DreamBig 2015 - #47 Vermont

STATE #47 - South Hero, Vermont
Green Mountain Marathon and Half Marathon
Finishers: 376

October 10, 2015
Oh hereeeeee we go again. Again....again....again. Who knows what I was doing Friday night but I know I didn't pack until late and didn't go to sleep until late and then I started to have awake nightmares that I was going to wake up late and miss my flight. Just...so many sleep issues. Regardless of them all, I woke up on time, pulled myself together and called an uber for the airport. It was straight up pouring outside which always adds a nice extra layer to my already irrational travel anxiety. But made it to the airport safe and sound, grabbed me some ChickFilA and made our way from ATL to LGA (New York - LaGuardia for those of you who don't spend your life in airports). My flight out of LGA to Manchester was delayed so I sat around and just Sporcled. We made our way out of LGA a few hours late and landed in Manchester, NH where I basically skipped off the plane excited to be out of an airport/plane. I went and grabbed the keys to my rental car and made it all the way to the car, threw my backpack in the backseat and then had this weird feeling I was forgetting something....um MY LUGGAGE! I am so used to going on this quick 36 hour adventures with just my backpack that I totally spaced out and left my bag at baggage claim. Whoopsie - forgot I had work in New Hampshire for a week and then was off to St. Louis for John and Lauren's wedding (see Race 25) the next weekend.

That one time...I lost my mind for a split second.

Silly Ashley.

So once I returned to get my bag, I hopped on the highway and headed northwest to Vermont! I was a bit tired from the travel but once I got on the highway, I was unable to shut my eyes taken aback by all of the gorgeous foliage along the highway. Reds and yellows and oranges and greens like you wouldn't believe. I've seen changing leaves before, but for some reason this display of fall was indescribable. Maybe because it wasn't just one area of trees, it was tree after tree after tree for two and a half hours of driving.

About an hour an a half into the trip, I finally crossed the Vermont border and pulled over to the welcome center because the "Welcome to Vermont" sign was dinky and in a bad spot and I needed a picture. Why you ask? Because crossing the border into Vermont signified a goal all in itself - crossing into Vermont, I had officially visited every state in the United States of America! I feel like if you are a US citizen and you accomplish this great feat, you should get some sort of merit badge or something. I'm going to call Bernie Sanders and see what he thinks about that.

Dinky sign.

Ladies and Gents - Official 50 State-r.

So after my mini party, I continued on my endless drive of the definition of "Fall"  until I reached Burlington. It was around 5PM and I had another 25 minutes or so until I reached South Hero, VT for the packet pickup for the race so I just kept driving. The race pickup was at the Folsom School and was just a little table with the race director handing out the numbers and shirts. In and out fairly quickly, I decided to drive the out and back course to check out what I will refer to as "my morning jog".

Packet PickUp

Driving the course, I quickly found myself along Lake Champlain with the majestic views of the setting sun over the lake with the Green Mountains in the distance. It was unreal - like for real unreal. I stopped to take some photos but then got back in the car to continue on my way. Not a quarter miles down the road, something colorful caught my eye in the bushes and I did a double take when I saw a dinosaur! Upon further investigation, not only was there one dinosaur but two and HUNDREDS of colorful birdhouses on every.single.tree. EVERY tree. I didn't stop to read the sign, but I took a picture of the sign so I could read it later and then continued on my drive so I could see it all before the sunset. Past a vineyard, a few cow farms and under lots more pretty trees, I made it to the 6.5 mile mark and bid the course adieu and head back towards Burlington.

Ya... I think I'll stay here

SO MANY BIRDHOUSES

Spot the dino.

P.S. - If you click on the photos they get bigger so you can read.....mom

I love America.

As I was making my way off the island, I had to stop on the bridge to take a picture of the setting sun because it was impossible to tell where the sky stopped and the water began. I stood just watching for a long time thinking of all of the hidden treasures of America. I can't say this enough, but if you ever have the chance or desire to travel - just do it. The money is well worth the memories and experience.

I just can't - water, sky, water, sky - which is it?

