So the folks at the office talked you into signing up for your first trail race, and now it’s mile thirty. (Okay, it’s mile five. You obviously signed up for the 12k.) Still, the roots and rocks are real and so is that big hill. So what motivates the mind to push the body to such limits? Maybe, beer. The two fit together like, well, hops and barley. Once the endorphins wear off, trail running hurts. So thoughts of cold craft beer and warm camaraderie waiting at the finish can pull a trail runner through many a masochistic moment.
Nowhere does this happy union come together more deliciously than the Music City Trail Ultra on March 14. Sponsored by Nashville-based Jackalope Beer, the Music City Trail Ultra – (a 12K, 25K, or 50K, plus 2 mile trail race for kids)– takes place to the delight of hundreds each March in the twenty thousand acre forest of the Cheatham Wildlife Reserve. Regardless of the race one runs, there will be plenty of opportunity to develop a healthy thirst among the park’s steep trails and stunning ridgeline views. As race director John Hardin says, “to me, beer is similar to Pavlov’s Dog experiment. It is the ringing bell of reward to those who have endured.” Although Hardin also adds this cautionary note: “Drinking before running just doesn’t work – trust me; I have tried.”