Hogpen Hill Climb: 2013 Edition

The Hogpen Hill Climb is my favorite road race in Georgia. What makes Hogpen so special? Check out these splits:

In what other road race could I take it out in a 5:29 first mile and still be proud of a 10:13 at mile 9?

This was my fourth year running Hogpen and every year I love the race a little more. Mother Nature might have had a bit to do with my optimism this year. After the misery of the Houston half followed by a week of pouring rain here in ATL, the sunny blue skies and perfect running temps on Saturday were a real treat.

I headed up to Helen, Georgia with the Dynamo Multisport crew. We were a mixture of Hogpen verterans and newbies, all set to conquer the 18k race with 2500 feet of climbing, with most of that elevation gain squeezed into the last six miles.

The race starts with a blissful downhill out of Unicoi State Park. I tucked behind the lead group of guys and just let my feet fly. Once the road started tilting up, the pack got strung out, and soon I was running pretty much solo. Every now and then I’d catch of glimpse of Coach Diablo up ahead and I would try to keep him in sight.

Thanks to the gorgeous weather there were a ton of cyclists out on the course and they made great cheerleaders! 

After one hour and 23 minutes of running I made it to the top of the Gap. I was the first female finisher, but immediately I noticed something wasn’t right:

I’D LOST MY LUCKY GREEN HEADBAND!

Thankfully, it was Kathryn to the rescue! She’d actually picked it up on the ground at mile 3! I have the best teammates! Thanks SpK!  And congrats to all the GREEN!

View From the Top!: Linda, Matthew, Erin, Mark, Scott, Micki, Me, Kathryn