My First Trail Race

There is a really awesome trail near our house called Turkey Mountain where we hike frequently and sometimes go for runs. Earlier this year I was running a training run there and kept thinking it would be so much fun to run a trail race. I've never run one before so I added it to my 30 for 30 list of things to do during my 30th year. There is a race hosted there every year on Labor Day called Escape From Turkey Mountain. It's the only trail race I know of that is run at that trail so Ty and I decided I should go ahead and sign up. I've run on the trail a decent amount, hiked on it a ton (pregnant and not pregnant), and loved the idea of adding a different challenge to a race. I signed up last minute when they were posting that the race was nearing the cut off so I decided to go ahead with my planned long run on Saturday morning. I ran 12 miles but held back a bit, running around 8:30 pace rather than under 8 minute pace and just held a steady pace rather than picking it up for the last few miles. It was my hope that I would recover a little bit quicker for the race on Monday since I was running slower. I was still fairly sore Saturday evening and Sunday morning so I decided to do a slow 2 mile shake out run on Sunday. Even when I signed up for the race I planned to run it as more of a training run than a race. I knew the hills of the course would be enough to get me so soon after a long run and I didn't want to prolong my recovery and struggle to get my speed work and tempo run in for the week.

The race started at 7:30 so I was able to sleep in until 6:30, quickly get ready and head to the trails which are less than 10 minutes from our house. I knew the race was capped at 350 runners for safety since the trails narrow considerably early on in the race so I figured the main parking lot would be packed. I didn't even try it and just parked at the far parking lot at the top of the hill. I was glad I did as I heard a guy on the phone in the parking lot talking to his friend who was trying to park but said all the spots were full. I ran a warm up down to the start area and saw I still had plenty of time so I went ahead and ran a mile warm up. After using the porta potty and stretching out a bit it was time to head to the starting line of the 5 mile race. I wasn't sure exactly how far back to line up. I knew I was going to run the race more as a training run than a race and definitely didn't want to go out too fast but I also didn't want to start out too far back and get stuck behind slower runners once the trail narrowed. I ended up picking the perfect spot. I wasn't too far back but I wasn't getting passed at all at the start and was able to pass most everyone on the wide section of the trail before it narrowed. I wasn't sure how my legs were going to feel so I took out really conservatively. I was glad I did because the first mile and a half was all uphill going toward the top of Turkey Mountain. I went through the first mile in 9:24, my slowest mile of the race. The course flattened out a little bit after that but was really rocky with lots of tree roots to navigate. I ran most of the race looking down at the ground to prepare for rocks and roots. I was impressed with the difference in atmosphere in the trail race compared to typical road races. Runners I was passing tended to move over to the side to allow me to pass and there was much less of the race attitude than just a finishing mentality. The race thinned out enough that I couldn't really see anyone else for a while until I started to catch some of the runners ahead of me. I went through the 2nd mile in 8:59. Then as I neared 3 miles into the race the course was weaving a lot and it was difficult to make it around the turns and over the rocks safely. At one point I came down on a rock wrong and fell over. I popped right back up and felt okay other than my left hip feeling a bit sore. Despite the fall I went through mile 3 in 9:03.

The race start, I'm over to the right of the picture in red shorts and a gray tank top.

Right after my watched beeped for the 3rd mile split I passed a woman I had been able to see running ahead of me for about a mile. I was shocked when she asked me if I had stayed on the course, implying I had cut the course to pass her. The course was marked really well with pink ribbons tied to all the trees along the course as well as yellow caution tape up preventing you from turning down the wrong trail along with signs stapled to the tree saying "wrong way" if you started to go down the wrong path. I'm not sure if it was because I passed her running so much faster than she was or what, but I thought it was rude of her to imply that I had cheated. I just ran the first half of the race really conservatively and was feeling good enough to pick it up going into the last couple miles. After passing that woman I ran alone for the next mile and hit mile 4 in 8:57. As I entered into the last mile of the race I started to pass runners again. I was surprised to be passing people who were walking up the hills. Maybe they just went out too hard that first mile and were hurting but I was feeling great and really trucking it up the hills. I was having so much fun and was noticing things on the trail I hadn't seen before. The last half mile we turned and were running downhill with lots of rocks and tree roots. I could hear someone running along behind me and then heard her obviously fall. I turned to check on her and see if she needed any help. She was already back up and told me she was fine. I'd say that section of the race was the most dangerous because it was in the last half mile where people were either getting tired or trying to kick it in and it was a pretty steep downhill with tons of rocks and roots. I really picked it up with a half mile to go and then sprinted in to the finish line, coming in just under 45 minutes with an official finishing time of 44:57. I ran my last mile in 8:17. That put me 17th out of 235 total finishers, 2nd out of 94 total females, and 1st out of 10 in my age group. I had estimated to Ty that I would probably finish around 45 minutes because when I run at Turkey Mountain I usually average 9:30 pace or so for my total run because of all the hills and the difficulty of the course. It was such a fun race! Ty asked me if I would do it again and I definitely would! They were grilling hamburgers and hot dogs at the finish line, but I skipped out. I ran a mile cool down and then made the long trek back up the hill to my car parked in the top lot. I didn't stay for the awards ceremony because we were scheduled to host a playdate at our house at 10:00 so I needed to head home. Running a trail race was a nice change of pace for me. I tend to always shoot for certain times and try to hit goal paces or race times. It was nice to go into a race with no goal time or pace to shoot for and just run. I really didn't think a whole lot during the race because I was so focused on not falling down! I also wasn't able to see the people running ahead of me so I had no idea how many women were ahead of me or how I fared place-wise so I just ran and it was glorious!

Crossing through the gravel parking lot with less than a mile to go.