First race of the
Dirty Spokes Trail Running Series. The first race was at the Georgia International Horse Park in Conyers, Georgia. The weather was decent with temperatures in the low 40s to start and no rain. The trail was in pretty good shape with a few mud holes to get your attention. The race started on time with over 100 runners in the 10k. Started in the middle of the pack with an easy pace. From the open field to a gravel road quickly led to the single track trail. The slow start was not the best choice as there were a lot of single track which made passing a bit of a challenge. The 10k trail used both the mountain bike and horse sections of the trail system. Despite the multi-use, the trail was in very good shape for most of the race. It took a couple of miles to get into a comfortable running pace. Ran with a group of three to four runners for the next several miles until the rolling hills got steeper. The water stop near mile 4 was at the top of the steepest we would climb. From this point the track was down hill with twists, turns, and small stream crossing. The group of runners began to pick up the pace. For some including myself that may have been a little too soon with 2 miles to go. After the last mile to go marker you quickly came up on the field with the finish line to be surprised with a shot back into the woods through a few twists and turns to emerge from the tree with nothing but an uphill sprint to the finish.
The race was exciting even though I did not do as well as I would have liked. The first race is in the books and looking forward to the rest of the series. Given a month before the next
10K in the series there are a few things to work on for next time.
The race was well run. The 10k
results are already posted.
Thank you to Dirty Spokes, sponsors, and volunteers that made for a very enjoyable race. Looking forward to the
second race in the series.
