This was an increeibly tough run for me for several reasons, not the least of which was that I had been sick as a dog for 3 days immediately prior to the race with the flu. I was sucking on a bottle of Pedialyte all the way to the race and up until just prior to race start. Second, the Nike shoes (Air haywards) that I was wearing were a pair (one of 4 pair of the same shoe that I own) that I hadn't worn much before...but they are the wsame size and model, you say? Ah but these are Nikes--they turned out to be about 1/4" shorter than any other pair I own, and my toes got jammed into the toe box beginning with the third loop. It got so bad that I had to stop about every 1.5 miles and take my shoes off for about 30 seconds, massaging my feet.

This is a run that I literally ate my way through the last two loops--girl scout cookies, pretzels, goldfish...and one entire cinammon roll right before lap 4 started that had to have been 6" in diameter.

Oh, and I ought to mention the gastrointestinal fun that hit me (thankfully) only 200 meters from finishing the loop 2 and coming back around to the porta potties...whew!

I shouldn't have run, given how sick and dehydrated I had been for a couple of days.

Make sure you have several long runs in the shoes you wear on race day--fundamental I know, but I got bit badly by assuming that just because they were the same model and size that they would fit the same way. Thanks much, Nike.

Flu 24-48 hours prior to race, shoes that turned out to be a size too small.


This is a small, home-towney race that is very well executed. Start and finish are in a city park, they offer a post-race BBQ (burgers, dogs, and all fixin's) gratis after the race, volunteers are second to none, trail--while narrow in spots--is a nice departure from all of the street pounding I am used to doing. Finisher medals are very nice and large...and thwe schwag for runners is outstanding (technical socks, running hat with race logo, technical short sleeved short with race logo, etc. etc.--for the price of entry you easily get most of that back in food and goodies). I will definitely do this race again--and the nice thing is they have so many options for you to participate in: full marathon, half marathon, half marathon (Saturday) and full marathon (Sunday), half/half on Sat-Sun, full marathon 4-person relay, etc.