Trail Running! (Ragnar Trail WVa and EX2 Adventure Racing)

I’ve always wanted to try trail running but where I live there really aren’t many good trails that are not at least an hour away…or a pain to get to (Rock Creek Park) so I didn’t hit the “real” trails for a while…I did the DC North Face Endurance Challenge 10K…wasn’t really a trail more like running on a dirt road with some mud but still fun.

Luckily this past summer my running club…The Argonaut Running Club (check us out we run every Friday at PM from Liberty Tree in DC)….decided to put together a team for the Ragnar Trail Appalachian relay. I had done Ragnar before but just the road one in vans. Ragnar Trail always seemed more appealing to me because Ragnar is fun, you get to camp at this one and hangout with your team instead of driving around, they have bonfires and music and games, and so much more!!

The finish line!

 

The trails at Ragnar where much more technical (hills, obstacles, etc…) than the North Face 10K where I was able to maintain my pace close to road pace…at Ragnar my pace definitely slowed but not my effort…these trails were tough!

me after completing my first loop (red - hard loop) each runner runs each of the 3 loops once

 

So let’s go back a second….Ragnar Trail…you can have a team of 8 or 4 (ultra crazy people)….you bring your tents, camping equipment, food, booze, water, etc…setup camp in your designated area and hangout under the stars! Ragnar also provides food and water, there are porta potties that Ragnar did a great job keeping clean, there are showers, there is beer, and so much more. You can arrive as early as 4PM Thursday and stay until Sunday. We opted to do just that half our team arrived later Thursday night and already there were tons of teams there who had taken the best camping spots. I recommend if you can show up on Thursday.

All through the night teams are up and having a good time waiting for their runner to come back to the exchange so the next runner can take off. During my night run…I was terrified the whole time leading up to it…the woods were dark all I had was my headlamp but I wasn’t scared it actually felt exhilarating to be running out in nature in the dark in the quiet…I didn’t see too many other runners just a few that passed me and that I passed. When I got to the exchange I had the best runner’s high ever! I had boundless energy and ran the half mile back to our basecamp to chatter away to my teammates about how awesome the Yellow Loop was. Overall I had a wonderful time running this race and hanging out with my team. I can’t wait to do it again next year and I’m currently trying to convince others to do Ragnar Trail Richmond with me.

Cool Ragnar Trail medals!

Our team and our two volunteers after the race!

 

After Ragnar Trail I have a new love for trail running…I still don’t go out during the week to hit the trails due to lack of time….but I did sign up for 5 trail races this fall with EX2 Adventure Racing! I completed a trail 10K this past September which was awesome! And now I am in the process of completing their 4 trail race series the Fall Backyard Burn 10 Miler series! You don’t have to camp for these ones but they are still a blast and they have the best mini breakfast burritos at the end and they also have a ton of other food. I'll post more about this race series once I'm done

I highly recommend everyone try trail running. It is a lot of fun and the scenery is beautiful! Keep in mind you won’t go as fast as you do on the road and you may take a tumble now and then but it is all worth it!