Turkeys and TATURS

Today (Sunday, Sep 14) T3, Mav and P.I.T. Sweet Tee drove to Tulsa for the 3rd Annual Turkey and TATURS Trail Run. Held on the trails at Turkey Mountain Urban Wilderness Area, the Tulsa Area Trail & Ultra Runners (TATURS) put on a great race

There is a 50K (Mav and T3’s choice), a 25K and a 10K (Sweet Tee). The race starts at the Westside YMCA and follows a 25K loop that is well marked but in places can hardly be considered a “trail”. In fact, some places look like they just marked the trees over a rock field in a random pattern up and down the hills!

This year the trails were marked by pink ribbon with black dots. All the wrong turns were blocked by yellow caution tape too. It was almost impossible to get lost.

Since the start was staggered for the different distances, Mav and T3 lined up with the early crowd to begin a long day on the trails.

Once the “gun” went off (an improvised potato cannon) the 50Kers picked their way through the rocky climbs and descents by flashlight for the first 3 miles or so. Once the sun was up and the trail visible, the pack began to stretch out and the faster runners took the lead. Mav and T3 were just doing a second long run for the weekend (they had already done 30 miles on Friday) so the mantra “we are not racing” was repeated often in the early miles. The weather was supposed to be rain and wind, but the sky cleared and the day was partly cloudy to sunny with a very nice breeze. Later in the day it got a little warm, but it was a perfect day really.

The trail continued to be challenging and the rocks and elevation changes rarely let up. At one point Mav turned his left foot and twisted his ankle which then bothered him the rest of the day. T3 slipped off a rock with his right foot and got a really nice bruise on his instep which also bothered him the rest of the day. Most of the run was spent picking out footing and trying not to fall off the mountain!

The TATURS know ultra trail running and they were well prepared to meet the runners needs. Four major aid stations were stocked with a wide variety of snacks and fluids and the volunteers were cheerful and quick to fill a bottle or offer to help in any way.

While T3 and Mav were negotiating the first 25K loop, Sweet Tee was being baptized into trail racing in his first trail 10K.

Running under an hour, he finished 13th overall and claimed it was “awesome fun”. After his race he pitched in and helped Brian Hoover (race director). It was later reported that Sweet Tee is a very good race volunteer, of course we already knew that, he IS a Piraña in Training after all.

After the turn The Pirañas passed several runners and were passed by none. Even with the day heating up and the 30 miles from Friday setting into their legs, Mav and T3 managed to run even splits and finish around 6:23.

All-in-all it was a great day. A challenging well marked course, friendly and qualified volunteers, excellent post race food (fresh hamburgers and cookies and beer!), and a nice finishers medal and custom bibs (rare for a small event).

The Pirañas extend our thanks and congratulations to Brian and his crew and all the runners on a very fun and successful event.