When I heard from my daughter about all the rain in San Antonio I pretty much knew what I was in for. However, I hoped for the best in running the Leon Creek 50K. The other draw was that I got to see my daughter Katie who it turns out lives only 10 minutes from O.P. Schnabel Park where the race was held. My wife Kathy drove me out and back. My sciatic problems had been bothering me so much during the past week that holding my foot on the accelerator made my hip hurt. Kate dropped me off at the start at 6:30am on Sunday and we checked out a map of the course that the race director Roger Soler had drawn up. The race was a 10K, 25K, 50K run all at the same time. The course was supposed to be a 25K loop with a short loop for the 10k runners. Most of the distance was supposed to be run along an out and back following Leon Creek. However the creek was now in flood stage and the creek trail under water. Roger had re-drawn the course as a 12.5K loop using about 3 miles along the creek that were partly under water but passable. So we were faced with one loop with a short out and back for the 10K runners, two loops for the 25K runners and four loops for the 50K. "Very muddy" areas were marked on the map and the steep 80 foot rise and decent to and from the creek.

About 200 were there to race but the 50K field looked pretty small - maybe only 30. The morning was dark but not raining with temperatures in the high 60's - not too unpleasant. Roger gave us a little pep talk but warned us about knee deep water and slick mud before the start at 7:30am. I was apprehensive about the mud, remembering how tiring it was in the Rocky Raccoon 50K to run with heavy, wet, mud caked shoes. As soon as we got on the trail the mud caked onto the bottoms of our shoes! Now I realized I would be running the entire race with mud-caked shoes and so resigned I began to relax more and enjoy the race. The trail is beautiful! If you get a chance to run it - do. If you don't run, hike it. It's very twisty and rolling but it goes through the prettiest miniature "forest" of arching live oaks and other hardwoods you will ever see. There are patches of bamboo forming a hedge too and in some areas it feels like you are going through a tunnel. There is prickly pear, yucca and tall grass in the open areas. You make this transition from bamboo jungle to desert prairie in just tenths of a mile! The bluff along the creek is rocky with a nice vista at the top. After finishing one whole loop I decided that this was one of the best trails I had ever run. I just wished it were dry.

I fell three times in the first loop. Each time I had a soft wet landing. I was scraped up a little but not too bad. I washed off in the creek. The worst part of the loop was a submerged area with thigh deep water at the bottom of a rock cliff. The water was murky and there were submerged rocks and logs underneath. It was hard not to fall or bang your legs on something. Were their snakes in there? Leaches? Another area I named the "boneyard" was a long stretch of water eaten limestone rock that looked like bones. It was partly submerged and a perfect place to roll your ankle. Anyway there were lots of areas you just had to walk/wade. The rest was very run-able if you could keep it up with an inch of mud on your shoes. Apparently I could! I was very surprised at how energetic I felt at the end of the 25K. I knew by then that I could finish it.

I finished 25K in about 2:45. Now I found myself completely alone on the course. All the socializing I did the first half was over as these folks finished. Some of the 50K runners dropped too. I could hear thunder as I approached Leon Creek. I was concerned about the water rising. It seemed to be higher. The shoe-sucking mud was deeper and slipperier because of all the trampling. Now large areas of exposed trail had to be walked to keep from falling over. I fell three times in one spot! After that I just went out in the woods around it. Still my energy kept up and I ran every part that I could run. On the fourth loop it began to rain. Now the entire mud trail was slick, not just down by the creek! The water was definitely higher on the creek trail. The last wading area at the cliff base was very scary. The rain continued until I finished at 5:44. I sprinted the finish, I was so happy to be done! Roger told me I was 7th overall. I did not know it then but only 18 runners finished the 50K. I was particularly pleased that I had beaten all the men over the age of 43. It's an old man thing (I'm 55).

My wife and Katie picked me up (what was left of me anyway). As I left I remarked to Roger that the dark brown tee shirt he gave out for the participants was just the perfect color for this race!