Asheville Blue Ridge Runner: Race to the Taps Sierra Nevada Brewing Company 4 Miler

It's been so long since we've participated in a road race event that I would have to look back through our blog to figure out when it was, doh!

We learned about the Race to the Taps 4 miler from one of my coworkers who had signed up for the entire series, but because of her new position at work, would not be able to attend. She was pretty bummed about it, and was looking to give her bib away to anyone interested. After hearing her talk about the series and the upcoming Sierra Nevada Brewing Company race, I was definitely interested, and thought it would fit in perfect and add some fun to my mileage base training. Not wanting to run with someone else's bib however, I contacted the race director, and it was a simple swap to make me legit in the race, and Bart decided to sign up too.

Race start:10:00, partly sunny, 55 degrees

Over the past 15 weeks, I've been conservatively building my mileage up trying to get back in shape. My base training has consisted of easy jogging with walking all the up hills. My plan today was to run a little harder but still walk the hills.

For this Halloween run, Bart and I wore our Super Hero costumes. We planned on running together, but at the start of the race, he slowly started to move closer, and closer toward the front, and then I saw a little spark in his eye. I said, "You don't have to wait on me. Go see what you can do today". He said, "Are you sure?", and that was the last I saw of the SuperBart, his bright red cape flapping behind him.

Bart captured this shot of me on the final down hill stretch

This was a great event. Except for the little kid that was running behind me and said, "Hey Dad, shouldn't Supergirl be running faster than that?" And his dad replied as they past me, "yea, but some people feel super in the beginning, and they start too fast. The hills always get them."

...I curse you both!

Runners heading toward the finish line

The highlight of the day was that I just happened to have with me a doggie poop bag just as a lady's dog dropped a squat, and lady was looking around like great, now what do I do. As I handed her the bag she said, "Supergirl, you've come to save the day!"

Post race hang out

The race really was awesome, well organized, and started on time. The course was scenic and the Sierra Nevada facility and grounds are beautiful. The only down side was at the start. There were only 4 Porta Potties for over 500 runners that signed up for the event. Fortunately, we come equipped for such a tragedy, but that will be for another post.

SuperBart feeling right at home back on the trails

We felt so good after the run that we kept right on running on the trails on the Sierra Nevada grounds. Wish they had about 5 miles of trails like this!