Running Bear (who claims to be a Pine Belt Pacer member but does not appear on the official rolls) and F. B. Yaun went to Birmingham for the Oak Mountain 50K trail run. Fat Boy is a nickname affectionately given to F.B. by his wife. She claims that she didn't know Yaun stood for You're an Ultra Nutcase when she married Fat Boy.  F.B. and Running Bear were in no way prepared for the rigors of this particularly masochistic course and just went to the race for the fun of proving it?  And so that Ann and friend Marty could help with the aid stations. 

Running Bear and F. B. enjoy the 34 degree weather before the start

Iva Lightsey and Randy Saxon (in the distinctive orange MS 50 shirt)
were there and did well

Iva shmoozing with the famous Rob Apple before the start.
Sadly, Rob did not bring his infamous sidekick?!

Over 100 folks signed up and about that many started.
Note that R.B. and F.B. were not last.

Dennis Bisnette, the Mississippi 50 Race director, and Iva round the first corner
at the 1/4 mile mark. Note that R.B. is now last.

Dennis coming in to the North Aid Station at 8 miles

F.B. Starts up the blue trail. It gets steep later.

Despite their best efforts to start out slow and taper off later,
R.B. and F.B. kept getting passed, mainly due to their superior navigation skills,
as other runners took wrong turns

There was a new swinging bridge over the large creek at the picnic grounds


Falls at the Oak Mountain Lake dam



There's more!- see page 2