SNOW MOON TRAIL RUN (Midland - 2021 - 25K)
Snow Moon Trail Run 2021 Photos
128 Mile Drive
Registration:
Registration for the Snow Moon Trail run was sad for me. It was the first Dig Deep race I would register for after TRITOFINISH was taken by the covid pandemic. I don’t know how I feel about Dig Deep Races just yet. It’s going to take time. The Dig Deep Races website was the same TRITOFINISH format with the name changed. TRITOFINISH had their own website to register on in addition to RunSignUp for registration. Their website was always extremely throughout in event description. They included pictures from prior year’s races with current swag and awards. Registration prices seemed the same. TRITOFINISH races were always a tad higher in price but they gave their participants amazing finisher medals, shirts, food and race experiences. Dig Deep Races seems to be keeping those same high-quality standards moving forward. There was a note on the website about pricing for the Snow Moon Trail Run being lowered due to covid. Dig Deep Races was unsure whether they would be able to serve Short’s Brews and Ciders so they made an alcohol price adjustment. I was fine with that as I almost always pass on post-race alcohol (I have taken a sip to try a few) and sometimes even avoid beer runs for that reason.
Course:
The course was five 3.10 mile laps around a messy figure eight shaped path in Midland City Forest. I signed up for my longest distance to date a….
25K!
It sounds big. My family
thought it was 25 miles when they got me a card at the mall while I was running. I had to break it to them that I ran 15.5
miles. It was still huge for me. For some reason doing loops made the distance
seem easier in my mind when I was deciding what distance to do. They had a 5K (one lap) distance and a 15K
(three lap) distance in addition to the 25K.
My favorite part of the course was accurately described by Dig
Deep Races on their website:
“This race has one “aid” station with bonfire manned by
enthusiastic volunteers that participants will pass twice on each loop of the
course. Sunset is scheduled for approximately 7PM so plan your run later
if you wish to run the dark trails!”
I loved the aide station in the first quarter mile that we
passed twice on each loop! They had assorted
pre-poured Dixie cups of pop and water. They
also had chocolate chip cookies, Pringles chips and Twizzlers! The Twizzlers were my favorite. They were a lively bunch of volunteers. When the sun set on my last loop that aide
station had multicolored lights blasting through the trees and on the snow. They had draped twinkie lights on the food
tables and tent canopy. They had awesome music playing! I always looked forward to seeing that
station on the course. I stopped at it
10 times!
Amazing course snacks aside…. The course was everything you’d
expect from a winter trail in Michigan.
By the aide station there was a small stream that had a layer of ice on
top. Near the end of each loop was a
large marsh area clearing. There were
tons of pine trees with a few white birch trees mixed in. One of the longest straight-away areas had
the most dense and beautiful groups of pine trees. I was able to get a picture with the sun
shining through. The ground was either choppy
half frozen snow or solid ice. The solid
ice was especially bad in the last quarter mile of each loop. Midland City Forest has one of the flatter
trails compared to other trails I have run on making it an ideal trail for
speed.
The trail in Midland City Forest was very wide creating ample
space for multiple runners to run together and to pass. I was never really close to anyone my entire
race. The closest I got to other runners
was near the aide station when we were coming from different directions down
the same path. Running through the
start/finish blow-up arch was always fun.
The announcer would say what lap we were on, make a joke or say
something inspiring to keep us going.
The last (fifth) lap was extremely hard for me. I started it behind the ATV dropping LED
lights over the course. I thought it was
cool until the ATV was gone and I had two miles to go. Due to distance and time, my phone and Fitbit
had both died which always makes me nervous on trail runs. As one of the last 25Kers to finish I was
completely alone in the dark. Each mile
got progressively darker. The last
stretch with the thick ice was a challenge when I couldn’t see where to step as
I had before. I stopped and walked to
avoid slipping and falling harder. When
I could hear the finish line music in the distance things got better. A huge weight came off me in that moment. In
hindsight, I should have brought lighting.
The course had great markings with cones and flags. They helped separate runners in areas where people
were going different directions near one another. They didn’t need a lot of turning arrow signs
due to the nature of the course in the forest.
It was easy to follow the curving path.
After one lap participants knew the way and it got more familiar for us each
lap we completed.
Swag:
I got a light blue long sleeve shirt
with a small logo across the top, a very cool personalized race bib, a Snow
Moon Trail Run pint glass and a beautiful heavy finisher medal! There was no swag bag with random goodies but
that was beyond fine considering I got so many amazing items including a pint
glass! I also got free race photos which
is something I really appreciate from races.
