The Wood Splitter Solstice is a timed 4 hour/ 9 hour race run on “Last Straw” Farm in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The idea is to run as many 1.5 mile loops as you can before time runs out. I chose the 9 hour race. I thought this distance would be great practice for the loops I’ll be running at Vernal Equinox 48 hour race in April. The race is run to benefit the organization “For Those Who Would” which I thought a lot about throughout the day when the miles got hard.

The plan was to set up our own little aid station next to the course with a tent for the kids to hang out in for the day. I didn’t taper before the event and planned to run strictly as a training run. I figured around 36 miles would be a reasonable goal.

The morning of the race, we woke up to pouring rain and cold temperatures. We all piled into the car and headed to the race. When we pulled in, they directed us to park on the grass, which was already turning into a mud pit.

Hours 1-4

I jogged over to the barn for check in and the pre-race meeting. There were around 40 people already gathered. Right before the race that it felt colder than I expected so I grabbed another layer of clothes.

Everyone started off easy, following the race director on a 4 wheeler through the first loop of the course. The first few loops, I was on my own, just getting warmed up and getting a feel for the course. The loop started on grass, wound halfway around a lake and then into the woods. This trail consisted of rolling hills and single track trail. Once out of the woods, we crossed through a huge corn field. For me, this was the most challenging part of the course. The ground was uneven with broken corn stalks and the mud was already deep, so there was no good footing. Once through the corn field, we ran halfway around another lake and started the loop over again.

After a few hours, I got into a rhythm. I would stop at my aid station every few loops to grab some food and say hi to my kids. In and out in 5-10 seconds. I met some awesome people during this part of the race. The rain had slowed down. Although the mud and stream crossings got messier each lap, everyone was in great spirits.

Hours 4-9

As hour 4 approached, I noticed already that there were less and less people running. The rain started coming down again steadily and the course was now a slip and slide of mud and water. Only the 9 hour runners were left and I was running alone. I put on a Rich Roll podcast just to have something to listen to and tried to keep my pace steady.

My husband asked how I was feeling on each and and up until this point I had felt great. But around hour 5, it became more of a grind than I had been expecting. Every muscle in my legs ached from the strain of lifting me feet through the deep, heavy mud. Running through these conditions was forcing me to use muscles that I don’t usually use so the fatigue was setting in early.

I reminded myself that I do my best in the worst of conditions and this gave me a boost. The rain and wind were picking up even more on the back stretch of each lap through the corn field. At one point, I looked up at the sky and said out loud, “bring it on.” I’ve run enough races to know that this was the point in the race where I could either give up on myself or fight harder. As the hours went by, I started to enjoy being on my own running these repetitive loops. I figured out exactly where I could run and where I needed to be careful because the mud was extra slippery. I also noticed the subtle changes in the terrain each loop that were affected by the constant rain.

Finally, it was the last hour of the race and my husband let me know that I needed to pick up the pace if I wanted to hit my goal. I had decided that I would settle for running a 50k, given the conditions. I would be more than happy with that. As I finished my 50k loop, I told my husband that I was done. There was only 20 minutes left on the clock and I didn’t think I could make it around for another loop. He said “yes, you can” and deep down, I knew I had to at least try.

Last Loop

I didn’t see anyone around going into that last loop. It was just starting to get dark and the wind and rain picked up even more. Everything hurt but I just kept going with the fear of not getting back int time pushing me to move my tired legs faster. I got to the edge of the cornfield and finally saw another runner that I had met earlier. For the first time all day, I ran through the cornfield with my arms flailing try to stay on my feet. My daughter, Elle ran with me as I gave it everything I had to finish that last lap. It ended up being my fastest loop of the day. I learned more from that last loop than I had all day running through the rain. I learned that there is always more left if we want something badly enough.