Whiskey Hill

About 3 weeks before the Oak Barrel Half Marathon a friend of mine (who lives out of state) asked me if I was running in it. I said I was not but I would see if I could get a spot...turns out they do have charity slots! If you aren't familiar with that race, it's a half marathon in Lynchburg Tennessee (home of Jack Daniels) that goes up what I've heard is a beast of a hill (Whiskey Hill). I had never done the race before because it sells out within hours (maybe minutes?) of opening every year. I signed up in 2020 but...we all know what happened in the spring of 2020. They did actually have the race that fall but it was on the day my son was getting married so I couldn't defer. The only races I've ever signed up for super far in advance have been half and full Ironman races....

I've always heard wonderful things about this race...any race that sells out super fast has to be good, right? I've even been up there to spectate once. Other than knowing the race director, the course goes up a massive hill and people love it, I didn't know anything else about the race at all. But my sweet friend (who I LOVE spending time with) was signed up and she was willing to run slow so I sent in a check made out to one of their charities in order to get my spot secured.

I'd like to say I trained, but, other than running 21.8 miles at Little Rock, and a few 4 and 5 mile runs, I didn't.

Dwayne got up super early in order to come with me to Lynchburg Saturday morning...that was a really nice surprise. (A friend I was going to ride with got sick the day before so I thought I might be going up alone.) The instructions STRESS STRONGLY that you need to arrive early because parking is limited. That fact along with the fact I had to pick up my packet that morning had us getting there about 90 minutes before race start.

I got my packet from a SUPER friendly volunteer-who was FREEZING COLD and still smiling-that included a NICE quarter-zip sublimated pullover. Then I went to wait in the car until it got closer to start time.

About 20 minutes before the start I made a quick trip to a portopotty (there were A LOT of them so the line went FAST) and then I went to hang out in the back of the race crowd to wait for the friend who roped me into this. I got to see several people I had not seen in a while and I got some great hugs! My friend and her husband showed up...more great hugs! After the National Anthem and some announcements that could NOT be heard AT ALL in the back, the race was started and we creeped up to the start line. 

I will say I was nervous. My friend told me her longest run was 8 miles, but she's always been faster than me so I didn't really know if our definitions of "slow" were going to line up. I had been doing a 3/1 run/walk so she said that was good for her so we started that from the get go.

The course for this race is BEAUTIFUL! Like SERIOUSLY BEAUTIFUT! There is ONE part where you go through a cow farm that was eye-watering pungent but other than that blip this is hands-down the best half marathon course I've ever been on! I LOVED IT. It's challenging but I didn't think it was horrific. I think I had built Whiskey Hill up to be so horrible in my mind that when we got there I was like "is this really it?" Don't get me wrong, it's not easy. It is a switch-back steep hill for a bit, but it's nothing like Mountainwood on the Cotton Row course. I didn't feel the need to take a breather. I couldn't have run up it this day but I can actually see getting to the point I could run up it (but I don't know if I would want to because the "cost" of running it might truly be more than it's worth...other than to say "I did it!").

We ended up negotiating on our run/walk intervals because it feels like wasting a downhill to walk there and it's HARD to run uphill so our intervals became haphazard. There were a few times I was really watching the time, wanting to walk before the time was up...but there were also a few times we ran through our walk break knowing an uphill was coming soon.

The best part of the race was getting a chance to catch up with my friend. I love her so much. She moved a while back but when she was here I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her. I have been to see her a couple of times but it's been a long time. She's just fun and smart and super happy...I love being around her so getting to run with her for 13.1 miles was a treat!

After you go up Whiskey Hill you run along the top from about mile 4.75-8.5. After that you get a GLORIOUS, easy downhill to the finish. I was feeling SO STRONG. Like crazy strong. It was a shock how strong I felt actually. It was incredibly encouraging.

Dwayne kept messaging me with predicted finish times and encouragements. He wasn't factoring in the MAIN reason I was running this race was to SOCIALIZE with my friend-not to run the fastest 13.1 mile race possible! I think I'd have been happy if we walked the whole thing-more time to talk! 

As we neared the finish line I fought the urge to speed up so we could finish side by side...it worked we ended up with the EXACT same finsh time! 2:38:25. 

Here's the Relive video of our race...

The finisher party was fantastic! They had delicious Brunswick Stew! They also had "hoecakes", pimento cheese sandwhiches and grilled cheese sandwhiches...I didn't eat those since I'm not eating gluten and dairy. The whole square was shut down for the party. I picked up my finisher socks and bought a Lynchburg magnet; we said our goodbyes to our friends and we headed back home.

I will certainly be online when registration opens up next year to make sure I get in...this race sells out FAST every year. Now I understand why! :D

Thanks for stopping in and sticking around.