Day 2 Patterson Cross Country Trip

Grand Loop, Hyndman, PA

We arrived a little after midnight, but still woke up early.  We all got something to eat.  I wanted to make sure I drank a lot, get enough eat for energy and ate a banana since I knew I was going to be running a lot of hills.  My kids were already outside running around checking out some of the race course.  My brother-in-law is the mastermind behind this Grand Loop.  His house is nestled between two large mountains.  He spent the last couple of months laying out the trail that would take us up and down both mountains, making sure it was challenging, marking it clear for everyone to follow safely and making some actual obstacles for us to do.

Both obstacles here are ones you climb.  The one in the back has a rope to help you climb the wall to the other side.

At first, I thought you were supposed to run through this obstacle, but then learned you were supposed to go under the poles. 

There are a few times a year we get all the Pattersons together and this was one of them.  Just waiting for them to arrive adds to the excitement.

As soon as everyone arrived we sat down together to go over rules, the course and safety issues.

There are four brothers and members from each family raced.  We started the race around 10 am.  Each racer is being timed and the competitiveness was in the air – who would have the best time?  Certainly, not me.  I have not done any training whatsoever to prepare.  However, just the thought of running it was thrilling!  I’ve always wanted to do this sort of thing and when you do watch people run a race like this, you can’t help but be inspired!

 

This is the map of the Loop.

So the race began as we watched each member disappear into the mountains, loop around and go up the second mountain to return and do the obstacles at the end.  Once we saw the racer reappear out the of woods and make their run back -  the cheering began and we would all gather to watch them finish the best part of the race – the obstacles. 

In my family, Joe went first.  I followed him after two minutes and then Anne followed me.  I was feeling pretty optimistic and also inspired by all the other families who raced before us.  I was thinking I was going to do pretty well.  I was worried about Anne doing this course by herself, but after watching everyone, I was a bit more confident she would be fine. 

I was following Joe at one point and then he just disappeared.  He is in great shape, I knew he was almost done as I was huffing and puffing up the first hill.  I was telling myself, slow and steady.  Once I got to the top of the mountain I started running the crest of the mountain thinking I would make up the time for my slow climb.  As soon as I was on my way down, my legs felt like jello.  It was almost as tough as going up! 

I got down one mountain and started jogging to the back mountain.  I could see Anne behind me and she was doing really well.  I was using her as a motivation to keep on going.  The second mountain was more like walk, stop, pant, pant, walk, stop, pant, pant…  Once I got to the top of the hill, I started picking up my pace again on the crest.  As I was following the signs in front of me, I sort of missed one and got off the path.  I was lost!  I couldn’t believe it!  Fortunately, my daughter was not far behind and she helped me get back on the path.  It delayed her time a bit, unfortunately.  Once, we were together I made sure she knew it was ok to pass me.  I eventually passed her and then I thought I was at the end of the loop and was so happy, but my heart sank when I saw one last hill to climb, a steep one, too!  The trail was so slick it was hard to climb, I kept sliding down.  Anne eventually caught up and couldn’t get up the hill – she kept sliding down.  She was getting so frustrated, poor thing.  I had to help her out and gave her my leg to grab and pulled her up.  After that, she eased on up the steep hill as I was crawling up the hill out of breath.  She would have passed me up eventually.

Finally, I slid my way down the rest of the mountain and jogged back to the end of the race towards the obstacles.

I was able to complete three out of the four obstacles.

I ended up with the worst time – I knew I was going to be humbled.  However, so very pleased to have finished the race!

Here are a few pictures of the race:

This is Joe climbing the wall.  I was not able to do this obstacle.

 



 

This is the last obstacle before completing the race.  Everyone in the family swam under the poles!

So proud of my little one!

I think it’s such a blessing to be able to have family come together from all over to spend a weekend doing something as creative as the Grand Loop!  Even though not everyone raced, most everyone did and it was so exciting to watch each member complete the Loop.  Everyone did a great job!  Thanks to my brother-in-law who put the whole race together.

The next day we left the Farm to head over to the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania!