On Saturday, April 25th I ran in the 2nd annual ‘Baug Trot Trail Race. The race takes place at Camp Quinebaug, a state of CT owned property that functions as a camp for children with special needs. Proceeds from the event are donated back to the camp. This is a nice, low key local event put on by the Killingly Parks and Recreation Department. There are 5k and 10k options which is a plus for the speedsters out there, as there are not many trail races of this distance in the area. (Disclaimer – I may or may not also be married to the race director, so I will be racing this event as long as it shall exist.)
Last year’s race was a chilly, soggy affair. I’m happy to say that the weather for 2015 was much better. I started my day heading to the race at 5:30 am to help set up, and it was chilly! By race time (9:30 am) the temps were rising into the 50s, making for very comfortable running weather. I was racing the 10k, of course (I always go for the longer distance option!)
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| The Start |
The race is a 5k lap. The beginning of the loop is some wide double track around the camp property, approximately 1 mile worth. The course then heads onto a nice rocky, rooty 2 mile singletrack loop that circles the pond. It is a pretty course, and a fast one with no real hills. There were a couple of water crossing areas along the pond, as the water level was pretty high from all of the snow melt and recent rain. There was some “trail” along the bank to bypass these also, if you weren’t into wet feet. I crawled around on my first lap but just plowed right through on the second. I honestly didn’t feel any different, should have just run through on the first because that definitely wasted a little time. I guess we trail runners are used to wet feet?
I felt great, and had a good run considering my early season fitness is fairly nonexistent. I bettered my time from last year and felt good the whole way. It was a great starting point to what is sure to be a fun season of running! Bonus – I won the women’s race! I got the very cool prize of a french press and a gift certificate for some locally roasted coffee from Ben’s Beans in Putnam, CT. Check them out if you are local, great coffee and you get to support a local business. Win!
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| Finishing! Time of 51:-something. Not bad. |
The field was very small this year, unfortunately. I am trying to help brainstorm some ways to increase participation – let me know if you have any thoughts! My first suggestion is a price decrease, or offering discounted early registration that increases over time. Organizing a race is difficult and hard work, especially trying to get a new event up and “running” (pun totally intended).
Great job to all of the runners, and everyone else involved. Trails were in great shape, well marked (I get lost constantly and I stayed on track), and fun! Weather cooperated and gave us sunshine which was a definite bonus. Thank you to the volunteers as well – the Young Marines were there to help out on course and with the cleanup, good work! Even if I wasn’t personally involved in this race, I would be back… It is fun to take part in something from the very beginning and help it to grow. Let’s get some momentum growing and help this event grow and improve!
Adventure Sneaker 