BURNED EARLY, REVIVED TO LIFE

Michaux State Forest, PA - Another two-hour journey the morning of a race found Gabriel and his family once again in beautiful, technical, and hilly Pennsylvania. This time it was the famous Pine Grove Furnace State Park as the setting for the 2013 Buck Ridge Burn Trail Half Marathon.

With the 2012 CR set at 1:36, Gabriel knew this course would be runnable, and after logging too many hours in Patapsco Valley State Park, he wanted a change in scenery for his weekend long run. Buck Ridge Burn would have to do. Looking at the course map, a 3 mile ascent was the main challenge on the course that gained 1,700 ft of elevation.

With the gun sounding, Gabriel settled into second place on an immediate road climb. Within a mile, Gabriel had taken the lead and led onto the singletrack. This would be an interesting morning, for a couple of reasons - 1) there was a lot of leaf cover and trail was immensely windy and spontaneous in direction and 2) he felt like he was running on one leg, as his left leg decided not to work well. It was tight from the early climb (not enough warm-up).

And so, Gabriel fought on until about the five mile mark where he had to stop, tie his left shoe, wake his left leg up, and continue on. Only after the huge climb did Gabriel then again feel himself. He was warned of the beautiful views at the summit of the lollipop loop, and sure enough, he got multiple glimpses of some of the most beautiful views he has ever seen in his life, especially on the East Coast. Absolutely inspiring... and then came the technical descent.

Summoning his best Kilian Jornet, Gabriel worked down the technical and rocky Ravine Trail as best he could and started battling fatigue. Finally, he won out with a great stretch on jeep road and singletrack, launching to the finish line in full run with another course record and victory. More importantly, he exited unscathed from the effort.

A good day on the trails and another trail conquered, but this event was first class. The RD, Jennifer Henry, was absolutely stoked at his performance, and it was a thrill to be a part of this great event
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