How to Medal in a Race

Step one: Register for a race that is not-well publicized in hopes that less than 50 people register.

Step two: Be born a woman. (This step must preceed step one).

Step three: Show up for race on time.

Step four: Run.

In following the above steps, I was awarded 2nd place overall female in the Saluda Shoals Earthfair 8k in Columbia, SC!

Chrissy and I had wanted to visit our friends Emily and Henry in North Carolina again and picked a weekend when there was meant to be a race in South Carolina, about 30 minutes from their house. However, after purchasing the tickets, the race was cancelled. We looked for other races and the closest one we could find was the Earthfair 8k. It was almost impossible to find information on it as it did not have online registration or an official race website, and different sites had conflicting information. We were able to print off mail-in registrations though, so we registered. The best part of the weekend was spending time with good friends, eating good food, and having lots of laughs.

We had no idea how big the race would be or what the course would look like but were really just looking forward to visiting our friends and checking another state off the list. We were pretty surprised by the incredibly small number of runners that showed up and immediately became nervous we would come in dead last as neither of us felt confident in our recent training.

This picture is us walking to the starting line...clearly not the most populated race!

It was a sunny day and the race course was pretty, winding in and out of trails. But it was very hot and humid and you had to be careful with your steps as you ran as the trails were fairly rugged and uneven...though one guy ran in bare feet!


We started at a pretty casual pace, but Chrissy told me to run ahead when our friend, the barefoot runner, threatened to pass us. I finished in a pretty steady 50 minutes, and couldn't believe it when my friends told me I was the 2nd female to come in. I ran back to get Chrissy, who finished shortly after.

Chrissy ended up getting a medal as well for coming in 2nd in her age group. She followed the same steps listed above-- it's a pretty good system.

So, if you are looking for an easy win (the overall winner came in at just about 40 minutes-- only 8 minute miles!), or just a fun little local race, check out the Earthfair 8k...if you can find it. :-)