I initially decided to start my half fanatic attempt with a May race. Then decided the Southern heat would be brutal. So I added Germantown as my 1st, found an April Race and kept the May race that's in MS. Most of the runners in my local group did not provide good feedback on this race. Despite this, I kept it on my schedule. I did 3 long runs in the area to familiarize myself with the neighborhood. for the past week there has been a ton of flooding in the city and the area near the race course was hit HARD. Work up this morning feeling pretty good with little to no nerves. around mile 2 I noticed the course was going the opposite was from which I had trained ( i trained uphill). this was okay. By mile 3 my ankle issues showed its head. by mile 6 i was back in my groove. hit the time just right with my training time. by mile 9 i was feeling good still. at this point crowd support was almost non-existent. I'm kinda slow but there were plenty of others behind me. As I approached mile 10 i knew this is where he challenge would start as I had not run anything over 10 miles. pace was still good (14min which is my average). by Mile 11 the leg cramp hit me. OMG never have I ever felt anything like this. My goal was to 3.5 hrs as I did not know what to expect. by mile 12 both legs were cramping. During the 1:1 intervals, i would stretch my calf on the curb. As I round the corner approaching mile 13 I saw 3 familiar faces. My Black Girls Run coordinators were cheering me on. One even pushed me through that last stretch. After crossing the finish line I was so proud of myself, throbbing calves and all.

Someone stated after the race that the original course had been changed due to flooding. not sure of this was true. This is a very hilly and challenging course. Not sure if I will repeat it next year.I do love supporting local races so who knows.