A little while ago, I was approached about being an Ambassador for #RaceAdvisors. This was an exciting opportunity because I would have the chance to tell people about the great races available and post reviews for others to see. Sometimes it’s hard to chose between events if they fall on the same weekend so seeing others thoughts and comments about a race can help in making a decision.
*plus I got a super cute headband!*
This past weekend I was blessed with the opportunity to run two races. They were both trail races! One was Saturday and the other was Sunday. I’m going to share both of these events with you in one blog post. #multitasking
First things first, the nice cool weather we’d been enjoying the past week or so decided to go bye-bye. It was hot and humid the entire weekend! For real life weather, it was great!!! For running weather, not so great.
Seeing as you’re never guaranteed perfect weather on race day, I train outdoors regardless of the weather. I chalked up this weekend’s weather as, “I’m really glad I suffered through the summer weather or else these races would have been awful!”
Saturday’s race was the Sasquatch Trail Run. This was in Milton, Florida. http://www.floridasplayground.com/event/2017-sasquatch-trail-run-at-bear-lake/
To be honest, I’d never heard of this event and probably wouldn’t have except that a teammate on my racing team, Renegade Endurance, gave me a heads up. A bunch of us from Renegade Endurance will be racing a 50 Miler on this exact trail in January. We decided to go run this race to check out the trails ahead of time.
I have to say the trails are beautiful!!!
There’s very little elevation. There were a few more tree roots than I expected but no big deal. Nothing will ever horrify me as much as the roots at Rocky Raccoon 100 from this past February! I’m expecting that a few of those roots will have my name on them by the end of the 50 miles in January but have you ever know me not to fall in spectacular fashion in a long ultra? LOL!!!
You can see how pretty it is out there. I can hardly wait for January!!!
The Sasquatch Trail Run was a ministry outreach for orphans and foster children in Northwest Florida and Southeast Alabama. It was a family friendly event with a pancake breakfast afterwards. Yes, there was a Sasquatch hiding on the trails and I’m soooo glad I spied it before it scared me! HA!!!
I believe this was the inaugural year for this event and they did a great job! They had a solid turnout for a new event and it was well organized. I would love to run this one again!
Sunday morning, my friend and I hopped in the car and turned towards home, Mississippi. We had a good drive ahead of us to reach Hattiesburg, Mississippi, before our second race of the weekend. We would be running the Trails to Treasures 5k at the Lake Thoreau Environmental Center. https://runsignup.com/Race?raceId=22836
Now, for some reason I expected these trails to be a cake walk. I was mistaken! They were a bit more of a challenge than the trails in Florida. Lots more elevation and roots.
*Speaking of the roots at Lake Thoreau, HUGE kudos to the race director for painting the more aggressive roots with highlighter orange spray paint~terrific idea!!!*
The Trails to Treasures 5k was more of a laid back race. The trails were a blast even if they were more of a challenge than Saturday’s trails. At this race, you were literally looking for treasure on the trails! No kidding!!! How much fun, right?
We were told to look for monkeys in the trees on the trails. Close to the monkeys would be our treasure bags. We each had been given a larger red bag in which to carry our treasures while running.
This race, my friend and I decided to run as a team instead of individual runners. We had a blast!!! We were instructed that as a team, we had to cross the finish within 10 feet of each other. I was hustling to keep up with her. #shortlegs
After this race, we met up with lots of Mississippi running friends! Seeing everybody at races is always my most favorite thing in the world!!!
Both of these events were family friendly and I wouldn’t hesitate one bit to take my kids to them! Sometimes it’s a challenge to find races that are welcoming to younger runners but both of these races rolled out the red carpet to the kiddos.
Terrific weekend of running two super fun events!
#IRun4Aiden