Mount Cuckoo 15K

I woke up to my alarm at 5am on Saturday morning. I scarfed down my usual breakfast of egg whites, turkey and turkey sausage on a slice of wheat bread, and got dressed. In a few hours I was going to be running in my first 15K. I was getting a bit excited and reluctant at the same time. I went into the mindset of I was just going to go on a real tough Saturday morning run with the boys. 6am rolled around and Zim, Novia, and I gathered our gear and started driving towards Adamstown, PA.

We arrived at the race around 7am and met up with Jon. All 4 of us shot the shit and started warming up. There were a little under a hundred runners. The race took place at Stoudtburg Village, which is a beautiful little German Bavarian village full of shops and pubs. I'd love to go up there around Christmas time to see it all lit up at night. Stoudt Brewery was also right around corner. Everyone started to line up around 8am for the start of the race. And by 8:15am the Cuckoo Run started. The first mile was on the road, I felt good. The next 2 or 3 were all trail. The trail wasn't too bad. Not super rocky or muddy from last night's downpours. I ran about 11-12 minute miles on the trail. I'm just not fast at all on trails. The next 4-5 miles were all road. This made me extremely happy. I made up my time on the road, running about 8 minute miles. Plus there was a lot of downhill running. Then I hit the longest driveway in Berks County, PA. Of course it was long and winding. And on a steady incline. At the top of the driveway was water and beer. I drank one beer (like 8 ounces) and made my way back down the driveway. Miles 6-8 were trail. And almost unmarked. Another runner and I helped to put the race path sign back up. It would have been really easy to run off course if you didn't see the sign. The trail got a little more hazardous. Some mud, more rocks, exposed roots, downed trees, and now I was descending down the mountain. I ran slower in fear of slipping in the mud and tripping on the rocks. I was closer to a 12 minute pace. The last mile was road. I was quite happy when my feet hit the pavement. I still had a decent amount of gas in the tank, and ran close to an 8 minute mile at the end. Another female runner and I were duking it out at the finish which really helped to push me to go faster. I beat her out by a stride and came in at 1 hour and 42 minutes, more or less on the dot. After finishing they award you with a handmade wooden whistle. Sweet!! And it had cuckoos on it.

I was quite surprised how well my legs felt. That Mount Joy training REALLY helped out. Believe me, I was pretty damn beat, but my legs weren't absolutely dead. I felt like I could have ran another mile or 2 if the race was longer. I drank down a bunch of water and sipped on the free beer they handed out. My appetite was ravenous so I chowed down on a bratwartz and some German potato salad. I was so hungry that I dropped my brat in the grass and still ate it. 5 second rule!!

I finished last out of the group, but I was figuring on that. I'm just really not a speedy trail runner. I enjoy running trails, but I don't enjoy them so much when running for time. Zim came in first in the group at 1 hour 23 minutes, Jon was next at 1 hour 26 minutes, and Novia was an hour and 33 minutes. Don't quote me on these exact times. I was still running at the time and trying to remember what the guys told me. Altogether I had a lot of fun on this run. There was a lot comradery between all the runners. Everyone helped out in figuring out the course directions, which mile you were on and encouraged each other to keep pushing on. Also super happy with the Brooks ASRs. They helped a bunch from the countless times I almost rolled my ankle. And they felt wonderful on that last mile of plodding my tired feet on the pavement. Good times!

Playlist: The Spinnerettes