So as I shook off my memorized stare, I headed to South Burlington to, sadly but honestly, call it a night. I did some quick google searching for an Italian restaurant and had some great choices to pick from but out of laziness settled on take out from the infamous Olive Garden because I could order online. I was staying at a friends house --

-- (Flashback: September 2014 I met Susanna, the cousin of Katie and Andrew Bahn, at Katie's wedding in Saint Louis. Susanna lives in Burlington and told me if I came to town for a race I was welcome to stay with her. Originally I declined because I had another Vermont race planned but since that fell through (see Race 42), I asked if she would take me back after I rejected her and she accepted! However, a few weeks before the race she realized she would be in Canada for Canadian Thanksgiving but that I was still welcome to stay at her crib) --

-- so I rolled up to Susanna's condo around 7pm and made friends with her cat, Archie, and then picked up my fancy Olive Garden before heading back to the crib to watch football and pass out on the couch. I pulled myself together when I woke up around midnight to put a few race things together and set my zillions alarms for the morning. Again, didn't sleep very well because my internal clock is all out of wack from coffee, running, traveling, etc. but I got a few zz's in regardless.

Football and Olive Garden - so American.

Archie - my entertainment

October 11, 2015

RACE DAY! I woke up like 100 times thinking it was time to go but eventually actually decided I could get up...at like 6:00am. The race was at 8:30am but it was also 30 minutes away so I wanted to leave enough time for me to be the overzealous first person in the parking and eat my breakfast.

I stopped and got a nutritious oatmeal and coffee from Club Mickey D on the way and then rolled into the Folsom School parking lot around 7am. So I munched on some oatmeal and wholesome Honey Nut Cheerios like your average teething baby and eventually got out of the car to do some stretching. It was actually not all that cold but the wind was being a huge diva and ruining the perfect fall weather. So basic.

McDonalds - 6:30am - throwin' up those arches

I saw a bunch of people going into the school so I figured I would go inside and do some stretching in the warmth. As I was sitting and participating in my favorite past time (eavesdropping) I overheard two men talking about the number of states they had completed. One was at 32 and the other was at...wait for it... 47!!! Twinsie! Once the 32 loser went away, I went and introduced myself, admitting I had been eavesdropping, and shared with him that this was my 47th state as well. He basically Jeff Lunded me when I told him I was only doing halfs.

(sidebar: Jeff Lund is my boss who has done Ironmans and marathons and calls me "mini miler" because evidently my goal is mediocre in his eyes -- doublesidebar: I think he's kidding...)

So I talked with the man and his wife for a while who I later learned went by the names of Chick and Bobbie (Chick being the man and Bobbie = Roberta). I told them about my goal and my education and my travels and the more I talked the more I could tell I reminded them of someone. It's a certain look - and I actually get it a lot. They finally said I was just like their youngest son and how they could tell I was the rambunctious baby of my family. We talked for a long time comparing races and giving suggestions for our last 3 adventures and talking about the race we were about to run in 30 minutes. It was great and AGAIN is part of the motivation behind why I don't love to run but I love to run. Don't try and understand that last statement...

So once it was 5-10 minutes before the race, we said our goodbyes and good lucks and went to line up at the start. It was for real windy but the start was like IN the apple orchard - hello fall! We also were lined up next to big ol' pumpkins but nothing like Dr. Parres. As the gun went off, I couldn't help but smile as we head south along a bunch of apple trees and farmers out unloading their bunches of apples getting ready for the Sunday rush of falling for fall families later that day.

A mile down the road, we took a right onto West Shore Road which we would follow all along the south shore of the island and then turn up north for the out and back course. Mile 1 went by quick and the second mile was a steady downhill - which I knew I would be climbing back up once I hit Mile 11. Woof. I knew the lake view and birdhouses were up ahead at Mile 2 and I was excited to hear the reaction of everyone around me once we approached - "Would you look at that? Is that a dino? Oh my gosh!"It was great - and this is when the wind started coming in off the water. Rut Rho!

We looped around off the water and up a bit of a hill and heading north. The wind was evidently at our back at this point but you couldn't feel it as much as I would've liked. We passed a large vineyard and then a cow field and picturesque red barn where we ended up all of a sudden at Mile 4!

