The XTERRA Trail Run Philly Series is halfway through the its schedule. 3 down, 3 more to go. I have been bringing the kids from my track and cross country teams to the races. They love the courses! Andrew, who will be moving onto St Joe's Prep next yr for high school, loves to hurdle the obstacles that are thrown into the trail whether its a set of stairs, hills, big tree logs, rocks, or creek crossings. Alyssa, who is dominating the 14 & under category, loves the mud and the free pizza! The kids love the an adventure, a good workout, and time away from home. If their parents could only see the obstacles they overcome to get to the finish line, they would be X-tremely proud of them. But I am sure most parents would be happy to see them come muddy these days, rather than siting in front of their TV playing video games.
The trail this week was wet, misty, and thick. The course had a nice flow to it, and did not have the calf-screaming hills as the first race. In through the woods where we hopped logs, puddles, and rocks. Out to the meadow fields where we staggered like high school cross country runners thru the misty pasteurs. The last obstacle was a creek crossing, but the downpour that occurred right before the race turned it into a rapid river crossing. I took a nice slip on the rock and sliced my leg pretty good (pic below). Don Morrison, race director (and pictured with us above) was there to catch and direct anyone who ventured into the river. And then we ran our hardest to the finish. I clocked my stop watch in 22 mins, but the race timer had me a couple of minutes slower... I still took my age group and had a ton of fun on this course! We had a car full of medal winners for the ride home.