Hairy Bison 18K

The weekend before Thanksgiving every year, the Harbison Trail Runners put on a free 15 and 30K trail race. Yes free. Yes 30k for most runners. Oh except for the few that get up early and run a "warm-up" 15k before the race begins. The somewhat more normal racers do a 15k loop and then reverse course to get a total of 30k in for the day. You are handed a buffalo nickle at the half-way of each lap, supposedly to use as a raffle, but realistically moreso to see whose sweat drenched hands fumble for the little brown coin. There are always shenanigans, costumes, and great post-race chili. And don't forget the Hairy Bison, which for whatever reason graduated was shirtless this year. 

If all this doesn't make for a unique race experience, did I mention that the entire course isn't marked?  Not one single flag. 

Last year, I got lost so I promised myself that I won't this year. I did a "preview" run a few weeks before the race and I was as prepared for the 30k as I'd be. Which is to say, not too well. 

I took off at the start and was within minutes lost sight of the leaders. I fell in with 3 other guys and settled in. About four miles in, I was definitely feeling out of shape, by 7 I was thinking I might drop at the half. At the turn around, after a porta-potty break, I was told I was in 4th place so that gave me just enough motivation to leave the comforts of the post-race debacle. I kept up a decent pace for the next few miles, looking for Kenny who was doing the 15k on account of little baby Ferreira slowing her down. 

Around the bend, about 11.5 miles into the race(6.5 ish for her) I found her, walking and crying having just fallen on the course. The tears were purely out of fear of hurting the baby, but her motherly instincts have already kicked in and she rolled in such a way that her hip and shoulder took all the impact. I wisely gave up any inclination to continue to race and I walked the remainder of the race in with Kenny. A much more enjoyable pace and time just spent in the woods with my girls. 

Until next time,

Danny

The Krispy Kreme Dash

This past weekend, I went to Myrtle Beach with my brother Andrew and Kenny to compete in the 1st Annual Krispy Kreme Dash. I had always wanted to do one of these races and this was a good excuse to hang out with Drew. We spent the beautiful weekend hanging out in MB which is actually really nice out of season. Especially with temperatures in the 80's. And being out of season, some restaurants automatically gave a 10% discount off menu prices.

Back to the race. This race, officially called the Carolina Forest Rotary Krispy Kreme Dash, was modeled after the more famous one in Raleigh. It raised funds for the local Rotary Club and started/ended right behind a Krispy Kreme store. Kenny had never been to a Krispy Kreme before so prior to the race we went inside to see the whole donut(or I guess they spell it doughnut) making process. The aroma definitely made having a few appealing.

Danny before the race

12 however? I wasn't so sure about that. But only had about 9 minutes to think about it as the race started off steady but not too fast. We hit the first mile in exactly 6:00 and the guy next to me picked it up and only I kept up with him. We went got to the donuts(the halfway point) in slightly under 9 and went to work on the donuts.

A fellow Harbison Trail runner had suggested squishing down four donuts at a time to expedite the eating process. Heeding this advice, I got myself to a nice lead quickly consuming those first 800 or so calories. The next 4 definitely took a little longer. About halfway through them, I started having some serious self-doubt.

Danny at his low-point

Luckily for me, Andrew and Kenny were there to cajole me into eating through the pain.

I got through those and dove right into the last 4. More runners were now in transition and I was beginning to get concerned that someone might catch me during this time so I redoubled my efforts, finishing them off, rinsing off my hands and taking off.

I ran scared. So much so that I actually  ran a negative split for the second half of the 5k. I finished in first both for the race and for eating my donuts the fastest.

ADDENDUM: I just got results of the race back and I only won the eating contest by 2 seconds!!!! Wow that was tight!

1	Danny Ferreira	26:07	26:07	Lap1 9:38	Donut Time - 6:57	Lap2 - 9:33
2	Jimmy Papai	28:07	28:07	Lap1 9:52	Donut Time - 8:01	Lap2 - 10:16
3	Daniel Brass	29:28	29:28	Lap1 10:42	Donut Time - 6:59	Lap2 - 11:48

What did I get? More donuts! In fact a total of 14 dozen more. One a month for a year was the prize for fastest donut eater and 2 more dozen for fastest race(as well as a gift certificate to the local running shoe store, Black Dog Running). Definitely worth the time.

And it paid itself back even more because when we went out later for lunch, I was still full so only ate half of Kenny's sandwich instead of paying for another meal:)

All in all, it was a very fun weekend and I would definitely do this race again next year.


Until next time,

Danny

The Race is Here!

It is finally race weekend! That's right, it is about time when I can finally combine my two talents: running fairly fast and eating copious amounts of food. My brother, Andrew, Kenny and I are heading over to Myrtle Beach this weekend so I can compete in the Carolina Forest Rotary Krispy Kreme Dash! Unlike the original in Raleigh, this one is a 1 1/2 mile run, consumption of 12 krispy kreme donuts and another 1 1/2 mile run back.



It is right up my alley considering Donut Dan was one of my college nicknames. Just not terribly excited about the running portion. I have run a hard short race in several years and not sure I have the turn over I used to. Either way I think it will be a fun weekend and I will keep you posted.

Until next time,

Danny