Envirosports 2012 Woodside King's Mountain Half Marathon

This past weekend, Burnout Bear and I ran our first race of the year: Envirosports 2012 Woodside King's Mountain Half Marathon.  We signed up for this race over a month ago because we love running in Huddard Park and wanted to spice up our training.  The course has 1900 feet of climbing over 13 miles, so it is hilly enough to fit into our training but was not overly taxing (since it is our "off" weekend.)  I have yet to run a Woodside race that I did not enjoy, and this event helped continue that tradition!

The trails in Huddard Park are extremely soft, covered with tree and fern leaves, and the dense woods help make for a cool run.  The only technical aspect of running there is the numerous switch-backs, which, when combined with a layer of dry leaves on the trail can cause for some downhill sliding and ankle-turning.

There were several positive aspects of this race that made it enjoyable and unique (note: this was our first time running Envirosports):

• A vibrant, funny welcome speech by the race director followed by a group singing of "America the Beautiful" helped dissipate my pre-race butterflies;
• The first place male and female finishers received a rubber chicken and a bottle of wine;
• The racing environment was very low-key and did not even have a post-race awards ceremony; finisher awards are mailed out after the event.

As with most races, there were areas that could have been improved:

• Trail marking!  Twice I encountered a long stretch without a marker and turned back thinking I had missed a turn (once on the uphill, once on the downhill - probably was the same spot each time!)  Not only did I lose time doing this, but the temporary sense of panic zapped me out of the "zone";
• The post-race nutrition was not super healthy.  There was water, Gatorade, trail mix, bananas, peanut butter pretzels, Twizzlers, and Chex mix.  For example, I like how Coastal Trail Runs serves hot lentil soup and Cliff products... :)

Overall, we really enjoyed the race and ran well.  The weather was perfectly cool with temperatures in the upper 50s and both Burnout Bear and myself achieved half marathon PRs (on a hilly trail course.)  Woohoo!

post race: Burnout Bear, myself, and our friend Rida

The relaxed, post race spread.

A no-frills finish.  (Your time is called to you as you cross.)