I grabbed a water and some photos and kept moving. Not long after, I spotted Chick and the interaction between us was perfect. I bounced along side him like a spry toddler attempting to talk his ear off while he stayed focused on his race and responded briefly:

Ash: Hey Chick! How's it going? Whatcha doing out here?
Chick: Just hanging out
Ash: You ready for the next 22 miles? You know my race is almost over.
Chick: Save it, Ashley
Ash: What do you mean, Chick?
Chick: The hill at Mile 11 - save some gas in the tank for that hill
Ash: Oh Chick - hills are my thang!
Chick: Save it. Have a good race, Ashley

And off he went. I felt a bond between me and the good man - you only run your 47th state once! I know he was proud of me - or so I hope.

My main man, Chick!

So we continued on, past more and more canopies of colorful leaf coverings and along lake view roads with the waves - yes lake waves - crashing on the shore. I passed the cutest little girl who was basically stuffed in a cardboard box standing in the middle of the course that read "Free High Fives". Oh I almost melted -  I wanted to scoop her up and carry her with me for motivation. (But I didn't).

The half marathoners reached the turn around point at mile 6.5ish and head back the same way we came letting the marathoners carry on for their own race. I don't know why I didn't notice the wind at our back on the way out, but the headwind on the way back was horrible! Oh my goodness - any time we were anywhere near water or in an open field, the wind in our face was like walking into a wall barely moving.

At Mile 7 I finally checked in via snapchat (I snapped a lot during this race) and I kept moving ticking down landmarks along the way. The wind though - oh my word. Mile 8 was along the water - super windy. Mile 9 was back by the cow farm which was the super windy hill - like I was laughing really hard because it was so not funny it was funny. I could've sworn I was going like 2 miles an hour just chugging along and honestly I didn't care - I was too entertained by the landscape and finishing to care. So I waved to the cows and knew the vineyard was up next - Mile 10 I checked in on snapchat again and you can hear the wind in the background just chillin' the a villain. Like a big bad villain.

When did I start this tongue out thing? It's not cute. 

Climbing the wall of wind - struggling so much I just had to photograph it

Mile 10 to 11 was fairly downhill and so windy I was getting blown off the road. A man laughed at me right before birdhouse row because I was legit just laughing and tripping with every step trying not to fall into ditches. He told me if I was built like him, I wouldn't be getting blown around so much. I then shouted out "You heard it here first folks! I have permission to eat as much ice cream as I want". Confused at my weirdness, he just giggled and kept on his merry way.

I couldn't really look at the birdhouses again because I was too focused on re-correcting my every step because my legs were blowing all around with every step I took. Oh and my dummy self didn't wear my knee brace and I was in a world of pain and pretty much dragging my right leg behind me at this point like a modern day, peg leg Quasimodo. I thought my knee was all healed up but evidently three races in 14 days qualifies as "overuse" in the world of knee pain.

Since I knew nothing bad would happen if I kept running through the pain, I did just that. Ran through the pain. I really wanted to break down in tears and snapchat my ugly running cry but then I remembered what Chick had said back at Mile 4.5 and I realized I had to save my energy for the Hill at Mile 11 - that was now right in front of me!

Hills are as much about your arms as they are your legs and since my legs were operating at about 50% capacity, I engaged the arms and started pumping like an Olympic speed walker. Fist pump jump jump before I knew it, I had chugged my way to the top of the mile long hill and was making the left turn for the final mile stretch -- that lasted forever.

Past the Mile 12 marker, I had 3 songs max left to listen to on the iPod. Why it defaulted to Ace of Base I will never know but I just tried to stay focused. Mile 12 is always when I start getting emotional. These past 14 days had be rough - really rough - but I was 4 laps around the track away from crossing my 47th finish line. Past the rows and rows of apple orchards that had started to fill out with families, I saw the 26 mile marker which meant my race was .2 miles from being over. I picked up the pace ignoring all pain and then saw the 13 mile marker - 0.1 to go. Right ahead was the tunnel and with a big grin on my face, I crossed the finish line shocked I had actually run faster in this race than the two weekend prior. (Still three of my slowest races though). Holding back my silly tears, I grabbed my medal and limped around thrilled to be done.

Traveling solo, I asked a man holding a fancy camera if he could take my picture with the fall leaves in the back. He did and then I realized I had misplaced the side of my hands with my number and my medal and I needed him to come back and take another #OCD. I actually found the same man a few minutes later with his daughter and wife and talked to them a while about my goal . It was the daughters first race and after hearing about my goal seemed really inspired and excited to start something similar of her own. I actually talked to the family for a long time and they were great!

OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 47 states down, 3 to go! #DREAMBIG

I made a pit stop for some hot cider after the race and then head to shower and go downtown for the Chiefs game. Well...I couldn't find anywhere to park in downtown Burlington so I aborted that mission and found a "sports bar" on yelp a little further down the highway. I called them up and asked if they could put the game on for me which they replied - no problem!

Cool bar - too bad no one know what the NFL is

When I arrived at Grazer's, they didn't have the game on but they had 4 guys trying to figure out what channel sports would be on. Sitting at the bar, I finally turned to them and said "Does no one in Vermont watch football?" - they laughed and regretfully confirmed my observation was correct. I finally found RedZone after they gave up and handed me the the remote and watched the first half of highlights before I got annoyed with all of the jumping around and head out for my last mission of the day.

Twenty minutes down the road in Waterbury, Vermont, I came upon the heaven of fat kids across America. The world renowned Ben & Jerry's Factory! Littered with tourists waiting in line for free samples, I made my way to the tour desk to which I was bumped up to an early tour due to my "Party of One" status. I had some time to kill before my tour, so I made my way over to the Flavor Graveyard to pay my respects to those retired flavors who have gone before us. Since it was the weekend, the factory wasn't in production but we still got to see the production floor and how the icecream is made and got free samples!

As my time in Vermont successfully came to an end, I made my way back down the colorful highway towards Portsmouth, New Hampshire where I would be working for the week.

I feel like I am saying this more than normal, but I HIGHLY recommend Vermont in the fall.

47 states down, 3 more to go!
#DREAMBIG

DreamBig 2015 - #46 South Dakota

STATE #46 - Hill City, South Dakota
Run Crazy Horse
Finishers: 627

October 2, 2015
Just an average day in the life of Ashley Ahner. Although I was finally recovering from Bali jet lag and my Massachusetts race that I ran 5 days ago, I was yet again off on an other half marathon adventure. My flight wasn't until 7PM so I actually went into work all day and then took Marta down to the airport from the office around 4:30PM to meet up with Kyle. Kyle is one of my friends who I think just got sick of hearing and reading about all of my adventures and finally just said, "Guess what? I'm coming with you to South Dakota."

One issue that we already encountered before we left Atlanta was that since South Dakota doesn't have ChickFilA, I wouldn't be able to have my "day before the race traditional breakfast". To solve that, we bought 2 chicken sandwiches with cheese and prayed we could find a bagel and eggs in South Dakota to make my own chicken egg and cheese bagel. Problem #1 solved.

Rations - Always Prepared

Flying out of ATL

Even though the ATL airport was crazy, we had no issue getting to our flight on time and up to Minneapolis where we were scheduled for a 45 minute layover before continuing on to Rapid City. I was a diva and ditched Kyle on the flight when I was upgraded to first class for the next flight. I fell asleep pretty quick into the flight and only awoke to an announcement saying:

"Well folks, looks like we are having an issue with Mother Nature here in Rapid City. We've arrived but the cloud ceiling is so low that unless it lifts in the next 30 minutes, we are going to have to return back to Minneapolis"

Say what? You are going to fly me back? It was one of those times where you were stressed out but you were sure we would end up landing.....we didn't end up landing. We flew back to Minneapolis in a blur and deplaned around 1:20AM where we were told that because the delay was due to weather, we wouldn't be compensated in any way for hotels but that floor pads were available down by Mickey Mouse and our flight would leave again at 7:00AM. We debated getting a hotel but scrapped that idea and just opted to have a sleepover party with the rest of our flight mates on the floor of the Minneapolis airport. Kyle and I basically put on all of the sweats we had both brought on the trip and did our best to catch some z's on our kindergarten tumbling mats.

Sleeping....

....on the airport.....

....floor

October 3, 2015
I think we both woke up surprised that we got a little bit of sleep around 5:30AM - why 5:30 you ask? Because the MSP airport had a ChickFilA! We both changed and packed up our sleeping areas and rushed down to get some food before our flight. A little disappointed, the MSP ChickFilA only had chicken biscuits...no eggs, no bagels. Brilliant Kyle suggested I hop down to Einsteins and get a egg and cheese bagel and then get a chicken and build my own sandwich. Problem solved! (I just realized this blog is currently 30% about a sandwich).

Bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5:29AM after MSP Slumber

Constructing the makeshift but necessary chicken, egg and cheese bagel

We got back to our gate with fingers crossed and thankfully made it in to Rapid City by 7:30AM on Saturday. Walking a little zombie like, we went to Avis to get our rental car where the employee asked "Is a Mustang alright for you?" - Say What? No, I think you're confused sir - my rental cars usually resemble small toasters or go karts. I gladly accepted his offer and was a little too excited about our rental car when I met her.

Not bad, Avis

Not bad at all

With no real plan, we headed out on the open road east down I-90. I had heard about Wall Drug which was said to be a tourist trap with a lot of junk, 5 cent coffee and donuts and I pointed the car in that direction to Wall, South Dakota. The landscape on the way was gorgeous - just open rolling plains. It was a bit rainy and chilly but we figured it would blow through.

We got to Wall Drug and did a little souvenir shopping before grabbing some donuts and coffee and playing in the "backyard" on some of the random toys. Then with no agenda, we hopped in the car and headed south towards the the Badlands National Park. I don't know if I have just been guarded from the world, but I honestly didn't know the Badlands existed until a month or so before the race.

Donuts, Coffee and Biscuits and Gravy at Wall Drug

Wall Drug Cafe

Save a horse, ride a ginormous Jackalope

Mother and Child

Outside Wall Drug Store

Headed out on the Oregon Trail - who's with me?

Kyle loves this....and by this I mean supervising my play time

After stopping for a quick snapshot at the park sign, we headed into the Badlands and it was like driving into Land Before Time. We drove over a ridge after just cruising through some fields and BOOM! The most unreal panoramic view of the Badlands. I still can't begin to understand how this formations were made JUST in the Badlands and not anywhere else. Hence why I think the dinosaurs built it.

We made it to the land before time!

Our first look at the Badlands

Dope.

Sorry I have to

We spent the rest of the morning driving the scenic Route 240 through the park to the opposite entrance of the park stopping to take pictures and read signs along the way. We sadly couldn't see as much as we would've liked as the clouds, drizzle and wind put a little damper on our views but we did our best to enjoy what we could see.

At the opposite side of the park, we went into the Cedar Pass Lodge and Gift Shop to grab some lunch of Buffalo Chili and native bread and berry dip. I can't remember what it was called. With no other plans for the day, we decided to drive back the way we came to see if the weather had cleared enough to see anything else. We got to see some prairie dogs and big horn sheep and some more views with less weather issues.

Yellow Mounds - Yellow = where seafloor used to be

Buffalo Chili

Plotting our next adventure

Such Badlands

The norm.

After our second pass of the Badlands, we said our goodbyes and headed towards Hill City, SD to get my race packet at the Boys and Girls Club and then head on to more sites to see! Post packet pickup, we ventured down to Crazy Horse Memorial where once we had driven through the Black Hills and up to the monument, we realized we were in the clouds with no Crazy Horse to be seen. We stuck around the welcome center and watched the 30 minute movie about the monument hoping the clouds would clear....with no luck. Defeated, we head to the hotel to check in.

Packet PickUp

Ah! Crazy Horse Motto - Love it!

No monument - just welcome center 

Street for Memorial - Funny I'd be running this on Chiefs Gameday!

The hotel was the Lodge at Palmer Gulch which was en route to Mt. Rushmore. We checked in around 5:15PM and took a quick break from running around and watched some football. Around 6PM, we head downtown to grab some dinner at the Hill City Cafe where we met the chef and chatted with him about his past and his delicious, ginormous, Chicken Fried Steak. It was super small town eating but the people were so great and welcoming.

Pre race meal - they just keep getting better

Ashley v. Kyle

Lights on ground when you unlock the Mustang at night!

Defeated from Crazy Horse, we decided to go try our luck at the night time viewing of Mt. Rushmore. We drove up in the mist and were greeted with a gorgeous view of spotlight on clouds...and that's about it. Strike two, American Monuments. We hit up the gift shop and head home. It was like a 6 mile drive back to the hotel and I fell asleep probably like a mile into the drive - I was exhausted. I usually prep all of my race stuff the night before but barely got my contacts out before crawling into bed. I was easily asleep by 9PM. Good night cloudy, South Dakota.


