Sultan 50k ...and link to photos...

What a fun time with friends yesterday in the NC gamelands south of Morganton, NC and on the trails of South Mountain State Park! Here is a link to more run photos.

"Front runners" starting the beginning of the run w/ a 1.2 mile get-your-attention uphill on gravel road

I think about 27 runners came out to celebrate life with Mohammed Idlibi

by running 16-32.5 miles in the dirt and mud. This was the 2nd running of this course-complete with crowns and birthday cake…and special party contests for winning bonus and boner points. See the below excerpt from one of Mo’s emails:

Woop woop....Birthday runners…. This year we will time the run and provide a 16 mile split, and a 32 mile finish time. 

There will be bonus/boner minutes added and deducted from your actual time based on the following criteria: 

Bonus/Boner Minutes 

Acquiring the first will result in faster “official” finish times; acquiring the latter will result in slower “official” finish times. Bonus Minutes can be acquired by… 

• Wearing your Sultan crown the entire distance. 

• Taking off the crown will result in boner minutes. 

• Eating a full slice of birthday cake. 
• Being extra nice to our volunteers.

• Doing a headstand or cartwheel at least once while on the run. 

 CAKE: There will be one aid station at the main parking lot of South Mountains State park. Red velvet birthday deliciousness will be served. 

Yummy cake at mile 16.4

I had a very fun day-running almost all the way “out” with Wendy Wright and Anne Lundblad-yacking and laughing and making time zoom by.

After eating cake, Wendy decided to spend a little more time at the Cake Station and run back with her husband Keith so Anne and I shared the remainder of the run together. I appreciated the hours of conversation about fun and serious topics-and I can believe how FAST those miles felt. Though we certainly weren’t fast-With all the photo opps, cake eating, cartwheels and rambling around it took almost 6 hours to do the run!

Anne and I after many hours of chattering...

Wendy and her hubbie Keith just as they finished. Nice!

I am very appreciative to Mo for organizing this an to Lily and Oz for being so helpful and fun loving! This venue is hard to find. Map Quest Roper Hollow Road, Morganton. The trail starts at the end of this road and eventually winds up in South Mountains State Park. The Park map shows the upper CCC road which we ran miles on before entering the park.

Sometime this week I expect Mo will report to us the “outcome” of the run. All I know is if people had ½ as much of a fun day I had-the outcome = GREAT fun with goofy friends!

I've made a "movie slideshow" set to music-yet after 3 hours of self tutoring still can't get it to post online...check back in a day or so when I regain my patience! Happy day!