Best trail race for people, like me, who are not morning people - 24 weeks until the hundo

I am not a morning person. I despise waking up early. I always have, ever since I was a kid. I kind of want to get a sleep study done and have them hook up those electrodes to my head so there is some scientific proof as to why I feel like I’m having to pull myself out of a sinkhole every morning. So this race that I’m about to run today is absolutely perfect for me because it doesn’t start until 2:30pm!

 This will be my third year in a row running the Firefly Trail Run out in Hendersonville, NC. I just finished packing everything up and am waiting on my headlamp to charge, and then I’m heading to the race, which is about an hour drive away.

It’s a time based race meaning I get to run as many laps around this beautiful private farm as I can in 6 hours. A lap is just over 3 miles. The past two years I finished 7 laps for 21 miles total. The second year I shaved almost 30 minutes off my time and even though I had 45 minutes to run another lap, I felt pretty wiped and didn’t think I could make it before the cut off. If you don’t finish the lap in time, the lap doesn’t count!

This year, I think my overall pace has gotten a bit faster but I’m not in as good of trail running shape as I was leading up to this race as I was the previous two years. There’s about 450 ft of elevation gain per lap so it’s a bit of a challenge and I just haven’t been putting in that kind of gain in the past few months on my training runs.

Wag Valley Farm Barn - You get to run through this at the end of each loop. They have an awesome aid station set up inside.

However, I am still going in confident and excited to just enjoy this course. It’s quite beautiful with a mix of mountain bike pump tracks, single track climbs, flat farm stretches, and a nice gravel uphill then downhill through a historic barn that serves as the race central and aid station. It also features an out and back to a cute waterfall.

This year, it’s probably about 10-15 degrees colder than the previous two years so I’m excited to not be sweating buckets. I’m currently pretty chilly sitting here on my porch typing this up. The race director also informed us that the farm, Wag Valley, unfortunately sustained a good bit of damage from the hurricane. They sadly had a few of their pigs die and there’s this beautiful old stone bridge that we would cross near the end that was also destroyed along with the beautiful cabin next to it. They’ve rebuilt the bridge and have done a ton of trail work to clear the down trees but as per usual this year, I’ll be running through the remnants of the destruction of this insane storm.

The waterfall that you get to admire during each lap

My goal is to pump out 8 laps this year, which means I need to stay under a 13 minute/mile pace on average. I think it’s doable but I also am totally okay if I fall short of this goal. Unfortunately, my wife and dog won’t be able to attend this year as my race crew so I’ll be utilizing the race’s aid stations. This might help shave a few minutes off since I won’t be stopping for a kiss and a dog pet every lap. 

I just love this race and I’m looking forward to enjoy a beer (or two or three) afterwards. Wish me luck!