Gainesville State College 5.3m

This is a Did Not Start due to other commitments.

The course is a pretty flat course and is a pleasure to run.
Maybe I will be back next year to run it.

Battle of Allatoona Creek 5m

The second race in the Mountain Goat Trail race series.  The second race was on the Allatoona Creek Trails  This is one of the hidden gems in the Atlanta area.  This is a mountain bike trail in Acworth Ga.

The trails are maintained by Cobb County and Atlanta Area Sobra.  Nicely done.


The 5 mile race started around 8:30am in the morning.  The first quarter mile was a parade lap around the field before crossing Old Stilesboro Road to hop on some double track for another 1/4 mile.  The course was a nice 4.5 mile look in the woods.  Maintained an even pace through the course.  There were not too many uphills.  This was a very nice beginners trail racing course.  Several bridge crossings over the creek as well as ramps and dirt mounds for the mountain bikers.  The weather was great starting out in the mid 50s.  Got a bit warm at the finish.  While the GPS measures trail runs short this one was a bit short of 5m.

The last 1.5 miles I slowed down a bit.  I suspect that was a bit due to the fast pace around the parade field and the double track.  I would not have changed the starting pace if I had to do it over.

All and all a good race.  Started out fast and maintained 2nd place over all half way through the course when I was passed dropping back to 3rd place overall.  Nice fast trail run course.  It is very interesting to run at the front of the pack.  Mentally you really have to push yourself.  It was a nice change of mind set.


The finish top 3 overall were all in the same age group for the finish.

Thank you to the sponsors and volunteers for making the race happen.  Next up Sutalle Trace Trail Challenge.

3rd place overall/age group:

Olde Rope Mill Park 6.5m

The third race of the Dirty Spokes Trail Race Seriers was held at Olde Rope Mill Park in Woodstock GA.

This trail is maintained by Woodstock Sorba.  The trails are in pretty good condition.  I suspect it is pretty fun mountain biking.

The race started promptly at 8:30am on the nose.  There was a 5K also going on at the same time starting from a different spot which totaled 250 runners this morning.  The 6.5m was the same course as last year which helped a bit.  The race started on the pavement section for about 1/4 mile before turning onto a double track which was pretty muddy along with one creek crossing and over the bridge to lead into some good single track.  I had planned to use my virtual assistant on my garmin to pace however it slipped my mind until I reached mile 1.  Oh well.  The first two miles or so was a bit wet and required a bit of extra careful footing before the first major downhill.  The course was pretty rocky.  More so than I remembered.  I was part of a group of runners that were pacing around 8:40 or so.  I stayed focused on the trail and sear determination that none of the hills would get the best of me.  It became easier to use the hills as a passing opportunity after mile 3.  Miles 3, 4, and 5 were a bit of rolling hills.  During this section I tried to maintain an even pace.  At mile 5.5 the trail looped around need the entry way which was the marker that there was one mile to go.  From that point on I worked on negative splits with the last 1/4 mile being a sprint to the finish on the concrete walkway that we had started.  Crossed the line at 55:something.  The garmin shows it at 55:53 however I stopped it a bit after cross the line.

This was a good race.  Big Peach Running and Montrail Running Shoes sponsored the meal after the race however it was not Paleo friendly so instead stopped by the Burger Inn to get some eggs and bacon.

Great race, thank you Tim and volunteers for a wonderful time

Next up is the ever fast 4th race in the series, Gainesville State College 5.3m trail race.  With a few other things happening I may not make this race.  We will see.   Hate to miss this one.  It is a nice fast flat course.