OMG this race is gonna be so awesome! I can't wait to see all the smiling faces! All the (potentially) muddy feet! You guys are gonna have so much fun on this race!

OMG I'm so excited to run my first 50 with the Hawks! Is it the 22nd already?!

Looking forward to seeing all your bright smiling and muddy faces tomorrow! :) Good luck everyone!

Thanks for a great race with first class support all along the way! Still can't believe all the mud we went through. Loved the river crossing and all the support. Two more finishers: ticks.

Thank you Gary, Coleen and all the volunteers who helped make the Hawk 50 a success! I'll be back next year as long as you can guarantee there will be plenty of mud.

Volunteering at this race was a lot of fun! Nick was an awesome aid station leader at Swim Beach (although there was NO beach since the lake was up so high). Our theme was still a beach theme and Nick went all out with a coconut bra, grass skirt, flower leis (spelling?). I’m sure there is a picture somewhere of him modeling and doing a hula dance. "Roxy the dog" provided good entertainment and she was very useful with her bug catching/eating skills! Getting to know the other volunteers at the aid station was great! (Nick, Elizabeth, Eric V., and Jeff). The runners (and walkers) that came thru were all very nice and gave us lots of “thank you for being here!” comments. A very big Thank you to the Trail Hawk organization for the volunteer gifts also (mug, shirt, and food/drink!!) If I don’t run the marathon next year, I will definitely volunteer again!

I want to personally and on behalf of my mom and dad THANK Gary and all the volunteers (especially Chris on more directions and the start/finish aid station volunteers for talking with my parents) for giving my parents excellent directions for coming to "see" me run in this race. This is the FIRST time ever both my parents have seen me run ANY race (including 5Ks and marathons). They ended their vacation early and came all the way from Lake of the Ozarks (they are from Lake City, IA - about 8 hours away) just to try to catch me in the race. Because of your help, they were able to catch me at the start/finish after I had run about 26 miles and only about 5 minutes after they got there. What a great memory to cherish!!! I also want to thank ALL the volunteers for putting on such a GREAT race. More specifically, I want to thank all the aid station volunteers for going above and beyond; whenever I came up to them, someone would always be on their feet ready to take my water bottle and fill it up. And a BIG THANK YOU for all the volunteers who stayed LATE, patiently waiting for me to finish after 14 long hours! :-) Not only staying late, but being right there to help me take off my shoes and provide me YUMMY food at the finish. Loved the vegan burgers and beans! Trailmix was awesome, too. I also want to personally thank Dick Ross for taking his time to be at the race to capture another great memory for me. I really appreciate Dick being there EARLY to take excellent pictures AND for waiting patiently at the river crossing to capture a great moment. Thanks, Dick! What a GREAT experience this race was! This was only my 2nd (and certainly not last) ultra trail run. In fact, this is only my 2nd trail run ever; I am an urban paved trail and road runner. Haha, I even felt out of place with my road marathon shoes. There was certainly not a dull moment in this race. It was the most technical, challenging (I felt like I was in Survivor!) but FUN race I've ever run. Beautiful scenery (I want to go back and hike the trails and enjoy the lake and parks!), perfect weather, lots of wildlife (did anyone see that poisonous red and yellow snake near the shore?)...I saw about 9 snakes, 2 turtles (no, they were not rocks), a deer, lots of hawks and a few imaginary creatures toward the end when I was half-disoriented. :-) I always say that every long-distance race (half marathon and full marathon) is 2/3 physical and 1/3 mental; this race was 100% physical and 100% mental. Boy, my cross-training and rigorous diet sure paid off!!! The more difficult and challenging the course became, the more I was determined to finish. At times I wished I had go-go gadget legs and arms. Hehe. I now have a lot more respect for trails. BTW, mud is an excellent natural sunblock! Thanks again, everyone, for putting on such a great race and for all your kindness and help. I hope to post some pics to my Facebook account. Rest up now!

i had an absolute blast, even though i had to change from the 50 to the marathon, it was flippin' awesome. the i.t. band is feeling much better, it was a shame it went out at mile 3, but i never say quit, just make an acceptable change and enjoy the experience. i was thrilled with the day, i was so happy to see the water crossing and Dick there to get the shots. all the volunteers that listened to my banter, gave me a pick up to keep going, bless you all. can't wait for next time, whoohoo!!!