What was the Umstead Trail Marathon mascot in 2011?

As you may remember from my race report on the 2010 Umstead Trail Marathon, each year they choose a local animal native to Umstead as the mascot for the race; the animal appears on the race shirts, the finisher pint glasses, the awards and various other signage. The two years I ran Umstead, the animals were a vulture (2008, when the vultures really were circling me) and a rabbit (2010).

Since I wasn't running Umstead this year in favor of the St. Patty's Run Green 8k downtown, I had been wondering what animal would be chosen this year for the Umstead mascot. The answer? It was a tick:


That shirt will definitely stand out in a crowd, both color- and tick-wise. I do like the day-glo colors the last couple of years. Maybe I'll be able to do Umstead again in 2012, when they may be back to a warm-blooded animal.

Here's one marathon mommy's race report from this year.