Xterra Panther Creek 2016

Dirty Bird Events to host “Xterra Panther Creek” featuring a new Trail Run in the Series Saturday and Sunday July 30-31, 2016 at Panther Creek State Park in Morristown, TN

June 23, 2016

XTERRA Panther Creek Trail Races – July 30 @ 8:00 am
XTERRA Panther Creek Triathlon – July 31 @ 8:00 am

Panther Creek State Park
2010 Panther Creek Park Road
Morristown, TN 37814

Event Description

In late July, for the third year running, Dirty Bird Events will be hosting one of the oldest off-road triathlons in East Tennessee, XTERRA Panther Creek. Newly added this year is another trail race in the XTERRA Tennessee Trail Running Series.

Race Report: Rock & Root 30k

The second running of the Rock & Root 30k by the guys at Peak Mountain Sports went down at Haw Ridge Park in Oak Ridge, TN back on August 29. Yeah I know what you're thinking, wait long enough to write a report? Yeah,well when you're training for events you don't have time to blog, haha. I have to say that the Rock & Root is probably one of my favorite trail races and for a number of reasons.

The course is challenging to say the least. The Peak guys changed it up a little this year and added some extra vertical gain. There's one climb in particular called the Hill of Truth (H.O.T.) and in late August it's definitely HOT. It's a loop course and you have to run it twice. Thankfully, there is an aid station at the top of the climb put on by the Hill of Truth Hooligans. I'm always glad to reach this aid station because not only do they have water and/or electrolytes, they usually have some other libations if you so desire if you catch my drift. I call it motivation for getting up the hill.

Race Report: Norris Dam Hard Trail Race 50K - Sept. 1, 2013

The Norris Dam Hard Trail Race 50K was a goal of mine when I sat down earlier in the year and made a list of trail races that I wanted to do. Included in that list was the Dark Hollow Wallow at Big Ridge, and The Panther Creek Challenge. Of course as the year has progressed I've thrown a couple other races into the mix. I guess you can say I've become somewhat of a nut when it comes to trail running, and the further the distance the better.

After taking a week or so off from Panther Creek, I developed my training plan and for 14 weeks leading up to the race, I was running 3 days a week, one of which was my long run which started at 8 miles and crescendo-ed at around 24 miles two full weeks prior to the event. Long and arduous were those long runs, but in the end they definitely paid off.

Race Report/Camping Fail: 2013 Panther Creek Challenge

It was the weekend before Memorial Day, and KTC's Treadin' Trodden Trails series was making a stop atPanther Creek State Park for it's annual 10 mile Panther Creek Challenge. This was one of the original 3 trail races I had planned on running this year (To date I've run in 6 and I've still yet to run the last of the original 3 I planned on running and who knows how many more before the year is out). With the Challenge approaching I had the hair brained idea that we could turn it into a weekend of camping, fun right?

Since it was at Panther Creek State Park which was a 2 hour drive from home, it would be awesome to already be at the park on race morning and then have the rest of the weekend to camp with the family. On paper, most of our crazy ideas sound great. However, we've quickly learned that with toddler, those ideas don't always work out the way we plan. Race weekend had finally arrived and I had taken a 1/2 day on that Friday. When I got home, Robin had some stuff ready (another change since our Little Bug came along, Robin would have already had the car loaded and ready to go), so I got straight to helping with the final packing and then loading of the car. After all was said and done, we were packed, out the door, and pulling into our campsite by around 5pm or so.

Race Report: War at Windrock Stage 2: 10K

As many of you know, especially if you read the last post, that I recently completed two trail races in one day thanks to the War at Windrock Trail Running Festival hosted by Dirty Bird Events. After successfully completing Stage 1 of War at Windrock Move Fast 4 miler, it was time to rest up and get myself ready to run Stage 2: Get High 10K.  Honestly, I had no clue what lied ahead of me in the afternoon, all I knew was that it was a 10K and there was over 2000 feet of elevation gain.

So after stage one, I walked back to the events area of Windrock OHV Park where the race weekend was staged from and proceeded to the vehicle in order to start recovering and getting ready for stage 2. I had packed my self a couple of PB&J sandwiches, a banana, and a couple of granola bars. After getting my wet shoes and socks of me from the few run off spots of the previous race and changing shirts, I sat in the tailgate of our SUV and started to chow down on some food. It was around 11 am and I still had 4 hours before the next race.

Race Report: War at Windrock Stage 1: 4 Miler

I took about 2 weeks off following the Dark Hollow Wallow trail race I ran back in February. One reason for this was it was the longest race I've run in a very long time. The other reason, and main reason, was because Robin was having back surgery two days after the race and I was on tap to take care of her and Dinah Bug.  Little did I know at the time, that not only was I taking 2 weeks off from running, but I was also going to be off from work for about a month and a half. At Robin's 2 week follow-up appointment, her doctor put her on a lifting restriction of no more than 10 pounds for 4 weeks.

It was during this 4 week stretch that I got back to training, and this time my sights were set on the Panther Creek Challenge trail race, an 11 mile trail race at Panther Creek State Park (another in the Treadin' Troddin' Trails series by the Knoxville Track Club). Of course with Robin's restriction, I was limited to doing my training runs when Bug was napping, or when the teenager was home to help Robin with Bug. That would allow me to get my long runs in.

