North Shore Trail Run

This weekend we headed to Lawrence, KS for a trail run (not an agility trial for a change). For the most part it was a nice race. The park seemed really pretty (who knew that could happen in Kansas?) even though we had to watch our feet and not the scenery! Also the weather could not have been more perfect. 

The trail was not as hilly as Dogwood canyon, but every bit as rugged (despite being described as "non-technical" whatever that means). In fact, it may have been more rugged since my pace was even slower per mile than at Dogwood which was a 15k and this was a 10k. Well, supposed to be a 10k. It actually came out to 6.8 miles on my GPS which is more than 1/2 mile too long.  Not the end of the world but would have been nice to at least know that ahead of time. 

While I knew my time would be slower than a road race it still took me a surprising one hour and twenty five minutes to finish, a 12:30 minute/mile pace. For comparison that's about 4 minutes per mile slower than my 10k road race pace and only 1/2 hour shorter than my half-marathon PR! But I can't imagine running very much faster and not falling down!  I love trail races-so much more fun and challenging than road races, but you gotta get over the demoralizing times!

On the plus side we got the cutest finishers medals ever!

 We also got nice shirts and cups with the same cute logo. Downside-there was no food at the finish line! That was bad enough for a 10k but there was a half marathon option too. I can't imagine running that far on a trail and no food at the end!

The pictures turned out good too-these are the free low resolution images so might not be very clear. I may buy one though to get a better copy. I like this one the best. I don't look awful and it's scenic-one more reason to love trail races, no ugly streets and buildings in the photos!

That's Cheri just behind me in this one. 

At the finish!