Food:
The big post-race drinks at the Snow
Moon and Red Moon Trail Runs are the beer.
There are usually half a dozen different flavors and race staff serve
participants in cups. This year they had
self-serve beer cans in coolers. They also
had bottled water and bananas at the finish.
I got really good fried rice from a Panda Express in Midland on the way
home.
Awards:
There were no master’s overall
awards or age group awards due to the financial hardships brought on by the
pandemic. It was a real bummer for me
after coming in third in my age group for my first 25K. In previous years I would have taken third
place home and been “over the moon” about it, pun intended. Instead of their classic award categories Dig
Deep Races awarded the three fastest males and females to finish each race
distance. The 18 fastest males and
females received a bag of Linden x Two Specialty Coffee and a gift card for a
pair of Korkers Ice Runners.
City Notes:
Midland is a huge Michigan city! Jason took the kids to Midland Mall while I
was running. Midland Mall was right down
the street from Midland City Forest Park.
Midland City Forest also borders the Jack Barstow Airport in Midland. Unfortunately,
we did not get to explore Midland after the Snow Moon Trail Run because it was
dark and I was really beat. We stopped
to get some food before leaving and that was the extent of our stay this
time. I plan to come back to Midland to
run again and see the city more.
City Sign:
I was not able to get the
Midland city sign after the Snow Moon Trail Run because it was late and very
dark. I researched online and saw
Midland has a few large colorful city signs.
I will be back to get pictures with them soon. It’s not like me to leave a run without
finding a city sign. It always stays in
the back of my mind until I get it. City
signs are one of my favorite things about the Michigan City Challenge.
This was my longest running
distance to date with an increase of 2.4 miles from my previous half marathon
distance. My family got me an awesome,
“You’re a BIG DILL!” card and a Jawa lego set at Midland Mall. The card is now on my running wall. I didn’t do well with pace but I have to
remember that it was winter on a trail, with two miles in compete darkness, and
give myself a little more credit. I did
keep running, even if it was a slower pace.
After loop two I started feeling
what felt like friction pain on my left foot.
I called Jason and asked if he could pick-up a wrap and meet me at the
end of a loop on his way back from the mall.
At lap three (15K distance) I hobbled back through the arch and went out
of the gates to get my foot wrapped by Jason.
I was asked by one of the race directors if I was okay. His daughter had seen my distress
limping. I told him about my foot and asked
if I could switch to the 15K distance. I
was told “No” because it would be unfair to the other 15K participants. I didn’t understand his reasoning. Awards were only being given to the first
three males and females to finish and my time was way beyond any reach of an
overall award. It was not an attempt to
steal an award. An hour and 45 minutes
for a 15K is not record-breaking. I
respected his answer and went back out hoping my foot would hold up for another
6.2 miles and it somehow did. It felt a
lot better after being bandaged.
We started our day with our
bathtub spraying out a jet stream of water.
Jason got to become a handyman again.
On the way up to Midland we had to stop and get new running shoes
because I forgot to bring mine with us in the van. It was a first buying new running shoes on
the fly! Thankfully, my Mizunos at home
were at the end of their lives so it was time for a new pair. We called in and prepaid for shoes at Bauman’s
running shop in Flint. Bauman’s puts on
a lot of Flint running events. I was
expecting a larger store. It was really
convenient that we didn’t have to go in.
The shoes were brought out curbside pick-up style! Mizuno colors are sadly still pretty boring
compared to other brands, but they still make the best shoe for me.
Dig Deep Races had not converted
all the signs, flags and arches over yet. TRITOFINISH was still everywhere when I got to
packet pick-up. It was tough knowing it
was probably the last time I would see the TRITOFINISH trailer and logos. They had their awesome blow-up arches and
fenced starting and finishing corral.
It’s a trademark of theirs. I
will miss it so much.
We started off by going past a
giant awesome sledding hill!
There was an amazing full orange
moon when we left to go home!
TRITOFINISH….
You were my favorite running
company. Thank you for giving me so many
of my greatest running memories. My
first half marathon, my first experience zip-lining, one of the greatest family
fun nights in Saginaw, my first bib number 23 and the first announcement of my
City Challenge at a finish line.
Light Up the Night 2018
Gaylord Half Marathon 2019
White Dog Trail Run 2019
Walleye Festival Races 2020
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