My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my temples. I
look at my watch and check my heart rate; wow! I can’t believe how much
climbing I’ve done. I look down below me. Nothing but trees and rocks. I’m
reminded of George of the Jungle, “If you fall, you have a very long time to
waive goodbye”. I look up ahead of me, still can’t see the tree line. “The Beast”
is living up to its name.
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| Climbing the Beast; Photo courtesy of Mike McNeil |
I first heard about the
Frozen Snot around the
same time I ran the 2017 Boulder Beast. Its many of the same trails with some
added extras. My interest was piqued but I didn’t really consider doing the run
until I decided to run 12 trail runs in 2018. I needed a January run and I
thought, to quote a particularly nasty trail on the race, Why Not? At about 430’
of elevation gain per mile, the Snot dwarfs most if not all other Pennsylvania
Races (see the graph On
Matt Lipsey’s blog).
I read more than once that it’s the toughest trail race in the United States. I
don’t know if that’s true but after reading through
this list of the 14 toughest half marathons in the US, I’d say it gives Pikes Peak Ascent
a run for its money. Its by far the toughest run I have or will run in the foreseeable future.
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| Frozen Snot Course Map |
Regardless of how the Frozen Snot stacks up to other races
it is by far the greatest physical challenge I have ever undertaken. One could
argue that the Boulder Beast, having the same elevation gain but with an
additional 13.5 miles is harder, but that wasn’t my experience, and the searing
pain in my legs as I sit here writing this would seem to confirm my thoughts.
The steepest climb in the Boulder Beast, “Barb’s KMA” is the first ascent of
the Snot a whopping 1.5 miles into the race.
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| The Snot is ridiculous |
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| Dear legs, screw you. |
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| Ascending the Boulder field of Barbs KMA; Photo courtesy of Dave Seasholtz |
However, all thoughts of Barb’s KMA melted away as I began
the ascent of the aptly named “The Beast”. What started as a dirt trail rapidly devolved
into root and rock before opening up into a boulder field of both beauty and
brutality. As with so much of the race its duality was revealed when after
finally reaching the top of the climb, I was greeted with the most dangerous,
steep, and technical decent I’ve ever had to navigate. But navigate it I did.
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| Climbing; Photo courtesy of Mike McNeil |
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| yep, more climbing; Photo courtesy of Mike McNeil |
In the end I think that was my biggest takeaway from The
Frozen Snot. The duality of trail running. You can find yourself in a herd of
people only to be surrounded by nothing but trees and your thoughts a mile
later. You are able to reach the woods and find peace and harmony in the nature
around you, yet every step requires the deepest of concentration or you pay with torn muscles, sprains, and broken bones. The Frozen
Snot has it all, climbs and descents, technical and mindless, snow and ice or
dirt and rocks. It is a race that will never leave you. I can’t imagine when
you are lying on your death bed and replaying your life accomplishments in your
head, you’ll say, remember that 5k we ran downtown, damn that was a goodun’.
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Crossing Lucas Run, Photo courtesy of Thomas Vincent
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Hey you're still reading? Sweet! Before you go, I wanted to let you know I'm running to raise money for the Beaver County Humane Society! Don't give your money to Starbucks, give it to animals that get by with a little help from us friends! Dogs are awesome, cats are, well they exist and don't seem to really care if we do, but they still need help! You can donate HERE if you feel like being a good person.
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| Running to help animals! |
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