Race Report: Osage Hills State Park Trail Relatively Flat Race

This was the inaugural race North West of Tulsa in Osage County.  It offered a 5k, half marathon, a full marathon and I heard a rumor that some really wacked  folks were going to run the full AND the half, but I don't know if there is any truth to that.

Any race that TZ puts on and that is in the dirt trail series, is, in my book, gonna be a good time.  It didn't dawn on me that I should be more curious about the course of this "relatively flat" new race until maybe 10 days ago.  I started thinking about the race title, knowing a little about the history of this inside joke I realized, this is going to be hilly!

TZ, race director, giving a few pre-race directions.
Does it look like he is preaching on this fine Sunday morning?  This is my kind of worship!  

But, I figured, I was just doing the half.  It is really pretty country out there.  I was looking forward to the views.  They did not disappoint. My camera accidentally got set on a strange filter so unfortunately the exposure is too much on a few of the pictures.

The first beautiful sight, see the falls in the background.

There were also long shaded, forested parts of the trail.  I liked these the best.

 The company was good too.  I ran with Emily, Betsy and Molly for the first 7 miles or so.

Betsy and me in front of a rusted out old car.

There were some road portions.  

This picture doesn't do the wild flowers justice.

I broke away at an aid station and was on my own from then on.  It was a beautiful place for solitude. At times, though, my thoughts got crowded when the trail got tough.  I wondered...once you have DNF'd for the first time (I dropped at mile 33 of 50 at my last race two weeks ago) does it make it more likely that you will in the future? I know a few runners who seem to dnf more races than the finish.  I thought about it, it seemed easy and like a good idea for about two minutes.  Then I reminded myself, why I came.  Just to work hard, experience the race and finish.  The guy who won first place in the full marathon lapped me and finished 26.2 well before I finished my 13.1

Super cool natural amphitheater stairs.  I almost thought they were man made.  

This girl made it up the steps no problem.

Finishing was not monumental but satisfying.  There were burgers, brownies and beer.  I felt for the folks going out for another lap.  I was glad to be done.  The course was pretty technical, lots of ups and downs (I was working to hard to take pictures of all that) and it was HOT!  Overall, an excellent day.

Sometimes Oklahoma is backwards.