Jack Rabbit Classic

Franklin Mountains State Park
this is the range that bisects the city of El Paso
our house is about one mile from their base at the very bottom of the range
but the race was held a few miles north where there are a lot of
hiking and mountain biking trails

As those of you on Facebook saw, Keaton and I ran a trail race for the first time on Sunday morning.  It was actually the first time we've ever run on actual rocky hilly scary hardcore trails - very different from smooth running trails.  This was just a three mile course, and THANK GOD.  The effort exerted to avoid tripping on the rocks when going downhill and flat made the hills impossible and cruel.  I felt totally crushed by my own weight when trudging up, not helped by the fact that the minuscule little middle school girls I had passed early on sped by me when we hit the first serious incline halfway through the course.  After that several more men and a little boy passed me and I thought I must be the last person on the trail.  Surely no one could be behind me, I was practically walking!  I refused to turn around and see the depressing sight of no one else there so I just kept looking forward.  One of the middle school girls and I played leap frog the rest of the way, but in the end she crossed the finish line one second ahead of me.

I didn't realize at the time that had I given a little extra push I would have been able to best her and get the third place trophy for overall female winners!  Turns out there were a lot of people behind me!  73 total participants, men and women, and I came in 14th overall.  I didn't look at the results which were affixed to someone's car near the water stand before the guy began announcing age group winners, and I had been too out of it right after the race to see others finishing (the last bit of the course is the steepest and longest hill I've ever ran).  So I got to be totally shocked when I got first place for the 20-29 year old females.  It's such a silly thing, the medal is cheap and plastic, there were only like four people in this age group, but still!  I've never won any athletic medal in my life!

The silly little awards ceremony with a fairly small group of people (73 did the three mile trail race, but there was also a 5k road race and a 7 mile trail race) standing around clapping for each other is a fun thing to participate in.  Even before I got my medal I liked cheering for the others, like the guy in his 80s who I would have guessed was 58!  It makes running social, which it usually isn't.  It gives a little extra motivation to run more on your own.

Here are some pictures from the area of the park we were in.  Now that I've finally done a trail run I am excited to keep going back and exploring the multitude of trails they have.