Walking Tall 50k at Big Hill Pond State Park

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Wow. What an event. It is the day after the race. I have rolled my back (story later) and quads. I am currently soaking my feet in epson salt.

The race directors, park rangers and all the runners I encountered were amazing.

We reserved our campsite for three days ( Thursday, Friday and Saturday night). We learned there was a chance of rain Thursday night. Nicole would have liked to stay home, but I was ready to go and confident it would not rain. Well the closer we got the chance of rain increased. We arrived only to set the tent up in the rain. Well, what do you do next. Leave and get dinner at Domino’s. We get back to camp after 8pm and with all the rain decide to sleep in the van. Not bad by the way. We wake up Friday morning to find very little rain inside the tent (Thanks to the amazing work of the ladies).

The rocks were a little hard and our air mattresses were a little flat, but we survived. It took a few hours to get a fire started with the wet wood, but once it caught it was nice and warm.

We ate breakfast which consisted of pumpkin chocolate chip made by my youngest. Then decided to explore Big Hill Pond State Park in Pocahontas, Tennessee. We started with the ranger station to ask our questions and purchase a few items (magnets and hoodie)

I am sure I will lose this one to a kid like all my others.

The rangers suggested a couple places to explore including Big Hill Pond, the boardwalk and the fire tower.

Catching minnows
The 0.5 mile boardwalk
The base of the tower
The top. What a view.
Enjoying the view at the lake after catching lizards along the trail.
After hiking we did packet pick up
Nice gator and shirt.

Got a decent night sleep and woke up at 5am to 37 degree weather. Chilly. Got dressed and fueled and hydrated. Woke up the family and headed to the starting line.

Getting ready to start
Here we go.
Single track. Get in line. One of several groups I ran with during the race.
Swamp pass
Walk the hills
Find the fun in the run.
Not just the Sasquatch in this picture. That rope was necessary to get up the hill.
Yes, more than one.
Came at me from behind. I lived to tell the tale.
A few from the boardwalk
Just beautiful.
Sometimes you were all alone.

Then you had the fire tower. 81 steps, give or take. What a view. Fun time at the top.

Fireball at the top of the fire tower.
My daughter told me that drinking and running do not mix.

The course was amazing and challenging.

There were so many logs to cross. Was leaping at the start, but near the end was sitting on them and swinging the legs over.
The best part of the race was having the girls pace me through the campground.
The official time. Not sure how many were ahead or how many were behind. I finished!
And the finish. Coin for climbing the fire tower twice and stick for finishing within the cutoff.

Thanks for joining me in this journey and following the blog or at least finishing this long post. Great race. Great park.

#walkingtall50k @honeystinger @michelobultra #ultraambassador @michelobultra @honeystinger #honeystingerambassador @honeystingerhive @bighillpondstatepark

Published by TheCountryRoadRunner

My name is Robert Dolan and I am a Christian, husband, father, banker and running enthusiast.

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