A group of nine runners from Houston, TX arrived at Cedar Bayou on Lake Texoma on Friday evening after an ~5:45 hour drive. Four of us were running in the 50-miler, four running the 25-miler and one runner for the 1/2 Marathon. As tradition goes, we go out and walk the last 5 miles of the course. We do this mainly to just stretch our legs after riding for so long, but really...it's to remind ourselves what lays instored for us the following morning. This year there was an interesting event happening at the same time as the CrossTimbers Trail Run...I call it the 'Worm Rain'. Hundreds of web-worms dangled from the tree branches and leaves. There was no way to avoid them. They were harmless enough, although both Sylvia and I felt their bite at one time...yes, those little guys bit! After a while, the ones you did not kill would start nesting on you and your clothes would be covered in worm-web. It could easily become a new fashion trend for Ultra Runners. After our walk and a good de-worming shower we picked up our packets, had a yummy pasta dinner, homemade peanut butter cookies for dessert and after a bit of socializing and catching up we headed back to our cabin to settle in for the night.

The morning began with many watch alarms going off at about 5:15am, the 50-mile run was starting at 6:30am. I think there were about 15 starters out of which three were women. The temperature was in the mid 50's but the cloudy skies and 50% chance of rain had vanished from the forecast and it would only get warmer as the day progressed.

The first 25 miles were fairly uneventful. I was following a training technique of run 8 minutes and walk 2 minutes, plus walking the up-hills (and there are lots of those!). At the end of the first 25 mile loop I found myself in 6th place overall and 1st female.

The second 25 miles I concentrated on keeping a steady pace, I was still doing the 8/2 combo + walking the hills. Before Paw Paw Creek (PPC) Resort I passed two of the men, one of them was Fred who had traveled to CT with us from Houston. Fred had originally registered for the 25-miler and switched to the 50-miler the previous night. I had a feeling at this point he was thinking it had not been a good move. I encourage him to stay with me but after a few minutes I had lost Fred...

I reached PPC aid station and was greeted by Robert King's smiling face. Robert came out all the way from Houston to volunteer at CT since he was not able to participate due to an injury. He was very encouraging and after my hourly dose of supplements I take off to Paw Paw Point (PPP). On the way to PPP I come across Juan (a fellow Houston runner) sitting on a rock. Juan was not looking too chipper, but he's a tough cookie, I had no doubt he would snap out of it and I told him so.

I reached PPP and chatted with Gene who was now manning this aid station. Gene was also very encouraging and after spending a couple of minutes with him I bid my good-byes and planned to see him at the finish line. I returned to PPC and bellied up to the aid station along with Erik (aka Moogy). Erik had been one of the runners I had set up to pace at Rocky Raccoon 100-miler and had never had the opportunity to meet him until the start of this run. Here I found Juan was sitting in a chair relaxing a bit and as we finished refilling and noshing on some food I riled Erik to come along with me. Shortly after starting back up he had a call from nature and I was not to see him again until the last 5-mile turn-around. This was mile 38 and I found myself alone on the trail and in 2nd place overall?!? Wow. I like this 8/2 combo!!

Well, needless to say the last 10 miles were the toughest. By the time I reached Larry's aid station (with 9 miles still to go) I was starting to feel a bit tired. At this point I turned off my timer and just ran whenever possible all the downhill and flats and walked all the uphill sections and did not take any extra walking breaks. I kept telling myself the more I ran the faster I would get done and I could stop! I kept up my mantra through the last 5 miles of the course, not wasting too much energy ducking or wiping worms off me...they would all come off when I showered! I was very happy to cross that finish line in 10:28 and stop!

The aid stations and volunteers were just wonderful. The Melendez family who had driven up from Houston manned PPP in the morning, Gene and Robert at PPC, and the hula girls from Juniper Point along with all the other volunteers were all cheerful and full of energy. The post-race meal consisted of freshly grilled hamburgers, chips, bean, and salad. This really hit the spot after 10+ hours of constant forward motion! I thought the course was very well marked this year in comparison to some years past. I managed to stay on course but a few did get lost. I did notice on the second loop that someone had started pulling off the markers from the trees and where once we had long flowing ribbons all that was left were small little pieces tied to the trees. Overall Cross Timbers remains a fun and challenging event and I hope to comeback and participate in it again next year.