According to the race website, the Assault on Blackrock 7 mile trail race includes 2,770 feet of elevation gain to the achieve the summit of BlackRock at 5,810 feet.



It was a cold morning in Sylva, North Carolina. With the temperature just below freezing in the parking lot, it was nice that they had a fire going.



This was a hard race... the cold air burned my lungs and the steep climb had me walking much more than I expected. After starting off a little too fast I was able to maintain a top-10 position all the way to the top.

The top of the mountains were all frosted over and as we climbed the last final frigid singletrack the whole thing was pretty magical. The temperature dropped and the trees were white and an occasional "snowflake" drifted down.





I passed one other runner on the way down the mountain to finish in 8th place overall. But best of all... I beat the 101 minute challenge and eared a belt buckle!






Here are some more photos from the top of Blackrock:

Not my fastest finish and I didn't hit my usual goal of going under 1 hour but on this warm and humid day I actually placed higher in my age group than ever before at this race (4th place!) and 117th male overall out of over 5200 men. I think the conditions definitely impacted a lot of other runners, too.



I started a little further back than usual in the start coral this year. There were a lot of other runners around and in front of me for most of the first mile but I stayed relaxed and gradually worked my way forward. Sometimes I have a tendency to go out too fast so I figured this would actually be ok to help keep my pace under control.

By the Main Street bridge I was locked in to my planned race pace with plenty of room to run.



At this point I was still smiling and able to give a thumbs up to the camera:

Springs Run 7.2k at First Magnitude Brewery.



I enjoyed a beer in my new mug:



I was 3rd overall, 1st in my age group, finish time of 27:32 for an average of 6:09 per mile.

Race T-shirt and awards:



The race was held on Feb. 4, 2023. Race Results:

https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/26...erpage:100

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8504734149

Greenville Track Club Downtown 5k 2023

I won my age group!



Finished in a time of 18:28, averaging 5:57 per mile.

Results: https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/52...tId-363564

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8427570190


Nice long-sleeve t-shirt and the award for age group winners was a piece of artwork:

This was a nice 8k Thanksgiving day run in downtown Greenville, SC. The course ran thru downtown, along the Reedy River, around Unity Park, and back to downtown.

I wore my turkey costume. :)





Finish time of just over 31 minutes.



Results: https://runsignup.com/Race/Results/69...erpage:100

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8161952498

Flatwoods 5k is a nice event held at Austin Cary Forest, just a few minutes from Gainesville, FL.

I enjoy the rare occasion when I am able to win a race!





The race was held on October 29, 2022.

Finish time was 19:18 (6:13 per mile).

Race Results: https://results.raceroster.com/v2/en-...?subEvent=

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/8037125327


Apparently I never posted a report from the last time I won this race back in 2013 so here is a photo:



In 2013 I finished in 18:27 (5:57 per mile).