Vertical Turtle: Brazen Racing Badger Cove Half Marathon

Well, the dedicated training is starting to pay off!... On St. Patricks Day, I ran the Brazen Racing Badger Cove Half Marathon in Del Valle Regional Park with Burnout Bear and some friends from the Mission Peak Striders. I grew nervous about the weather during the week leading up to the race... rain, showers, rain, rain... and the largest downpour occured the night before the race. This caused for a VERY muddy course, and, in fact, Brazen Racing had to alter the original course at the last minute because the support vehicle couldn't access the far aid station. Instead of a single loop with a long out and back on the North side, the course was now two loops (and now two big hills) with a short out-and-back tail on the South side.

Elevation profile of the modified course: 2 loops

During the early morning drive to Del Valle, the car read that the temperature was 40 degrees outside. I hoped that there would be no more rain that morning because running in cold rain would make the race extremely rough. Anyhow, we arrived 10 minutes before the start of the race and luckily the sky was appearing clearer. Brazen Racing put up their usual impressive staging area, including the large, balloon arch over the start/finish line. We quickly gathered behind the large group of half marathoners (185 participants!) and off we went to conquer the mud!

Half Marathoners toe the line...

I don't know if there are special shoes for running in mud, but I certainly could have used them. The rugged treads on my trail shoes liked to gather clumps, which would grow larger and larger in size until I thought that my shoes were going to be pulled off. Then, the mud bricks would become too heavy and fly off (hitting any runners around me) and the process would start over again. I eventually got in the habit of scooting my feet every few strides to knock off the mud. The steep uphills and downhills became tricky, slippery mud slides. I had to walk a few of these just to prevent from falling (and, yes, it was nice to catch my breath!)

With 2k feet of climbing, the course was already a challenge and the mud turned it into an obstacle course. I have never run one of those "Muddy Buddy" races, but I imagine that this is what it would be like. Fortunately, no one fell in the mud (that I am aware of) or twisted an ankle and the rain held off until after we finished. I was tiring by the end of the second loop and was grateful to see the final downhill. I started picking up speed and noticed that there was a group of 5k-ers in front of me, filling the width of the trail. "On your left!" I called to them, and they curteously shifted to the right, looking over at me saying "Hey! You are the second female!" What?!? I thought they had to be mistaken, so I smiled and kept running for the finish.

Burnout Bear completes the race... quickly!

The 5k-ers were, in fact, correct, and I was shocked to hear my name followed by "second place female" over the loud speaker as I crossed the finish. I thought I was dreaming. I had only won sparse age group awards in the past, usually barely grabbing 3rd amongst small fields of less than 10 runners. This was no dream, but just a hard-earned second place win mixed with some Irish luck. Perhaps the rain and mud scared some competitors from showing up, or others were scared of falling on the muddy trail. But, regardless, it was an adventurous, muddy race that I will never forget!

I hope to run this race again next year and highly recommend any of the Brazen Racing Half Marathon series races. The courses are more challenging than the "usual" Brazen Races... especially Rocky Ridge! Check them out if you enjoy running hilly half marathons.