SARASOTA, FL (SNN) Melissa Kitcher had full intentions of completing her first half-marathon Sunday, but it’s safe to say she pictured it a little bit differently.

Kitcher was missing for nearly 12 hours after running off trail during the Trail Hog Half-Marathon at the Carlton Reserve near Venice, Florida.

“I kept thinking to myself, ‘Wow, how do people run these trails I can’t even walk them.’ When I hit the power lines I said, ‘Yes I’m definitely way of course, I’m lost,” says Kitcher.

She blames a lack of trail markers.

“There was no marking to indicate to go straight across. The website says you’re supposed to be on Jeep trails, so when I came out there was a Jeep trail and I figured that was the path I needed to be on,” she says.

Kitcher ended up six to seven miles off course with no phone, which conveniently froze up two minutes before the start.

Race director Thierry Rouillard says he had no idea Kitcher was still on the trail until her husband called late Sunday afternoon, hours after the Trail Hog run finished. Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office deputies began searching soon after.

Kitcher says her cell phone froze before the race but she never really worried since she knew her family would come looking for her. She plans to run the Sarasota Half Marathon in March and finish.