September 24th was the day of the Hardin Hill Run in Steamboat Rock, Iowa! My family had been vacillating whether we should run this race for months. For awhile we thought that it would be fun. Then we thought it might be too dangerous. Then we thought it would just be adventurous. Then we thought, no, we couldn't risk getting injured. But in the end we decided, yes, we would do it! The original race plans were for the runners to cross the Iowa River in canoes during the run. But we were having extreme flooding the week of the race! At the last minute plans were changed. We would use a bridge instead. We had practiced running at this place a couple times before, and we were able to draw some conclusions. We decided that whoever would be running this race had to either be tough, not so smart, or just didn't know what they were getting into.
At 9 A.M. about 16 of us 15K runners lined up at the starting line. Above is a picture of us as the race director explained the route. Don't we all look so excited?! Both my parents, my brother and I were running this. My one sister was running in the 5K.
We all got started. My brother always is fast starting out. He took off as the leader of the pack. Once the starting sprint was over, I was about in 6th place. As you can see in the above video, we took off running up a small hill. Well, it just got worse from there! We forged creeks and got all wet. Due to the flooding, at one point we had to run through water 3' high! One hill was so steep we had to use a rope to climb it. There were several mammoth, mountain-like hills that even the best of us were forced to walk up. Then there was the mud. One place was so bad it almost took my shoes off! Through all of this wonderful stuff, I ended up passing everyone except two runners. There was the 1st place fellow; then there was my brother! My brother is way faster than I of course, but we were running 9 miles. He had never ran more than 6 miles at a time before, up until then. With the last three miles to go, I started catching up with my dear brother. Then with less than a mile I caught him! I managed to finish second--nine minutes behind first place. My brother finished in third. There was another man in fourth. Fifth place was my papa. He crossed the finish line with mud, a little blood, and a torn shirt!
My mama was in sixth place. We all had made it, and actually survived!! My sister finished as second place female in the 5K, so we all were happy.
If you're looking for a lot of adventure, the Hardin Hill Run is for you! It was a great race, and I'm looking forward to next year's run!
If you're looking for a lot of adventure, the Hardin Hill Run is for you! It was a great race, and I'm looking forward to next year's run!