Winter Trail Series - Race #1

What a great trail race! This is race #1 in a series of 3 in January. Originally, this one was supposed to be 7 miles, but when we arrived at the Wild Burro Trailhead in the Tortolita Mountains, which is NW of Tucson, Laszlo, our RD (Blue Pants Racing) informed us that it would be around 9 miles. At the end of the race, one of the participants said it was actually 9.7, according to his GPS, which was great! I added some running on after the race for a total of 3 hours running today (no, I'm not crazy, I'm training for a marathon - well, okay, I am crazy).

Not a great picture (a little blurry), but here we all are at the start - about 20 of us. PF Chang's Rock 'n Roll Marathon/Half Marathon in Phoenix conflicted for a lot of people, so we had a small turnout. They expect bigger crowds for the next two trail races in the series.

The course was tough - lots of steep, rocky climbs. We took the Wild Mustang Trail out and looped around to the Wild Burro Trail back. It was an unsupported race (no aid stations), so participants carried their own water (It was only $25 for all 3 races, so what do you expect? At least we got t-shirts and breakfast!) We were rewarded at the end by a fairly flat trail through a wash and some gently rolling hills for the last 3 miles. I ran pretty much the whole way with some people I had just met - Andrea, Glenn (he has done the Western States 100 mile race - amazing!) and David. They were great and we all took turns leading and staying on the trail (we almost got lost a few times!)
It was an absolutely beautiful day out there today. It was around 40 at the start, but warmed up to 55-60 by the time we finished. I love Tucson in the winter. :)

There is a stone house out on this trail just like the Yetman Trail in Tucson Mountain Park. We stopped for a photo op.
I absolutely had a blast today! My only regret is that my friend Laurie, who was going to do the race with me, came down with a bug, and was unable to come. Otherwise, great opportunity to meet new trail runners and experience a new trail. God sure has graced me with such an abundantly wonderful life.


'We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act, but a habit.' ~ Aristotle

Update:

Here is a picture from the race, right at the finish line (coming in with Glenn, Mr. Western States)