Coming Soon: The Dummies' Guide to Trail Racing

To celebrate the end of my student teaching, which meant no more 5am runs, no more reading first grade writing while running on the treadmill, and the advent of a phase of training where I might not constantly be in a state of exhaustion, I headed to Hawaii with some of my TRE teammates for the XTERRA Trail Half Marathon World Championships.

Held at Kualoa Ranch, the filming location for an absurd number of movies- 50 First Dates, You, Me and Dupree, Jurassic Park etc. this race was 21 kilometers of beautiful scenery, volcanic gulches, and steep, STEEP inclines. A 4000 acre cattle ranch, complete with cows that roam the trails and act as obstacles en route, the setting couldn't have been more beautiful. As we warmed up, however, I was not taking in much of the view. I was worrying about falling through the cattle grates, and whether I could make it to the finish without falling of the edge of one of the breathtaking volcanic ridges. Turns out, I couldn't....

Watch the highlight video (skip to 1:54 to find me) to get a feel for the rough and tumble of the event, and keep your eyes peeled for a full race recap to come!

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