way in the dark (Duh! Were all in the dark all night!) We were soon running along the tracks heading North. I was all ears to be sure that I did not see any train lights coming. 
We soon came across our first book (good thing for those darn paper plates giving us directions heading off into the bush - no wonder I was itching all the next day.)
We were soon back on the pa
ved trail but not for long. We were back on the trails. We seemed to be gaining elevation. Up, up, up (& up more) we went. Good thing we could not see what was ahead of us.
ved trail but not for long. We were back on the trails. We seemed to be gaining elevation. Up, up, up (& up more) we went. Good thing we could not see what was ahead of us.We seemed to wander for hours (not really, it seemed like it though) when we came to a
n old wooden ladder. Once again, it was Up We Go only to find ourselves on top of a rock. From here, it was a rope to the next level. Oh, did I mention that I have a fear of heights? We had the option of going back down & taking the long way around but I felt that it was a good time to face my fears. I 
mean, what is the worst that could happen - I could slip & fall & break things. Fortunately the fear boundary was broken & up I went (sorry, no pictures here as I was holding on with both hands for dear life & the camera was stashed away).
n old wooden ladder. Once again, it was Up We Go only to find ourselves on top of a rock. From here, it was a rope to the next level. Oh, did I mention that I have a fear of heights? We had the option of going back down & taking the long way around but I felt that it was a good time to face my fears. I 
mean, what is the worst that could happen - I could slip & fall & break things. Fortunately the fear boundary was broken & up I went (sorry, no pictures here as I was holding on with both hands for dear life & the camera was stashed away).We continued on trail taking turns leading & running when we could & stopped when we needed to to check our map as Russell is here.
TZ had promised us a surprise near the end but we had no idea what to expect. The map showed a partial loop but it was not until we had passed the same pile of broken glass for the THIRD TIME that we knew we were running in circles
. Not only that, but the Book #13 was odd since we were only suppose to have 12 books.
. Not only that, but the Book #13 was odd since we were only suppose to have 12 books.
And finally, we had gathered all of the book pages.
Way to go K1. Can't wait until next year.
Way to go K1. Can't wait until next year.
K2
1 comment:
Great post, K2. Glad you enjoyed it!
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