Lake Elsinore, California United States

Total Time = 2h 01m 11s Overall Rank = 27/123 Age Group = Age Group Rank = 0/

My race report:
So today I did my first trail race. Okay, well, I've done an Xterra a couple of years ago, which of course had a 4-mile trail run at the end, but this was my first non-triathlon race in 4 seasons of doing this sort of stuff.
I had originally signed up, ambitiously I might add, for a 50K which was to be next weekend, but perhaps mercifully, it was canceled, and I jumped in for this 21K and started training for it in January. The training sort of fit in with my half IM training that I'm doing for two upcoming halfs. The only difference is, the trail run featured about 3K feet of climbing, so my long runs featured tons of hills to prepare for this race.
The race was the final of a 4-race Winter Trail Run Series here in Orange County, Calif. I coaxed my neighbor into doing the race with me, so we headed up into the Santa Ana mountains ready for some pain.
The guy that runs this series, Baz Hawley, is apparently a legend of an ultra-runner, and is a total hoot. He cracks jokes, hugs everyone and generally keeps a lighthearted vibe going through the crowd before and after the race. With a 150-person max, the field was pretty cozy, and we all gathered at Blue Jay Campground on a perfect day for racing. Temps in the low 60's with a high overcast.
Observations of the race:
-I trained right for this race and the course was pretty close to what I expected.
-The first downhill after 3 miles of uphill was tough. The singletrack was mainly small rocks embedded into the dirt, with many loose, so twisting an ankle was a constant threat. Some people seemed to not care and blew by me.
-I was able to catch most of them on the next uphill, which featured about 1200 feet of climbing in the space of about 1 1/2 miles. I mostly had to powerwalk it, but was able to run in some spots.
-After reaching the top of that long slog, I opened it up and maintained a solid pace for the rest of the race, finishing 27th in 2:01:11.
-The views at the top were amazing- I could see the ocean to the west, the snow-covered San Gabriels and San Bernardino Mtn's to the north, and Mt. San Jacinto to the east.
-We ran through snow patches at the top, which was pretty neat.
-Most of the racers were in my age range (I'm 45), which made me feel right at home.

After the race, I pigged out on everything they had including raisins, pretzels, chips, choc. covered Rice Krispy Treats, muffins, a Coke...yum. My friend wrapped up her race in 2:20, which was fantastic.
So, a really neat new experience for me that makes me want to do more trail races, and has me thinking that a 50K is within my reach. Just gotta find one that fits into the tri training schedule.
Baz and the crew put on a really cool little event there!