Course

 September 7th,  2010: The Twisted Turkey says "now that the inaugural race is over, be prepared for more twists this year! The course will be slightly different this year with limited backtracking for all racers, but still enjoying hills galore...hope you have a good VO2 max!" The general map is below and if you follow the directions, you will be able to follow the approximate route of the race.

Well the Twisted Turkey took more time than expected to beef (get it?) up this summer and prepare for the race. However, after the short sabbatical the Turkey was out on the course today finalizing the route.

The course is as follows:

.0--The racers will organize on the road down by the pavilion. There is a small bridge next to the pavilion and at 9:55am racers will be asked to line up. At 10:00am, we will need to start because there will be "not so happy campers" idling in their cars wondering why the traffic is backed up on this tiny rural road.

.0-.5 miles--all racers will run a hundred yards along the road and the racers will split: the 10K folks head to the right into the pine forest on the white Nature trail and the 10M folks break left and head up (yes...up) into the direction of the Middle Creek Trail (this route will be explained more in a minute). Now back to the 10K folks...you are cruising for about 1/2 a mile at this point jocking for position and getting your tempo set...probably feeling a little excited, anxious, but good that the race began. Once you come across the bridges where the Swamp Creek Trail and the Nature Trail intersect, you head up the hill to the kiosk where the Red Quarry Trail awaits you. 

.5-1.8--somewhere in here you will ask yourself if you trained well enough for this endeavor. You will turn left at the kiosk and run a few hundred yards and take your first right (this takes you off the red trail) onto an access trail that leads you and reconnects with the red trail. You run past the parking area/kiosk and head back down to the intersection of the red, white and pink trail. You turn left at this point and head along the pink trail which turns into the Green Foothills trail. Once on the green trail you will follow it straight and then it turns into a wide track and starts to wind upwards. A water station will be in this area just before the steep ascent where the road intersects the trail. You gain over 650 feet in this 1.3 miles.

1.8-2.5--head down the trail and relax a bit, turn right at the T intersection and continue on a slight upward grade. This is a good recovery section.

2.5-3.3--turn left onto a single track trail. This is a rocky section and the Twisted Turkey is waiting for a few ankle biters on this trail. This section is pretty nice and while you are in your groove,  you can easily get lost in your thoughts back here...such as "am I having fun yet?, what am I doing here? I am going to catch that &*$#!, really, that person is faster than me?!?" Stuff like that. Anyway, cruise away and watch that you do not get lost in the swamp creek area. You will emerge around 3.7 on a flat track.

3.7-4.3--this is a pretty straight forward, wide track. You will pass the pink trail on your right (but do not take it), keep going straight until you hit the clearing where the logging road begins. At that point the pink trail will be on your right again (go figure). Turn right and watch yourself as this areas was cleared and there are branches and rocks galore. At 4.3 you will reach the next kiosk (a water station will be in this area)

4.3-4.9--turn left at the kiosk and begin to climb 400ft over the next 6/10ths of a mile along the Blue Baker Knob trail. Hit the kiosk at the top of the trail, say "what up" to the folks checking bib numbers and turn back around for the decent.
 
4.9-6.2--down the Baker Knob trail you go, back to the Swamp Creek kiosk and turn left. You are on the final stretch! Follow the signs to the bridge and you will now back track to the pond. Open up those legs now, as it is time to pass that one person who has been a few feet ahead of you for the last 45 minutes. When you approach the pond you will head to the left, around the pond, toward the road and turn right along the fence line and whala...you are finished!

As for the 10 miler folks:

The start is the same with the exception of turning left toward the Middle Creek Trail. You will proceed along a wide path and will gain 500 ft over a 1.5 mile stretch and then you will lose that elevation as you complete the circuit back to the road. This is a 3.2 mile loop and then you will cross the road and pick up the white Nature trail. You will follow the same route as the other racers with the exception where the pink, white and red trail intersect. Here you will turn left at the kiosk like the other runners and will continue down the white trail to where the red trail intersects. Follow the entire red trail and then the rest of the race is the same as listed above for the 10k race.

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