Having enjoyed the 2019 event, despite less than ideal weather (no views and a cold rain) I was eager to register for the 2020 running of the Pilot Mountain Marathon. As 2019 wound down, I saw PMM as being my 100th marathon/ultra and was excited to have that happen at a fun event put on by great directors - Jason & Alison Bryant. Well, an unexpected obligation kept me out of the 2020 Weymouth Woods 50-miler, so it turned out that PMM would only be #99. Still, I was looking forward to the event and despite a dusting of snow a couple days before the race, the weather was shaping up to be very nice.
Race start temperatures were to be in the mid to upper 20s, at least according to my weather app, which is not always the most reliable, but I saw my Jeep's outdoor thermometer hit 19 degrees at one point as I made the drive up to Pinnacle, NC. The race didn't start until 9:00 a.m., so while there was time for it to warm up, and I knew that it always seems to get colder just after dawn, I was glad that I had several clothing options to choose from once I got there.
I arrived about 45 minutes before the start and timed it pretty well because they had just filled up the parking along the road above the start and started lining cars up below. I was the third car below, so I was very close to the start/finish area. I hopped out, finding it much warmer in the sun than my car thermometer (measuring in the shade) led me to believe. Packet pickup was quick and straight forward and we got a light blue, 1/4 zip tech shirt, not too different from the Grindstone finisher's jacket I got.
Having plenty of time, I hung out in the car for a bit, getting everything in my pack. The sun coming through the windshield was just that right temperature of warm to where I could easily have just dozed off and slept through the race. Tempting though that was, I came for a race and when 8:50 rolled around, I headed up to the start. Alison directed us to the hill on the back side of the parking lot and I could tell that not many people ran the race last year because almost everyone went to the top, near the graveyard. I knew, unless they'd changed it, that the start was near the bottom of the hill, so I hung around there. It was one of those races where not a lot of people were crowding the line, many seeming hesitant to get up front. I hung back 10-15' from the start, but there were probably only about that many (10-15) in front of me.
After the pre-race announcements, we were off on the 50 yard sprint to the trailhead. Early on, just like I seemed to recall from last year, I was pushing the pace pretty quickly for me on a trail. My grade adjusted pace was just under eight minutes a mile and by the time I hit the first aid station, I felt like I should have started slower since I'd had no warm up. Shortly after the first aid station, we're making the steep, stone-step trek up to the summit. The worst part of this climb for me is the height of the steps. Many times, it was a stretch for me to get my leg high enough to make the next step. I remembered enough from last year to know not to be looking for the summit too quickly, that it's a longer climb than you might think. Over the hump and its out for a loop around the pinnacle, which afforded me awesome views I had missed in the clouds of 2019. I had to watch from taking in too much view and not focusing on the trail ahead of me.
After the loop, I headed down the trail toward the aid station, which is in a corner of the summit parking lot. I didn't really need anything so I gave them my bib number and followed the guy in front of me down the other side of the mountain. According to Strava, my next two miles were 8:07 and 7:19(!) of course there was some very runnable surface here and we were dropping 350' per mile...
We made the sharp left where the 20K runners went on straight to the finish. There was a cluster of hikers gathered around the directional signs, but I remembered enough about the course to know to do this. Shortly after I made the turn, where I could see the trail behind and above me on my left, a guy was flying down toward me. He caught up to me a little ways down the trail and I let him go by. He never got terribly far ahead after he passed me and eventually, I slowly caught up to him. When he suddenly slowed to a walk up a fairly minor hill, I stopped since I'd been wanting to take my jacket off anyway--it had warmed significantly. He said something to me that I had to ask him to repeat because I couldn't understand. He asked if we were on the half marathon course. I hated to tell him but he'd missed his turn (technically he turned when he shouldn't have) over a mile back. I told him those hikers were blocking the sign but that he should have gone straight through that point. He said he didn't think it was well marked though it wasn't the course markers' fault that five people were standing in front of the directional signs. Also, on my second loop, I noticed not one, but two signs after the marathoner and halfs split that said "Marathoners Only." I think he was just smelling the barn so badly he wasn't watching for the markers. I told him that I couldn't be sure but that I thought the quickest route was to backtrack, which I assume he did. I headed onward.
I remembered this stretch dragging out in 2019 and it did again in 2020. It's a neat section of trail and quite a bit is non-technical and runnable, but it feels so long--and this was just my first time through! It's over six miles between the two aid stations, but it felt longer somehow. Anyway, I began to spot some familiar landmarks that told me I was close and soon enough I could see the aid station tent ahead. I had totally forgotten from last year that this aid station is the same as our first aid station, so they only have to have two physical aid stations to serve the marathon and 20K. Pretty convenient. I poured a packet of Tailwind into my empty bottle and they filled me up and sent me off, back up the mountain.
