My Hair of the Bear 15K Post Mortem

On Sunday, I ran in the Hair of the Bear 15k held at the Shawnee Inn and Brewery in the foothills of the Poconos. In this picture of my medal, you can see the logo for the Hair of the Bear.

Fun fact, since race was put on by the Shawnee CraftBrewing Company, this medal also doubles as a bottle opener.

One more fun fact, my father used to work at another Shawnee named place in the state of Pennsylvania. It is called Shawnee State Park and it is nowhere near this Shawnee Inn and CraftBrewery. In fact, according to Google maps, the Shawnees are located 247 miles away from one and other. My father used to get phone calls at his place of employment from people looking to make reservations at the Shawnee Inn.

Interestingly enough, both Shawnees are located near bodies of water (Shawnee Lake and the Delaware River) and are places where people can hike, bike and recreate in nature.

So now I have had the opportunity to visit both Shawnees in Pennsylvania. Just call me your Pennsylvania tour guide.

Additionally, I had the opportunity to wear the shirt that I made especially for the occasion. The words on it say Je suis prest. This is the Fraser family motto in the Outlander series of books, which many reader might notice, what my readers have noticed my major obsession right now. The motto means I am ready.

And I felt mostly ready for this 15K run. I practiced and followed a training plan based on the Hal Higdon Half Marathon training manual. However, I mostly trained by running on a rail trail with gently rolling hills.

This race by contrast took the runner up and down some pretty steep hills. It kicked my butt a little, but I did not quit. I walked a little, but there is no shame in that. I have read articles before that tell me that walking some of the hills is okay, ultramarathoners apparently do a lot of walking.

The run was challenging and it was gorgeous.

Much of the course bordered the Delaware River. I saw so many small rocks, mostly as I was climbing up or down them. I enjoyed seeing the early signs of spring. I saw lots of light-green shoots of plants that were just returning for the season. The weather was sunny, clear, crisp and fairly windy. At the start of the race at 9 am, the temperature was a very chilly. I believe the temperature was in the low 30’s and windy when the race started at 9 am.

It was a very challenging race and I definitely did not run anywhere near the front of the pack, but I finished and I wasn’t the last finisher either. Though we never talked, I felt a kinship with the people who I was running near for most of the race. I do not know if they held me in the same regard but for that one or two-hour period of time, I felt like we were on some sort of interesting adventure where we kept each other going mentally and physically though we never talked beyond the cursory hello in passing.

This special connection with the people around you is why I enter races. I love that friends and strangers come together and challenge each other beyond their normal limits. I never run as fast as I do when I am running in races. It isn’t about the numbers for me. It is the way we challenge each other to new peaks but also help each other along as we run. This is what I love.

Also, I love being exposed to places I might not have gone visited otherwise, like early spring, in the Poconos on a cool but bright Sunday morning.

Some day I would like to come back to and explore the five miles of the running course that took place on the McDade Recreational Trail and are located in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area. The McDade Trail extends for much larger distances than the race encompassed. I would like to check it out someday.

I should mention that during the summer of 2003, I co-led a week-long backcountry canoe camping trip at the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation area. Even though my campers that week were rather rambunctious and somewhat badly behaved, I still hold a fondness in my heart for that area. I would like to explore it with my own family. Maybe a canoe camping trip is on the horizon someday for the Coopersburg Nicholsons.

I had a great run and after the run, I was treated to some awesome swag. I received a medal when I crossed the finish line. I also received a pint glass and a high-quality t-shirt when I picked up my race bib. 15K runners also received a breakfast buffet and one free craft beer from the ShawneeCraft brewery.

I am glad that I participated in the race, the only thing that was missing from the experience for me was people to share it with. While I am a somewhat independent person and I try to do things I enjoy whether I have a crew with me or not, I missed hanging out with either friends or family after the race. The after-race party was pretty kicking. A band was playing in the brewery and people gathered around to spend time together. I heard some songs I liked by Old Crow Medicine Show and the Highwaymen but having people to spend that time with would have enhanced the experience for me. So if I do this race again, I am either going to invite my family or make sure some friends are willing to run this race with me.

I don’t regret it though. I had fun and lessons were learned.

Here are some pictures from Sunday.

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