23 Mile trail run at Glade Springs

This was a great run. I have never run this far with this much elevation change. There were 5 of us ranging in age from 60 to my age of 33. We started at the bridge at Prince and ran about 6 miles along the new river. That got us to the mouth of Glade Creek. From there we could look down the river and see where we would eventually be. Way up on the ridge at Grandview state park there is a lookout. We then ran up Glade Creek along a trail/road which was beautiful. It was all uphill. Did I mention there was snow? Not a whole lot but as much as an inch or two. So sometimes it was like running in sand.

We walked every time the trail took us over rocks or bad spots where you just couldn't run. We also walked some of the steeper hills because we had a long way ahead of us. I noted several turkey tracks in the snow and we saw some deer along the way. The trail up Glade Creek lasted about 6 miles. So about 12 miles into the run and I was doing fine.

You reach the trailhead where people drive in to and then you are on this steep mountain road leading away from the creek through some farms. It is very steep! I had to walk most of this. Just walking up these hills, I could feel my heart rate skyrocket. I almost had to stop several times just due to my heart rate. It was intense. The other guys were able to run up a lot of this so this put me way behind. This is where my troubles started. The back of my legs were burning and I was losing speed and endurance fast.

You then hit the main road and go straight up even more for about a mile or so to a shell station where we refueled. I was zonked by this time. I almost thought about finding a pay phone and telling my wife to come get me as she was in Beckley at the time. The shell station is at the I64 Grandview exit. So If you are traveling to Beckley and note the really tall bridge just before you get to Beckley that says Glade Creek, we climbed from the bottom of that gorge up to the interstate.

From there we ran towards Grandview park along a two lane road. My friend Lee hung behind with me to coax me along. He was pointing out the nice houses and I was like... uh huh whatever... when is this going to end. I know I must have aggravated him because I kept asking how much farther? We cut through a residential area to avoid the traffic. This was tough as well because it went up and down and up and down. I was really hurting, I would run for about 5 minutes then walk about 5 minutes.

Finally at mile 19, we arrived at Grandview state park. All 5 runners were back together. We went to the overlook and looked down at where we had been on the new river at the mouth of glade creek. I was really hurting by this time. I could hardly walk actually. My legs were burning. That is when Lee offered me some drugs. He had some tylenol and ibuprofen. I took an ibuprofen.After walking around in the park for about a mile and sightseeing the ibuprofen started to kick in. The pain vanished! It was great. I felt good once again! I still couldn't keep up with them but I could run pain free now. We headed down a steep mountain road with ice and snow for about 3 miles back to the vehicles. A few times one of the runners would hit a patch of ice and start skating that was kinda scary but for the most part it was a pretty good trail. I arrived at the vehicle feeling good and ready to eat. The trip took me 5 hours and 10 minutes.

When I told my med student sis-in-law about taking the ibuprofen she made a bad face and said that it couldn't be good to do that. But I tell you, I felt great. Next time I run more than 15 I plan to take one about mile 14 or so. I think it reduces the muscle inflammation in my legs. I'll have to look into this further. Overall it was a great trip and sad to say we took no camera. I've got to look for a tiny one to carry on trips like this. I just didn't want to lug my rather boxy old digital camera around for 23 miles of running! There will be pictures next time I do this!

My mile times were:
1 10:44 Run/walk along New River
2 9:07
3 9:10
4 14:13 Walked a hill along New River
5 9:14
6 18:20 Walking around at mouth of Glade Creek
7 15:21 Walking around Glade Creek starting up trail
8 12:15 Glade Creek Trail
9 14:35 Glade Creek Trail Stopped at Bridge
10 11:56 Glade Creek Trail
11 11:06 Glade Creek Trail
12 23:06 Climbing hill away from Glade Creek
13 14:27 On main road to store uphill
14 15:03 Went into store
15 15:02 Coming out of store
16 9:51 Along two lane road with Lee
17 10:48 Going through rolling subdivision
18 11:54
19 11:25 Coming into Grandview
20 23:19 Walking around the park
21 18:19 Started down mountain - Ice and snow
22 10:45
23 9:51
Back at vehicle