A Different Beat
The revelation came to me somewhere around the middle of the race. I'm pretty sure it was after I'd fallen the first time, sending my glasses flying into the brush while I was yelling, "I'm fine!" to those around me while I staggered to recover my pace, but still before I'd fallen the second time, cutting my hand open and yelling a slew of bad language into the trees. Sidenote: if this runner falls in the woods and he can not see another runner in front or behind him, I assure you: he does makes a sound. Plenty of them, in fact.
The scene for all of this was the On the Rocks Trail Run at Rocky Ridge Park in York, PA. This was my first trail race in nearly a year and more importantly, my last prior to the Susquehanna Super Hike, a 28.4 mile ultra coming up next month. On the Rocks featured a 2 loop course; runners could choose between the 8.5 and 16.3 distance. I'd chosen the latter.
Given the name and location of the race, it shouldn't surpri