October 4, 2015
Race Day! I woke up around 5:30am and Kyle was lucky enough to get to see the wreck of a human I am pacing back and forth in the room trying to remember everything and forgetting everything I just did. Fun for him, miserable for me. Luckily, as the host hotel, I was picked up on a bus from the hotel around 7am to take us up to Crazy Horse which was the beginning of the race. As I was waiting on the bus, a man came on and a lady announced that he was running his 50th Marathon state today. A group of girls in front of me started chatting about how cool it would be to run in every state and how long that would take, etc. and me being me interjected into a conversation where I was invited and told them that this was my 46th state. They were shocked because the man who was doing his 50th was like 70 years old and I am not even 30 yet. They had a ton of questions to ask about the travel and cost and training and I just loved being interviewed - I can talk about this stuff all day (hence why I have a very rambling blog).

Bus...sitting alone...quietly

We got up to Crazy Horse around 7:20am and it was still too cloudy to see the monument - what the heck South Dakota. At this point I was starting to believe that both Mt. Rushmore and Crazy Horse are conspiracies and they don't actually exist. (This conspiracy goes along with the same thought that I sometimes think my life is a parallel of the Truman Show....I spend too much time alone if you can't tell).

It was chilly but the welcome center was open so everyone huddled inside and warmed up while we waited. Around 7:55am, we all head outside where their was a Native American drummer who sang us a song and then told us at the start of the second song the race would start - a nice change from a gun or a countdown!

Inside Welcome Center Pre-Race 

Stretching and snackin'

Drum to start the race

The race started with a little downhill and then a big uphill - this is when I first realized the altitude difference of Georgia versus South Dakota. Hill City, SD sat at about 5,200 feet but I only realized it on the uphill when I was having a harder time getting air in and burning in my throat. With the hilly start, the first mile went rather slow but I forced myself to remember my last race was only 7 days ago so I just needed to enjoy this.

As we looped around back up to the visitors center and down the service road towards Crazy Horse, the clouds broke just enough for me to see Crazy Horse! Not going to lie, I legit stopped and pulled over to take a photo. With our luck so far on the trip, I wasn't passing up a chance to see the monument. The course continued to climb to Mile 2 and took hostage a lot of runners turning them to walkers, but I continued to chug along. With one more hill heading out of the park (the same hill we started on), I continued my chug along knowing the rest of the course would be a gradual downhill back into town.

I FOUND IT!

LOOK!

It's A CRAZY HORSE!

Only.... 11 more miles

Motto on course after Mile 2 

We jumped on the Mickelson Trail around Mile 3 and continued north to Hill City. The path was finely packed gravel which was a nice break for the legs. I didn't know how my knee would react to the gradual downhill so I decided to wear the brace which tends to slow me down but not enough for it to make a difference - I was in a slow mood.

Mile 3 to 4 was marked wrong because I saw both mile markers within the same Miley Cyrus song. The Mickelson trail is straight up gorgeous. Yellow aspen trees, little babbling brooks, and just nature all around. Not to mention a nice little downhill gradient giving you time to just enjoy and not have to focus on the ups and downs.

PHONE DIED! USE YOUR IMAGINATION aka my Google pics!

I was taking a Snapchat of the gorgeous scenery around Mile 4 and my phone that had been at 79% just drops to 1% and dies. DIES! How will I take pictures of these pretty leaves?!?! Pouting with no solution, I turn my attention to the task at hand of running the race. I started chatting with a random guy around Mile 4 who told me he started running to make a healthy change in his life after being a drug and alcohol addict through his younger years but he had been sober for 11 years. He said his friends joke with him for doing all of these races, but he said they are the weird ones for not understanding why his friends wouldn't want to run 13.1 miles with 3,000 women dressed in spandex. Dude made me laugh. Perfect example of what I always say about running - how everyone has a story. And how whenever I am sucking in a race, I just remember that everyone around me is running for a purpose, or a goal, or a dream. I may only hear .01% of those stories but it helps to hear some of the stories as a reminder of why I continue to work to accomplish my own goal.

Stole these photos of the trail from Google

                                     
                                        

                 
So moving along, by Mile 6 me and the bro had split up and I overheard him ask some ladies what pace they were going to which they replied 10 and a half minute pace. Say what? I know I can go a little faster than that, so with the downhill in my favor I took the next 2 miles by storm and played the game seeing how many people I could pass in the next 2 miles. At Mile 8 I had to make a pit stop at the porta-potty and as quick as I was, I had lost a lot of ground on my passing people game by the time I got back on the course.

