My goals heading into the night were simple:
1. With pacing 5th graders on Sunday Do not get injured!
2. Run the whole race, no matter how steep it gets.
3. Celebrate the fact that I have been running so much lately.
I had no time goal in mind, I never have in any of these races, it's all such a new experience for me. Excuse disclaimer: I am built more like an NFL free safety than a runner. Trails are often narrow for my shoulders and overhanging trees take some ducking, but I have found that I love trail running. 234 runners lined up for the start and were off at the horn. The first 1/3 mile was on a dirt park road. One runner remarked I didn't know this was going to be a road race. Be careful what you wish for. The course took a right hand turn and we were onto the trails.
The trails in this park have been around for a long time, plenty of roots to try to trip us up. I managed to negotiate all the roots successfully, although slipped without falling a few times. At around the one mile mark we reached a creek. Hmmm the cones marking the race course seem to be going right through the creek. About 100 yards of running through the creek, with the last step about knee deep. A nice rinse off, but the mud would come later.
Sloshing up the trail I found my shoes actually dried fairly quickly. It must have been my blistering pace. Next came some muddy sections. The mud wasn't too bad to negotiate, yet, but it was gradually tiring out my legs. After the water stop at the halfway point I could hear race officials up ahead. I crested a hill and as I came down I saw people in mud up to their knees. There was no way around this, I was going in too. A few strides through thick cool mud and I was running up the trail on the other side.
The course then came out to an open grassy area in the park, then ducked back into the woods for the final push to the finish line. I held my place from here to the finish, but with the fatigue in my legs the roots and logs were getting much higher than I remembered them being earlier in the race. I crossed the finish line of this 6 mile race in 54:33. That was good for 98/234 OA and 17/22 AG. I need to find a new age group!
I finished with a smile on my face. It was fun to play like a kid in the woods. I am looking forward to the next one in June, on another trail that will be new to me. The adventure continues.
Those trail races sound like fun.
We have only a one that I know off around here. I don't know what your AG is but I'm finding the 40-44...and looking ahead to the 45 - 49 to be some very tough age brackets. (I have one more race in the 40 -44 bracket)
Nice race, great report.
Marathon Maniac #957
I finished with a smile on my face. It was fun to play like a kid in the woods.
That says it all right there! Great racing!
Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, "Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapenos."
It is the adventure of the unknown! That was some creek and some mud, you did well. Aren't those trail runners pretty hard core and muscular?
I'm guessing you are in the 40-44 category.
"During a marathon, I run about two-thirds of the time. That's plenty." - Margaret Davis, 85 Ed Whitlock regarding his 2:54:48 marathon at age 73, "That was a good day. It was never a struggle."
Craneium, you took on a challenging course and finished smiling. Congratulations.
TomS