Amy Compston at the Gnaw Bone Marathon on May 10, 2014.
Amy Compston runs with a smile on her face in the Gnaw Bone Marathon.
Chris Compston finishes up the Gnaw Bone Marathon on May 10, 2014.
Chris and Amy Compston meet after both had finished the Gnaw Bone Marathon on May 10, 2014.
NASHVILLE, Ind. – It was another grand day for the Amy For Africa mission on Saturday.
Amy Compston conquered the grueling Dances With Dirt Gnaw Bone Marathon with a first-place finish in the female division. She trailed for the first 25 miles but moved past the leader down the homestretch and incredibly sprinted to the finish line.
“She started off on a pretty good pace and I was just biding my time,” Compston said. “She started walking at about the 25-mile mark and kind of stepped out of the way. That’s when I went around her. She said ‘Go ahead and take it. It’s yours.’”
Amy said she would have been content with second until she started gaining ground on the leader. Both of them had wandered off the trail at one point in the race, adding another mile to their journeys.
Compston finished in a time of 4 hours and 50 minutes on a course that many describe as one of the more difficult trail runs anywhere. The course included thick patches of mud, broken tree limbs, flights of stairs and plenty of hill climbs.
“I kept saying, ‘This is crazy! This is crazy!’ but it kept getting worse,” Compston said. “I’ve never run anything like this.
“The hills in Boston (Marathon) really helped, especially on the ones where I was going downhill. I was used to that pounding.”
Compston was running her second marathon in four weeks after competing in Boston on April 21.
Amy’s husband, Chris, also competed in the Gnaw Bone – the first of six marathons he and his wife will be running this summer and fall – and finished in 6 hours and 56 minutes. That was good enough to place him in the top five of his highly competitive age division.
“Hardest thing I’ve ever done,” he said. “I can’t believe Amy did it in the time she did. That’s amazing. She’s amazing.”
Unlike Amy, Chris took several tumbles on the wicked course that is known for overwhelming runners. It is run through the state park near Nashville, Ind.
Several hundred runners competing in different categories.
As if the trail run wasn’t tough enough, a couple of heavy downpours made the terrain a little more slippery. Chris came back covered with mud from top to bottom.
Not only did the AFA runners shine, but the rest of the team passed out nearly 300 gospel tracts to onlookers at the race.
The next stop on the Do Something Tour will be in Belfry, Ky., in the second week of June.