Muskegon State Park - Lake Effect Trail 5k - - 1st in AG! (Read 676 times)

(out of 1...heh. ) Mike/PoQ ran the 10k last year and has been bugging me ALL year to do this (I wussed-out last year from all the feet of snow and cold). I'm glad he talked me into it. The RD for this race always does really great quality events. 4/6 women, 8th out of 11 overall. I actually ended up running an extra .15...was following a couple and assuming they knew where they were going--oops. After a short way we realized that we weren't seeing the blue course marker flags, so had to back-track a short bit. My gender placement wouldn't have changed, as I was still quite a ways behind the 3rd place overall female. Fantastic race...yummy beer (thanks to Old Boys' Brewhouse--they hold my very favorite HM every Sept. Swag includes a coupon for 20% off entire meal bill and a free XC ski session...also a nice embroidered fleece headband, instead of another cheesy cotton T), soup, muffins, and chips at the finish. Most people chose to do the snowshoe 5k or 10k, but our recent warm-temps had left the snow really flat and packed. I don't think snowshoes would have been any advantage under the circumstances. I wore my trail shoes and wish I had thrown the Yaktrax on, as they would have been useful during only a couple of stretches, but most of the course had good, sticky/gritty snow. Going up and down a couple of big hills had me sliding around...flat areas were perfectly fine, traction-wise. On the down side of the big hill I mostly slid on my ass after falling twice. It was slick from XC skiers snowplowing down (definitely not a hill I would even attempt on XC skis. There are some badass skiers in this area) and then the warmer temps melting and refreezing overnight. I had held off a snowshoer just behind me until this point--just past the half-way mark. Rats. Bonus: PoQ and his buddy...who I shall call "the other Mike," came over from the other side of the state to run (they placed 1 and 2 out of 2 in the guys' 35-39 AG...but didn't stick around. Doofuses/doofi didn't get their medals -- Q, contact the RD, he's a good guy and I'll bet he'll mail you your awards). And Heather73 and 2 of her kids were our personal cheering section. WAY fun race. I can't wait to do it again next year (and not get lost). I hope they can attract more runners...it was a nice race, but hard to feel very competitive with such a small field. So if you are within a reasonable drive of Muskegon, MI you should join us next year!

Thanks, Bonnie! You should plan for a destination race to a snowy locale sometime! This was my first trail race on snow. I think I have only doing one other trail run on snow (same park)...late last Fall. That was tougher in some ways. That snow was deeper and stickier, so it made footing a lot more difficult. Today's conditions were about the best we could ask for this time of the year.

#1 in AG is #1! Take it! Great report, sounds like a fun race! Love the headband swag too!

There's nothing you can do about scaring your competition away, word must have gotten out. Gotta love a race with swag other than a Tshirt, especially when it's appropriate for the season. And Jake's first race rules only say you can't wear the Tshirt, there's no prohibition on wearing the race headband during the race.

Hey, nice job woman! It takes some serious 'um somethings, to get out there and race in the snow. You deserve the first place AG.

headbands! Did everyone look very 1975 in them? An 11 person race. That's my kind of race. No falls? No yard sales?

headbands! Did everyone look very 1975 in them? An 11 person race. That's my kind of race. No falls? No yard sales?

On the down side of the big hill I mostly slid on my ass after falling twice.

Ha, I had my first and second falls ever in a race within a span of about 10 seconds. Heck, those were my 2nd and 3rd falls ever while running. Funny thing...I told my MIL my time (39:14, IIRC) and she was sort of shocked and appalled by how slow it was and that I walked up the big hill (ask Q about this hill...no one could physically "run" it, at least not for the entire distance)...but this is the same woman who was always placing in road 5ks and never once ran a trail race, much less one in snow and ice. Those who have never ventured off-road really don't realize what a different beast trail running is. Those admirable road times can go right out the window for most of us. Had I not gotten off-course my time would still have been 10 minutes slower than my road 5k PR.

Lordy girl...snow! Congratulations, awesome job!