Last Saturday I raced the Run With the Beavers Trail Race in Chepachet, Rhode Island. This was my first time racing here, and it did not disappoint!
The course was a 5 mile loop, and the race had a 5 and 10 mile option. I went for the 10 miler, a good test of how my fitness is coming along.
The start was about 1/4 mile up a dirt road (up hill) into the woods. I got a pretty good warmup in and felt pretty good about the start. I went out pretty fast, which I think was key for success in this race. After that 1/4 mile dirt road the race heads right into some technical singletrack for the next couple of miles, and passing is pretty difficult. Going out hard and getting good placement in this section is definitely the way to go!
The course was a lot of fun! More single track and more technical than I had expected, which was great. I would say the loop was maybe 3 miles of singletrack and 2 miles of more open double track and a little bit of dirt road? The trail was nicely technical with plenty of rocks, roots, and a few bridges and stream crossings to navigate. Kept me on my toes and focused!
I set a goal time of 1:30 for myself (if the trails were technical, which they were!) and just beat that. I also ended up 5th woman, which was pretty sweet! I had a lot of fun racing and ended up running much of the race with a couple of guys who were great company, we pushed each other along and kept pace with each other which makes it so much more fun.
This race was well organized, and the course was very well marked. They wisely put a lot of markers as flags on the ground, which helped on some sections of technical singletrack where it would have been tough to be looking up for course markers. There was a water station at the start/finish and another at the 2.5 mile mark, so there was plenty of aid out there if you needed it. I ended up drinking two whole bottles while out on course, thank goodness I decided to carry my handheld! The prizes were really cool wood carvings for the winners, and the winning team took home a bunch of beer. Perfect prizes for a trail race!
I would highly recommend this race, and will plan to be back for next year to better my time.
Check out the race results here.
I recovered well (with a little help from some beer and the beach)
Next stop? The Escarpment Trail Run. In TWO DAYS. YIKES!!!!! A tough, technical trail 30k in the Catskills of New York which is a bucket list race for sure.
Adventure Sneaker 