The fifth race of a six race series completed. The fifth race of the Dirty Spokes Trail race series was held at Central Park on the mountain bike trails. The trail was a two loop 2.5 mile mostly single track. The trails are undergoing some work by the Forsyth County Park and Recreation department. Like with all the races before, 8:30 AM start time.
Along with the 2.5 or 5 mile trail race option before getting start there was a 3/4 mile kids race. There were kids of all ages running. It was hard to tell which group was having more fun, the parents/adult watching the kids or the kids themselves.
8:30 started off the 2.5/5 mile race. The first mile was in the shade with a bit of rolling hills after circling the two baseball fields to spread the field out a bit. Running the first mile felt good. Started off at a strong pace. After a mile and a 1/4 the trail would zig zag in and out of the direct sun. This would prove to be the challenging part of the race. There were three main sections under tree cover with the last mile in direct sun on a single track through a grass field. This is the first race in the 80 degree heat at 9 AM. With a quick splash of water, tackle the second lap as the 2.5 mile runners peeled off to cross the finish line. The second lap was working against me until I got in a groove with another runner. The pace was good considering the heat of the morning. There were a couple of uphills that were spent fast hiking instead of running. Emerged from the lasted shaded section to bare the sun for the finish line. I stayed with the runner which turned out to be a good thing. The encouragement I got was passed along near the end to help get across the finish line.
A good race with more sun light and heat than I expected. Most of the hikes and run have been late at night or early in the morning. This race showed that I need a lot of improvement in dealing with the heat. This month was a busy month with not as much training as I should have done for this race.
Once again the new Vasque Transistors did not let me down. One spot on the trail between the smart wool socks Vasque's I did not feel any of the water on the feet. Another good run in this shoe.
Another good trail run in the books. The sixth and final race in the series is coming up in July at Sawnee Mountain. This will prove to be the biggest challenge on the series. Time to work on some hills and a bit of heat.
The race results are already posted.
Next up is the 3.1 mile at Sawnee Mountain
Thank you to Dirty Spokes, sponsors, and volunteers that made for another enjoyable race.
