Catalina State Park 10.75 Trail Race

Me and my friend Steve, the self-proclaimed 'Slow Old Goat' (although, in truth, he really is pretty speedy). It is always good to see you, my friend. Hope your travels in Bangkok go well and your shin splints are history soon.

Distance: 10.75 miles (although you can choose a 5.5 mile distance).

Finish Time: 1:40:03 (9:18 min/mile pace) Last year, my time for this race was 1:46:48 (9:43 pace). Yay for improvement!

I was 61st out of 111 people. It was a fast crowd out this year. I got third place in my age group (40-44).

Quite a few people turned out, although it had been raining hard most of the night, and up until race time. The rain pretty much slacked off for the race, although it was freeeeeezzzzing!!! I warmed up quickly on the run, shedding my rain jacket (thanks Shari for hanging on to it for me!) after the first 5.5 miles.

The 10.75 mile is 2 loops of the 5.5 mile race. Even after all of the rain, there was not much water on the creek crossings. Tucson needed it, although I think the race director was panicking a bit! The great thing about all the rain is that it really packed down the sand, so it was much easier to run those super sandy trails.

After the race, the rain clouds moved in and boy, did it really get cold! I hung out for a while, but I guess there were some problems with the race timing, so they weren't able to give awards out at the race after all. The results are all fixed and posted now. I'll have to pick my award up, which is fine! I was just thrilled to do better this year. However, they did give out prizes and I won 2 free smoothies from Robek's!

I got out of there just in time for it to really get raining. Thanks to Robin for letting me sit in her car to stay warm and for giving me a ride back to my car (I took the shuttle to the park).

Cool note: the women's technical shirts this year were actually women's cut and sizes! Steve, the RD, will be doing this from now on for the Everyone Runs races, which is a good reason to register. Good job Steve. I will be wearing it in my Sunday post (it fits so nice).
BTW, his next race, Run with the Roosters, will be on Sunday, July 12th. It will be a 5 miler near Old Tucson, and will be held at 5:15 am to avoid the heat.