I talk a lot about accomplishments on this blog. I’ve always had a difficult relationship with “being successful” and what that truly means to me. My personality type tends to value appearing successful to others, which is super annoying and makes me sound incredibly vain. It also makes it difficult to suss out whether I find a sense of satisfaction in the success itself or the feedback I get from others after the fact. As I’ve gotten older, I have thankfully adopted more of a “don’t give a fuck” mentality regarding what other people think and this has come with a lot of internal work as well as a hint of just aging.

Which made this past Saturday’s race accomplishment even more satisfying. Because I did it for me.

Since my wife wasn’t able to come to this year’s Firefly Trail Race, I was on my own for the first time in the three years I’ve ran this thing. Just a refresher, this race is a 3 mile trail loop around a beautiful private farm in Western North Carolina. You run as many laps as you can in six hours. The previous two years I managed to run 7 laps.

As much as I very much missed her support, I’m surprisingly thankful she wasn’t able to come to this one. The biggest reason is that due to the chilly spring weather, the open stretch of field where the race crews were set up was incredibly cold. There were spectators snuggled up in sleeping bags and most of them just looked straight up uncomfortable. So I’m super glad she wasn’t out there just freezing her ass off for six hours. But the other reason is that I think it helped me shave off a few minutes by not stopping at each lap.

The route was almost exactly the same as the two year’s prior but unfortunately the Hurricane destroyed the stone bridge that passed over a small creek so the farm built a small wooden bridge and rerouted the trail only slightly.

There are no mile markers on the trail which can be a little disorienting and there are many switchbacks and sections that hitch back near other sections of the course which is confusing because you’ll see other runners nearby at certain moments that you know for a fact are at least 20 minutes ahead of you. The trail also overlaps with an out and back at two completely different distances adding to the confusion of exactly where you are. After a few laps though, you develop your own version of mile markers. For me, I subdivided the loop into four parts.

Part one - Farm Bowling: You run through the open field lined with support crews and then along the edge of the farms perimeter before winding through some classic WNC single track trails. You also pass a very much out of place lonely bowling ball.

*Rounding the turn on the Farm Bowling section - Melody Dawn Photography*

Part two - Hill Yeah: You climb a huge rocky hill and then hit some switch backs that add to your elevation gain. 400 feet a lap!

Part three - Sick Jump Bro!: You hit a mountain bike pump track for a fun but pounding downhill spree to lose all the gain you just climbed.

Part four - Waterfall: After climbing a set of wooden stairs, you get to a very rocky, slightly slick, but beautiful out and back to a cute waterfall before ascending and descending the gravel road to the barn.

The first four laps were relatively easy for me. Since I’m familiar with the course and the race, I comfortably knocked these out. I only carried a handheld water bottle that had a mix of caffenetatied tailwind. At the end of each lap, I snagged a few snacks, mostly just pickles.

However, once my water was emptied at the end of lap two, I did something that is not advised and that I normally don’t do. I switched to the aid station’s provided Skratch mixed water. Even though this product is very similar to Tailwind, it still was something new to my stomach. I think this switch, whether it was mental or not, coupled with a lack of eating enough real food, lead me to have a pretty miserable lap 5 and 6. I had to walk a lot of those two laps and just generally was not in a good headspace. My goal was 8 laps and during that time, I honestly was concerned that I would even be able to do the 7th.

I switched to straight up water during lap 6 and I also made a point to eat a few PB&J portions and bean roll ups. I also grabbed my phone, headphones, and my spibelt for lap 7. Apparently this did the trick and I got myself a nice second wind. Thanks to a badass randomly shuffled female pop mix playlist, I crushed lap seven. As I ran through the barn at the end of this lap, I mentally was satisfied with my finish. I knew I had shaved off 15 minutes compared to the previous year and was pretty happy with that.

However, as I crossed the timing mats, I saw there was still an hour left on the clock. I asked the timing guy how long that past lap had taken me and he said 42 minutes. Ughhhh. So I had enough time to try for one more.

I strolled over to my little mini camp, which was just a fold out chair and my backpack, debating if I should give it a go. The little crew next to me asked if I was thinking about another lap and I told them the situation. They plainly said, “oh come on, do it”, and that was enough for me.

I filled my handheld up with water and started out on Farm Bowling with a renewed sense of energy and urgency. I really pushed during that section since I knew it would be the flattest segment and to try to recoup as much time as possible. I passed a few other runners who were also trying to complete their last lap and we all gave each other words of encouragement.

By the time I finished the pump track, I knew I would be able to finish the loop in time, even if I had to walk. It’s extremely difficult to describe the feelings I had during the last leg of the race. I was in a moderate amount of discomfort from all the wear and tear to my feet, knees and back, but my mental state was so incredibly elevated. When I hit the waterfall deck, I cried out a tiny “FUCK YES”, before bombing back to the barn.

*This shot was taken during lap two but captures how I felt during that last lap as well - Melody Dawn Photography*

The race organizers were waiting before the gravel path, I assume to unfortunately pull people from the course if they weren’t going to make the time, but they hooped and hollered and shouted “look at all that time you have!”

On the gravel path, I passed a woman who was hiking with poles and she congratulated me and I asked how many laps she had done. She looked at me with such pride in her eyes and smiled, “five!”.

Cheers awaited at the barn and I crossed the finish line and received my beautifully hand made medal. As the rest of the racers trickled in, I hung out in the barn, cheering them on and drinking a Sprite with my race provided meatball sub. As the awards ceremony started, I had a strong feeling I probably was one of the top finishers. The previous two years I came in first in my age/gender division, which I was incredibly proud of, but the overall female winners were excluded from that award. This year, I was surprised as they called my name for 3rd place overall female! I stood up on the podium next to two other women, both of which had blasted out 9 laps!

I was really bummed that my wife wasn’t there to take a photo but the race directors were snapping some pics so I’m sure I’ll see them eventually. I drove the hour home in utter glee, stopping to meet my wife and some friends for a beer in town along the way. I was and still am so proud of what I accomplished. I am so thankful I decided to push myself for that last lap. I came away from the experience totally and completely elated. I can’t wait to do it again next year. Also huge shout out to RD Carrie Meng and all the volunteers and property owners who put this race on. I highly recommend it as a quintessential Western North Carolina timed race experience.

Recap of the 2025 Firefly Trail Race

Grinding Along - 19 weeks until the hundo

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