Or also known by the more
accurate name, the Wild Azalea Trail 27 Mile Race. Neither quite fits, as my watch had 26.84
miles, but that isn’t always accurate either.
The race was held on Saturday January 4, 2025 in Woodworth, Louisiana on
the Wild Azalea Trail. We stayed at a
house in Alexandria, about 15 minutes away from the start line. The weather was just about perfect. It was overcast in the morning, with the
temperature in the mid-40s and no wind.
We drove to the trail head, but found no one there. Then the shuttle bus drove by heading back
into town, so we followed them. The
start was up the road in Woodworth. We
had under 2 miles of road at the beginning to spread out the crowd before
hitting the trail. There were about
forty-two runners doing the 27 miler.
The start was low key and just after eight o'clock we hit the road. The kids ran with me for a block and it made
me smile.
One of my goals for the race was
to be as consistent as possible. I made
sure to not get caught up in someone else’s pace. We were pretty spread out by the time we hit
the trail. The first stretch was through
some pretty brushy woods. Overall, the
trail was a good surface. It was never
rocky, and was very rarely eroded, although it did have the standard hazard of
tree roots. Really good stretches had a
smooth sand or dirt base with pine needles.
The worst stretches were really muddy with standing water. I got a little muddy at times, but nothing
was bad. The trail often had some sort
of base material in the really wet areas, such as blocks, geotextile mat, or
planking.
One of the mental challenges of
the race is that there weren’t any distinctive natural landmarks to hold in my
mind. There wasn’t really ever a vista,
it was all forest with low ridges. The
course crossed several large streams that looked alike. There were several road crossings, but most
were just minor forest roads. The race
organizers really did a good job with aid stations. I think there was almost an aid station at
every road crossing. I don’t think we
had to go more than four miles between stations. The aid stations were unstaffed, but that
wasn’t any problem. They were well
stocked, with pickles, bananas, cookies, chips, water, Gatorade, etc. I had my camelback, and partially filled it
several times.
After the first aid station, the
woods got nicer. Some upland stretches
were really open with a canopy of pines and a grassy understory. Bottomlands were darker, especially under the
southern magnolia. It was fun to look at
the different plant communities. The
swamps and bayous were fun, also. I had a
stanza of Bilbo’s poem in mind. “For
still there are so many things that I have never seen. In every wood, in every spring, there is a
different green.” I kept a sustainable
pace going, walking up hills and running everything else. The trail had half mile posts, counting down
from the trailhead. It was clear from
the start that we would have further to go than the posts (somewhere near a
mile). Markers like that have pros and
cons. Early on it is better to not think
about how much further you have to go and just to lay back and chill.
I think I went through my lowest
stretch early on in this race. Miles 12
and 15 were my slowest, but that might be due to aid stations. I passed the ten mile mark and felt happy to
have that in the bank and to be moving on.
I set my mind on the halfway point (13.5 miles). I wanted to get past that point and to start
eating away at the dark miles between halfway and the 20 mile point. My left knee started to minorly complain
about big strides. I shortened up my
stride and felt better. I think the aid
station somewhere around 15 really helped, once the food/hydration/electrolytes
hit my bloodstream. I started running
even more and kept a good rhythm. I was
alone most of this time. I was starting
to feel the pull of the finish line.
I was refilling my camelbak at
the aid station at 17.1 when a couple of runners that I had been running with earlier
showed up just as I was leaving. I set
off determined to run strong and put some distance behind me. I could hear them occasionally behind me and
I tried to hold them off. They caught up
to me somewhere around mile 22. They
were moving faster than me at this point.
We stayed together for a while, until we saw the sign for the 10k turn
around. They were encouraged to know we
only had 5k to go. I was encouraged to
know more precisely how much further we had.
They took off faster and I let them go, while staying determined to keep
up a strong pace. I caught up to some
half marathoners and passed them. The
trail made its way to the fire tower, which I knew was not far from the
finish. The course left the trail and
turned onto a forest road. I knew there
couldn’t be more than a mile to go. I
ran solidly, albeit at a slow pace.
After a short climb and a final turn, I could see cars parked along the
road up ahead, which seemed to be a good indication of the finish. The road made a descent and then what
appeared to be a steep ascent. I
determined not to walk. I spotted Joy
and the kids came out and ran with me as I finished.
I received my wooden medal and
went over to the family. The only thing
that was lacking at the finish was a good spot to sit or flop on the
ground. Gloria got the picnic blanket
and a towel for me to rest on. A towel
on gravel is not great, but still better than running or standing around. They had a rice and chicken dish in warming
trays. I grabbed that, some beverages,
and relaxed. They had propane heaters,
which were appreciated, as I am prone to severe body chills after running. They had pizza delivered while I was sitting
there, so I got my share of that, too. I
was happy to have my family there with me, especially as the boys probably hadn’t
been to a race before. If any readers
are interested in a January trail race in Louisiana, I’d heartily recommend
this one. The course was beautiful, the
race was well organized and well marked, and folks were friendly. The trail wasn’t ever boring and pleasantly
wound its way through the terrain.
Video of the run
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