ODE TO SNOW (Holly - 2021 - 4.17 Miler)
40.4 Mile Drive
Registration:
I was running low on race options for the weekend of January 16th. I liked the idea of going to Holly, but UltraSignUp is home to more expensive races, even for their shorter distances. I like how throughout the registration is on UltraSignUp. They always have a detailed course map with a breakdown of elevation, trail width, terrain and a few pictures. Ode to Snow’s big events on January 16th were their 8 Hour Ode backyard and 8 Hour Ode continuous race. The continuous format tests participants to see how far they can run non-stop for 8 hours. The backyard format sets participants off in 4.17 mile loops with breaks in between. Both are extremely difficult and greatly test endurance.
Course:
The course was a 4.17 loop in
Holly State Recreational Area circling around Valley and Wildwood Lakes
starting on the southeast side of Wildwood Lake. They race used the address of 5000 McGinnis
Road which took us to the completely wrong area north of the course. We ended up at The Overlook Picnic area. I saw runners and thought we must be close,
not realizing that part of the course was a good portion into the 4.17 mile loop. It took eight minutes to get back on the main
roads and find the actual starting area (which I got to by using the start and
finish map on UltraSignUp).
The course was a snow-covered
winter wonderland with a few big hills.
The giant staircase up to the Overlook Picnic area was the most
challenging. The wood and ice managed to
pull one of my YakTraks off. I didn’t
notice until I fell for the third time and a runner ahead of me asked if I was
okay. I landed hard on my butt the third
time. At that point I couldn’t figure
out what was happening. I never lose
traction that many times on winter trails.
I looked at the bottoms of my shoes and saw I was missing my right
YakTrak. The rest of the course became
very difficult. The last quarter mile by
the finish was on very icy slopes on the south end of Wildwood Lake. I had to go really slow to avoid slipping
down into a freezing hell. My favorite
part of the course were the beautiful lake views. I could see the layout of the course really
well at multiple points from across the lake.
There were mini wooden plank bridges over small creeks. They were very slippery. The most unique water crossing was a wood
raised path that looked like a ladder over swamp like water areas. It was long!
Swag:
I got an “The Ode Est. 2019 8
hours of Ode” Mug in replacement of a finisher medal. My bib was very cool. It had a map of the course on the back! That was a first. It was a very well-made bib.
Food:
There was a big white tent with
a heater inside. The had two huge crock
warmers full of delicious chicken broth.
I got a 12oz cup of hot chicken broth to-go after finishing. It was amazing! Chicken broth goes great with
winter racing. I’ve gotten chicken broth
a handful of times at winter runs. The
salty warm mix is perfect after a cold run.
Awards:
There were no awards for the 5K,
4.17 mile or 10K races. There were
overall awards for male and female in both virtual and in-person 8 hour ultra
races. The in-person awards were free
entries into the Ode to Laz Backyard Ultra and the virtual awards were orange
Ode to Laz beanies.
City Notes:
We have come up to Holly
frequently for the annual Michigan Renaissance Festival. Holly State Recreation Area is huge with
8,000 acres of woods and wildlife. There
are three lakes, two campgrounds and a disc golf course at Holly State
Recreation Area. I didn’t get to take
pictures of downtown Holly on this trip, but I will the next time we come back
up so the Holly album has them.
City Sign:
The Holly city sign was not hard
to find. We first got a sign near the
expressway, even though it looked like the slightly more boring standard green
sign all cities have, it said “Up North in Oakland County.” I liked that.
The main Holly sign was really nice with its slogan, “Timeless Appeal,
Hometown Feel.” It had a holly leaf with
berries on it!
On the course I saw an awesome
sun painted on a tree near the finish. A
saw a heart spray-painted on a rock. The
snow had melted just enough so I could see it.
In the beginning of the 4.17-mile loop on the path that was melted I saw
a pinecone on a red string hanging from a tree.
Signs on the course were
awesome. If you started to turn the
wrong way there were, “Off Course, Go Back” signs to make you aware of your
mistake. In the last quarter mile they
had two signs that read, “880 To Go!” and “Run Forrest Run!”
The awesome runner that found my
YakTrak on the stairs and hung it up at the sign at the top of the wooden
staircase. The race staff were awesome
and said they would make an announcement about it. I went and re-walked the course to look for
it. I knew where I noticed it missing
and that was just past the halfway point of the course. Luckily, I just had to walk to the stairs, up
them and back to the start. It was still
a good workout.
The race was originally planned
for Saturday January 16th but was split over two days to get numbers
lower. We were emailed asking for our
preference. I had no issues being moved
to Sunday the 17th . I
offered to be moved thinking a lot of people wouldn’t want their plans
changed.
I was the first 4.17 loop
finisher even with my one YakTrak slow down! Don’t ever give up no matters what
circumstances you find yourself in.
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