Uberthons Summer Half 2016 Preview Run

                           Uberthons website can be found 

                                           ~~~here!~~~

Saturday I drove up with a group of runners to run the Summer 2016 Half Course for  Uberthons.
We met at Greenville City Park, Banks OR. We all piled into Kim's 15 passenger van and headed to what will be the starting line in the Summer of 2016.  

We got to the start (L.L Stub Stewart State Park about the same time we will be starting the official race in 2016.  The air felt good.  Even slightly cool, but we were eager to get started, knowing it would soon be heating up.

We took off running downhill from the park!  It was fantastic! Everyone seemed to be feeling great and we all could run fast downhill!  You can see in this elevation chart! 

Alan from Uberthons

Go Kristi!!! 

Kim, myself and Madi

Jerry, like a speeding bullet! 

 We ran down a hill, and then did a short out and back.  There was a very slight lift in elevation on this part, but not enough to slow us down much! This was fun because we all got to see each other.  As we came out of this part of the trail/course, there was Darwin from Uberthons waiting to cheer us on and take a few photos!  The course was just about as perfect as you can get for a summer race. 

It is off the mail road, on a paved trail and it's shaded! I don't care to run too much in the heat/sun, so I was really excited to be in the shade.  I was also excited about the downhill for the first several miles.  It wasn't so steep, you had to hold back, just steep enough to really get a good start and feel like your flying!  

Just after mile 5 you get to cross this bridge. 

At mile 5, Darwin had an aid station set up for us runners, but was also giving out water to bikers/runners who happened to be using the trail this day.  He had fuel for us, including gu, water and ice cold wash clothes.  These are all things we are working on having at the 2016 Summer half.  With the warmer weather, the ice cold wash clothes were my favorite thing!  I had my handheld water bottle, so all I needed was the cold!!!  After a minute or two, I started running again.  About mile 5.25 (right after the aid station) we got to run across my favorite bridge on this trail head (see photo).  There were several small bridges we crossed, but this one is the longest and grandest. 

I ran on, now running by myself.  About mile 8 or 9 I was feeling the heat and slowed my pace down a bit.  I wanted to really enjoy the trail. At mile 10.29, there was Darwin again with an aid station set up.  This time, I not only took an ice cold wash cloth, but some cold water.  Darwin had plenty and refilled my handheld bottle.  I was so glad to have cold water.  As I moved on there were some spots of sun, then shade back and forth.  I stopped and picked a few blackberries about mile 11.  They were delicious!

The course is 85% shaded and paved.  There was a spot or two, where we crossed a back road and then went right back onto the trail.  The race will be on the  Banks to Vernonia trail-head for the first 11.5-12 miles.  It then comes out onto Main St/Hwy 47 and into Greenville City Park!  

Some of my friends had already finished when I got back to the park.  We sat around for a few minutes in the shade of the paved covering in the park.  We enjoyed cooling down, drinking lots of water and eating bananas.  This will be the finish line of the official race in 2016.   There is talk of lots of water activities for the whole family, food and fun! 

Uberthon's keeps me coming back for more for a number of reasons.  They are geared to the whole family.  They often include a free kids run, and or a mile kids run.  They welcome walker, competitive runners, kids, people of all ages.  They often have a whole meal after races.  They do things to make the community a better place and help others more then you know! Plus the race organizers are just great people.  I encourage you to say hi to them next time you are at an Uberthons event.  

The Uberthons Summer Half will be Saturday July 16, 2016, so mark your calendars today!  You can visit Uberthons website here for more great information! 

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Register for an upcoming Uberthons event or just check out their website here.

Thanks for a great run guys! #ZaoFit