Race Report: Dark Hollow Wallow - 2/17/2013

Last year the Knoxville Track Club added a couple new trail races to their Treadin' Trodden Trail series. Of these races, one was in our own backyard, figuratively speaking. I remember having wanted to do the Dark Hollow Wallow last year, but I was in no way ready or in shape for it. Fast forward to the end of November and it dawned on me that the race was coming up again in February and if I was going to represent, I had better get on the ball with training.

I had been running off and on since July of last year but now I was ready to commit and begin training. Besides I had been running on the roads and was ready for a change. I just had this nagging feeling in the back of my mind that trail running would be so much better for me and way more adventurous. For three months, well almost three months, I was logging miles at least 3 days a week. Unfortunately, two of those days were on the roads as I was running those two days during the week and before work. Why roads at that time? Well it was too dark in the mornings so I opted for the safe route as I didn't have any experience running trails in the dark. Needless to say, I looked forward to my weekend long runs. I started out with 3 mile long runs and worked my self to about 7 miles as my longest run before race day got here. I wasn't sure going into it if it was enough, but nevertheless, I persevered and went with it.

Trail Race Report: Wanderer's Trail Race 1/20/2013

I've been a road runner for most of my running life. That was until this year. Actually, back in late November of last year I started my training to run the Dark Hollow Wallow (an 11 mile trail race) at our "home" park Big Ridge State Park. The Dark Hollow Wallow is put on by The Knoxville Track Club and is part of their Treadin' Trodden' Trail series. Last year was the first year of the race and I would have loved to run it then but was in no shape to run 11 miles on tough trails. So I made it my goal to run it this year.

As mentioned, I started my training towards the end of November. I had run a couple trails prior to this point but I didn't dare call myself a trail runner as it wasn't my normal mode of running. Of course if you run and run on a trail then you're a trail runner. Up until this point I usually ran on the roads and on tracks to train for 5k's, 10k's and a couple of half marathons. During my training, I thought it would be a good idea to get some trail racing experience prior to the Dark Hollow Wallow before I bit off more than I could chew. The Treadin' Trodden' Trail series starts off every year with the Wanderer's Trail Race on the Maryville College campus. It's a 4 mile trail race and I thought with where my training was already, this would be the perfect opportunity to find out what it's like to run in a trail race.

Living Under a Rock?

We're pretty certain most of you have given up on us and figured we've caved in and took solace under a rock with having a new member of the family. That really couldn't be further from the truth. While taxing, raising our wee-little one hasn't completely kept us from getting out and about. It has however, really limited us from having any quality "sit down in front of a computer to get something done other than bills" time. Also considering work, regular run of the mill household tasks and upkeep, and a nagging an all out painful back issue, we have been somewhat limited in what we've been able to do in the out of doors arena.

So what have we been up to other than wrangling babies, playing taxi driver, and battling a fiery hip/back/leg due to a herniated disk impinging on a nerve? Long story short, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. We've been on some walks, playing on playgrounds here and there when the weather permits it, a short hike, plenty of scenic drives, and for Tim, quite a bit of running including two trail races as he converts from a road runner to a trail runner. There's also been a couple impromptu trips to Mississippi to visit Tim's father in the hospital. He's suffered a couple heart attacks back in February and Cardiac arrest while in the hospital. We ask that y'all keep his dad and family in your prayers.

So as time rolls and my goodness does it, we can't believe that March is already almost half way over, you can look forward to more posts of what we've done in the past few months. We have some gear reviews that are long over due, a couple of race reports, a failed hike and lesson in risk management on the trail, among several others. What's more is Tim is now also a proud member of the Terramar Tribe so you can be certain to see some reviews on some Terramar gear. Tim can honestly say that the base layers he currently has from Terramar are awesome. He's in love with them.

Race Report - 2012 Cove Lake 5k

Hers:
I'm patting myself on the back right now. You want to know why? Because I completed my first 5K! Yup. The "un-runner," the introvert, the non-competitor, the girl afraid of crowds, and (most recently) the injured ran her first race, The Cove Lake 5K, on June 16, 2012.

It was interesting to say the least. We began (like every race does) in a crowd of people. At the sound of the gun, we all started jogging at once. I felt like I needed to run ahead of everyone, like something was after us, like zombie apocalypse. After a few minutes though, the crowd thinned out with most everyone in front of me. Apparently, I'm slow. *giggle*

Roane County "Run for your Health" 5k report

I really didn't hype this race or anything on Facebook or Twitter like I did when I went to run in the Coalfield 5k or when I ran the Man Run with the kiddo. Maybe it was because I wanted to make sure I met my goal so I didn't want to jinx it by talking it up. More than likely it's just been the fact that we've been so busy with doctors appointments twice a week, baby shower, nesting, etc. etc. With all that's been going on, we really haven't had a whole lot of time to do much in the way of the blog and because of that, the social network aspects of the blog and our lives in general have "suffered?".

Well I don't know that that is totally a bad thing, you know not spending the majority of our time on Facebook, Twitter, Google +.... you get the drift. After all, we are outdoor bloggers and Robin's been on to me for quite sometime about this social networking addiction I have. Something along the lines of, "people will see right through you if all you do is spend time on Twitter and Facebook. How can you enjoy the outdoors like you blog about if you are consumed?" Yes, the lesson is definitely being learned. Because I've not put so much time in front of the computer, I can tell a difference in myself and in the relationship with the family. I'm more present and I can tell they like it.