Partway up the trail, I caught up to another runner (well, we were hikers at the moment) and hung behind him for a bit, until he stepped aside and motioned me through. I didn't expect to put much ground on him, but I actually pulled away, even though I was moving slower than the first time up this climb. There were now a lot of rock climbers in the area. They weren't in the way, but more than once I imagined one falling out of the sky onto me as I went by, below.
I crested the hump again and headed out on the loop around the pinnacle and saw two guys that were ahead of me. Part of me thought I could be in third place, based on who I knew was ahead of me, but no one at an aid station was congratulating me on being third (or any place) so I figured I'd missed someone somewhere. This time around the loop, maybe 1/3 of the way around, I was startled by sudden movement right beside me on my right--the cliff side of the trail. I looked over and a turkey vulture/buzzard had taken off. I was probably 2-3 feet from him before he flew away. Maybe in my peripheral vision, he looked like a rock? In addition to the climbers in the other section of the mountain, there were a lot more hikers out now, a number of whom were walking dogs. They weren't a problem, but I'm sure they eventually got tired of pulling over to the side as runner after runner came by.
The second time through the summit aid station, I got some water and thanked them for volunteering. They'd been there the year before so I'm sure they were much preferring this year's weather and scenery. I headed back down again, probably a bit slower than my first time.
After the "easy" running ended and I was on the more technical section, I was catching my foot more often, not picking them up enough. That continued until one "catch" became a "snag" and I went down. It was a pretty fast, hard fall, but my palms took 95% of the impact in some small rocks. They stung for a while, then sort of went numb for a bit, and then were fine. This time around, I was walking some very short hills to get my heart rate down so I wouldn't take another spill. The walks were only maybe 10-15 seconds at most, but they helped me keep things in check. Eventually, I was approaching the final aid station and poured some of my remaining Tailwind packet into a bottle to be filled. I probably chatted a little too much at this aid station both times through, but I didn't think the guy behind me was going to catch up as I had not seen him behind me on the trail at any point. A volunteer said I had three miles to the finish, which was less than I expected, and less than it actually was when I saw a park sign shortly past the aid station that said 3.5 miles to the parking area.
I knew it was mostly downhill and felt like I made decent time early on. Then, I think my mind began to wander and mentally, I was just out jogging in the woods and not in a race. This continued for quite a bit, until I heard a rock-on-rock noise behind me. I looked back and saw the first place woman hunting me down. I didn't want to be passed by anybody at this point in the race, and the shot of adrenaline she gave me felt like a jolt of nitrous oxide from a Fast and Furious movie. I significantly picked up the pace--keep in mind that I was still tired and this was on trail. If she was going to pass me, I was going to make her earn it. I don't know if she realized I'd seen/heard her and was reacting to her catching up, but I hoped not. I imagine she was using my being ahead of her to push her to the finish just as I was using the threat of her catching up to push me. I felt like I had to be widening the gap between us and occasionally chanced a glimpse back (like in a switchback) to see where she was. I didn't see her again, but the trail wound so much, that didn't tell me a lot. Where I really got worried was when my "nitrous" ran out and I had to walk up a medium length hill within a mile of the finish. I was able to run again after cresting it, but she could make up a lot of time if she ran that hill. Things began to look very familiar and I knew I was close when I saw some of the "private property" signs on one side of the trail. She still hadn't passed me when I saw vehicles through the trees ahead. I was 99% sure that was our parking area (it was) and I "sprinted" down the hill and up the grassy bank on the other side to the finish. When I saw the clock reading "4:18" I was a bit deflated that what I thought was an effort superior to 2019 was actually the same finish time. I was more deflated when I looked up the 2019 results and saw that I was in fact ten minutes slower this year. The course might have been a tad longer with the change they had to make, but it couldn't have added a mile to the course.
A few seconds (27 to be exact) after I finished, the first place woman came through. After she collected her hardware, I thanked her for pushing me to the finish. She seemed to confess that I was her rabbit as well.
They have chili (vegetarian and non) and cornbread at the finish. I didn't really want chili, especially with the temps now in the mid 50s and me having gotten pretty hot, but the cornbread was really good. I didn't linger long at the finish, knowing I needed to get home to walk the dogs. There wasn't anyone else in the race that I knew, anyway. As it turned out, I was fifth overall. Unfortunately, for me, the fourth place guy was 48 so he took the Masters award. When I was in my 40s, I argued that Masters should start at age 50. Now that I'm there, I'm really believing it!
I can see coming back to this race in 2021. I do enjoy it, especially when there are views. I'd like to try it with my poles, which I saw a few people using, but I hate to become too dependent on them. I know they'd come in handy on that technical section around the base of the mountain, though.
Results
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