On May 3rd, I ran a 16-mile race. Ride the Wind.
It's kind of an odd distance for a race, so automatic PR for me! Whoo hoo!
But wait... It gets better...
I was 4th overall and 2nd female to finish... out of 7 overall and 4 females. :-) Yeah, it was also a
super small race.
Since it was so small, I really felt no pressure at this race.
Which was good, since it was a last minute decision to register/run this race.
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| Ready to hit the trails! |
I was just happy to be out there on the trails. It was so quiet and peaceful and
gorgeous!
Sometimes you'd turn the bend to a view like this of
Red Rock in the background.
Absolutely breathtaking.
Around mile 2, we passed a couple of girls and a couple of guys
that were running one of the Ultra distances. It then became our mission to stay ahead of those 4 for the rest of the race.
About 4-5 miles in was the first aid station.
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| Yes, that's a tarantula |
Me: Is that a tarantula?
Volunteer: Yes. It was hanging around right over there.
Me: Oh. I thought maybe you'd brought your pet.
After fueling a bit, we took off again. We didn't want to linger, as the girls we'd passed were closing in on us.
The next 5 miles were filled with uphills...
And downhills.
And more gorgeous views.
We were rewarded with a 2nd aid station around mile 10. This station was unmanned, but fully stocked. As we were signing in on the check-in sheet, one of the girls we'd passed early on caught up with us.
So much for staying ahead of both of them. We fueled up a bit. I applied a little more sunscreen to my face, just as the 2nd woman we'd passed was hitting the station. We reminded her to sign in on the check-in sheet, and we were off.
Off to face 3-4 miles of a big, relentless hill.
They warned us about the hill at the beginning of the race, but I kind of didn't believe it until I was out there.
Running walking the hill. The hill that didn't seem to ever end.
And then there was the wind...
Ride the Wind? More like Fight the Wind. While I appreciate the breeze, why does it have to be a headwind UP this relentless hill? Would definitely love a tailwind to help push me up the hill instead. :)
At the top of the hill, we had about two more miles to go. I must have looked pretty hot and tired, because George gave him his
instant cooling towel that he'd been filling with ice at the aid stations.
Downhills aren't always my best friend, and I knew that George wanted to fly down the hills, so I told him that I was in no fear of not finishing. That he should just run down the hill.
I sucked down one more gel, saw the 2nd girl that had caught up to us at the unmanned aid station rounding the bend, and took off down the hill. There was just no way I was going to let her catch me. :-)
I wanted to take a couple more pictures during those last couple miles, but well, I didn't want to stop
even more.
The course was very well marked throughout the race with pink ribbons and sometimes orange arrows on the ground.
The only spot where I was a tiny bit confused, and almost went the wrong way, was at the very end. I chose the correct way. :)
The finish was a little lackluster, but I can't really complain. There were only a few runners, after all.
And the finish support was awesome! They had so much food and a whole cooler of ice.
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| Cuz everyone should jump in an ice cooler after a 16-mile race in the desert. |
Overall, I really enjoyed this race. It was small, yes, but very well supported. It was a warm morning, but not unbearable.
I would definitely run another race put on by
Elemental Running.