I continued over the river and through the woods, to Hill City Downtown I go. We passed over a lot of bridges and by farms and I just continued to count down the songs/mile. The water stops all had bananas, oranges, bagels, pretzels and M&M's but for once in my life I just wasn't feeling food. And I had been wearing gloves the entire race and just didn't feel like having orange juice gloves.

The miles continued to tick on and I was getting restless. The ladies running the 10.5 min/mile easily cruised by and I asked if they had picked up the pace. Nope...I had slowed down. Whoopsie. A man and his son who I assumed lived in town kept reappearing along the course with funny signs like "Go Random Stranger" and "Worst Parade Ever - Where's All the Candy" and "You've done smarter things when you were drunk". Gotta love town participation.

At Mile 12, we were almost there but up ahead I saw a bunch of horses at the fence right on the trail. I couldn't pass by them so I stopped and without thinking of my chances of getting bit, I pet the one horse on its nose and then another horse ran over and I pet that one as well. People passing me seemed a bit confused but I'm sorry, we don't have horses on the streets of Atlanta - let me enjoy my moment.

Here's what a horse looks like

                                               
With a mile left to go, I could see the stop lights of town up ahead. We got off the trail and took a quick up hill and then turned right down Main Street where you could see the finish down below. Since it was still a downhill grade, I had to make myself remember even though I could see the finish I was still .3 of a mile away and couldn't kick yet. I saw the 26 mile mark and picked up the pace with .2 to go. By .15 mile I was in a full out Kirkwood Cross Country High School Ashley Ahner Finish Sprint with the crowd at the finish line all cheering "nice kick!"- "Strong Finish" - "Get the next one!" as I continued to pick off the runners ahead of me little by little. I won't lie - I've got a good finish when I'm not just whooped - which means I probably could have tried a little harder during the race. Oh well - at least I entertained at the finish line.

Only like .5 miles of the race were on a road so this must be near the end

Ignore my time....I never said I was fast

Since my phone was dead I had zero way of finding Kyle and we hadn't come up with a plan. I wandered to the outside of the finishers chute with my new medal looking high and low for the kid. I said congrats to the friends I had made on the course and then continued to wander like a lost bird. After contemplating just sitting down in the street, I finally found him and he took my photo and we head back to the hotel because I was freezing.

One Photo Downtown

OFFICIAL RACE PIC - 46 states down, 4 to go! #DREAMBIG

We caught the first half of the Chiefs game and then tried for Round 2 at Mt. Rushmore to which we were greeted with even thicker fog and some rain. Dag Nabbit. We sat at the cafe and ate some Buffalo Stew and some Moose Drool beer (Gregg and I's favorite from our Missoula trip) and tried to wait out the weather. We even walked the trail that goes right up under the monument and couldn't see anything but rocks. Sad to give up, we decided to use our last bit of time exploring Custer Park which was known for lots of wildlife.

Love this beer! 

The conspiracy called "Mt. Rushmore"

Washington...still a myth

Flags are barely even here

Mt. Rushmore....was here?

We drove down to the park and could tell the drive would be incredible if not for the fog, but we enjoyed what we could see. We did see a deer but nothing too crazy. We kept thinking we saw things but when we got closer they were all usually piles of branches and leaves. We had all but lost hope when we drove up on another stick pile that was a BUFFALO! These things are huge and was no more than 20-30 feet from the car. It was awesome - they have HUGE heads. Content with our nature accomplishment, we head into the town of Custer for a treat at the Purple Pie Place for some Blackberry and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie - so yum.

Custer Park

BUFFALO!!!!

My big head and the buffalo

Purple Pie Place

Strawberry Rhubarb and Blackberry Ala Mode - not both mine

With not much time to spare, we drove the last hour back to the airport where we departed around 7pm for Salt Lake City and took a red eye home at 12:55am back to Atlanta and straight into work via Marta for me Monday morning.

All in all a great tip despite the weather - I highly recommend this race and this part of the country! Top of my favorites list for sure - even with the fog!



46 states down, 4 more to go!
#DREAMBIG