Making Our Way To The Start

Cold temps greeted us for the inaugural running of Windburn Six in the Stix.  When we pulled into the parking lot of the James “Pate” Philip State Park, the temperature was 2 degrees but the sun was shining and the wind wasn’t too bad.  Jim, fellow CHUG, was prepping the sled that will accompany him on his Arrowhead 135 adventure coming up in a month; from what I saw, he is looking strong and will finish with awesome tales from the trail - good luck Jim!  We finalized our prep, lingering in the warm truck before braving the cold for the race start.  It was amazing how many people showed up, there were 49 signed up but I expected only a handful of those to actually start - I’m not sure of the final number, but it was probably 25 or more.

Lap One: Fresh Snow

Brian got things underway just past 8AM and we all moved down the trail, slowly.  The trails had a good amount of snow on them and only a few sections had any tracks on them.  The first loop was blazing trail most of the way with lots of slipping and sliding.  I think we all expected it to pack down after a couple of loops but it was so cold that the snow stayed very loose and kept the trail challenging all day.  Within ten minutes, I was comfortably warm and within another ten, I was already starting to sweat.  I absolutely love the REI Powerstretch material and wore it top and bottom as my base/insulating layer.  I then layered on a windbreaker, a powerstretch balaclava and a hat.  My hands and feet were protected and quite toasty with windproof/waterproof socks and gloves from Pearl Izumi.

Jim And His Sled

The first loop was slow but fun with lots of conversation and the welcome surprise of feeling warmer than expected.  Because of the temperature, we decided not to carry water with us and stop each lap to get our fluids/nutrition.  Since the laps were only a little over 2 miles each, we had no problem staying hydrated.  Paige and I stayed together the whole day, just like we’d planned to do, but had the good fortune to run with several others throughout the day.  Jim was moving well with his sled, it was such a simple but well thought out set-up.  For those who aren’t familiar with the Arrowhead 135, it is a race that takes place during early February, its 135 miles, self supported (read: bring a cook stove to melt snow for water), takes place in International Falls (read: bitterly cold with temps dropping to the minus 30 range at night), Minnesota, and takes 2+ days to finish; he would never tell you but he’s a pretty tough dude.  Everyone commented on how tricky the footing was but seemed to be having a good time just the same.

Finishing Up A Loop

The next couple of laps went by pretty quickly, relatively speaking, and we were nearly halfway through the race.  Timed events have a whole different feel than distance based events and on Saturday, I was extremely glad it was only 6 hours and not a specific distance - it allowed us to relax and enjoy the day, rather than worrying about pace and how far we had left to go.  Everyone had placed their things in the shelter, so after each lap, there was a mix of people eating, drinking, adjusting their clothing, or just hanging out.  Senator Brett’s son, Marshall, was there and had a smile on his face all day - what a great kid!  Several people shared a variety of items including: hot chocolate, chicken soup, water and McDonalds - thank you, it made the day much better!

Brelly

As we wrapped up the run, the temperature had risen to mid-teen’s, the sun was still shining, and the wind remained calm.  Paige and I ran just over 20 miles - less than we were hoping but just fine for the conditions of the trail.  We all changed into dry clothes and then several of us headed over to The Nest Cafe for some lunch, it was the perfect ending to a great run.  Thank you to Brian for organizing another successful event and for those that showed up to share in the fun!