YUT-C 50K

This report is a week late but it will have to do.

I arrived in Youngstown in plenty of time for the race and found the park right away. I didn't take the time to look into where the race actually started inside the park. It's just a state park, can't be that big or confusing, right? Wrong! I drove around for about an hour before I finally called Mike, who was in New York for work. After I woke him up, he looked up directions and became my co-pilot, getting me to the race 15 minutes before it started, thanks Mike!
I had just enough time to register and tie my shoes before the race started. I decided to start out slow and shoot for a 6:30-7:00 finish time. The trails in the park were really nice, technical with some hilly sections and good views of the lakes. The race consists of 2, 11.xx mile loops and 1, 8.xx mile loop. I was feeling a sluggish the first couple miles then picked up the pace a little. I can't really remember many details except for passing Kim a couple times in her bright pink trail goddess outfit and the fact that I got lost 4 or 5 times and ended up running about 35 miles, and standing around about 15 minutes throughout the race wondering which way to go. I hadn't looked at a course map so I had absolutely no concept of the course and there had been trail vandals messing with the course markings. I have never been as lost during a race as I was during this one. I ended up finishing around 8:15. Maybe next year I'll take a map.