I was very excited about this race because it was the first annual for the Lehigh Valley. The Travis Manion foundation runs these races all over the country however the first for our area. Then to find out that it was all made possible due to a high school students history project - just amazing! She told us a little about Travis Manion and his sacrifice for our country - dying serving our country in Iraq.

The start of the race was very emotional. There were several fire trucks from different area fire companies along with local police there!

The course started on the Parkland High School track and quickly trailed onto the grass into the woods. This was one of the hardest courses I have ever run - there were, what seemed like 70* elevations both up and down and they were incredibally rocky. I felt like I was hiking a mountain, not running a race. However when you think of what our service men and women go through, this was a walk in the park. The course then looped around and ended back on the track. As someone who never ran track in school, this was an awesome experience as spectators sat on the bleachers waiting for runners to arrive!

After the race, they provided lots of food and drinks! The swag was very nice as well. Everyone received a very nice t-shirt and if you raised money through the fundraising site, you also received a commemorative coin and a nice hat!

Although a very difficult course, I will definitely run it again next year!