I entered a local race today that was different from anything I’ve ever entered — it included climbing a huge staircase up the Alum Creek Dam! It was Run Wild Racing’s No Limits 10K. I’ve avoided this race in the past because of the stairs, but because of positive comments from friends who have done it before, I decided to try it.

This was one of the prettiest local courses I’ve ever seen. You actually take a short hill up to the top of the dam, walk along the top, then you are back on roads. The view from the dam was beautiful! The lake on one side had a few fisherman and the water was as smooth as glass. As the athletes ahead of us crossed the dam, they were silhouetted against the early fog.

When we were on the main road we were surprised at how early traffic was allowed to resume. There were no sidewalks and the berm was pretty small. One car zoomed by us so fast, I was surprised we weren’t hit!

Shortly after mile 4 we had to climb the stairs back to the top of the dam. Though imposing looking it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be! About 2/3 of the way up, I started to really feel the stairs. (There were two women on the stairs running up and down them for training! The one said she usually climbs the dam 20 times per training session. Wow!) What was funny was our legs felt worse at the top, and it was pretty hard to get moving with any speed.

Deb and I were the last to finish. It was OK though because we weren’t that slow, and all of the Buckeye Striders who entered the race waited for us and cheered us on. I finished in 1:33 and averaged a 15-min mile — not fast, but not slow. (Deb was 1 second behind me. She let me win.)

It was really fun, and it was great to see a beautiful local park I’ve never been to before.

Part of what makes local races so fun is the fact that the members of the Buckeye Striders support so many of them! In fact, all but two of the walkers were members of our club. For those of you who lose motivation to walk, joining an active walking club really helps!

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