I fell during hard on this amazing course and wrote an article about it originally posted on Facebook for the Atlanta Track Club under their Half Marathon Training Page. I will include it below. Before I do I would run this race or another race in this area anytime. The race management was awesome and the park itself is beautiful.

"Falling Down

Falling down. As runners this is one of our secret fears. Naturally, we don’t tend to think about it until it happens. Lately, I have been hearing stories of runners in our half-marathon training group that have fallen hard on the pavement and on the trail during mid-week training runs and in races. I also know stories of friends and runners over the years that have fallen hard and sadly have lost the joy and freedom of running in their lives.

On Valentine’s Day, at the Yeti Heartbreaker Trail Marathon at Sweetwater Creek, I became part of this unwanted club and fell hard down a steep and rocky part of one of the course trails. I have fallen before during a trail race, but never this hard. I was running well, in fact, better than I expected for the day and took a risk I knew I should not have taken. I stepped short on a flat rock that teetered and pitched forward trapping my left foot with it. The rest of my body immediately lurched forward and I literally “cartoon” fell on top of my right leg bent at the knee. Ouch. The fall knocked the wind out of me and it took me a few minutes to go through the automatic actions of checking to see if my body was ok. My adrenaline was flowing and I immediately became very stiff. I could not tell for a few minutes if I was injured or not. Luckily for me, I only sustained some bruising and some hamstring and knee soreness, but nothing more. I would run again in a few days.

When you fall down 90% of the battle is won when you stand back up even if standing up takes some time. In trail running runners tend to spread out on the trails in later stages of a race and many times a runner might be miles from an aid station or someone that can help. The last 10% can be the hardest of the entire journey back to safety and back to help because often times the rocks and trails have to be slowly traversed on your own. There might not be any immediate help. Runners might pass you and if you are moving towards home base they will check on you and then head back out again. This is the way it should be. As long as you are moving forward to help then that is progression. The race continues on.

In a strange twist of fate falling on Sunday was the best thing that could have happened to me. Instead of permanently scaring me senseless, it gave me the courage I needed to understand that falling is sometimes a part of running just as it a part of every day life. As runners we run to encourage others to run with us and to better ourselves and our lives by gaining the inspiration to engage the world more fully. Falling is scary, but the fear does not have to define us. It does not have to steal our inspiration or our hope for something loved not lost. The courage it takes to get back up and move forward again can redefine your future goals and help you tackle unwanted fears. It can fill your well with the grace of strength and fortitude or just top it off. It can give you a chance to see with a new perspective."