Singletrack, Sand Dunes, Trees, and Water: Tuesday Night Race Report

This week, the Tuesday Night Race was at Kincaid Park off of West Dimond (pronounced diamond). We started out in a clearing with birches all around us, but soon I noticed that the ground not it's usual mud, but sand. That's about when I tripped on a branch and gracefully launched myself into a set of long grasses.

When I got myself together, a 30m mountain of sand was waiting for me to trudge up it. Have you ever tried to run up a sand dune? It's very difficult, especially if you are not very quick footed. I kept sinking down the dune while I tried to follow the advice of the guy behind me shouting to his son "Quick, light strides!!!". He was still shouting as he passed me, kicking dirt in my face (thanks!). When I made it up to the top, we started a treacherous singletrack along a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

To make it more difficult, there were many trees crossing the path that you had to negotiate. Being short, I was able to successfully maneuver across many of them...but I still managed to run right into a tree with my forehead, just like a cartoon character. During this whole section, people were running around me without letting me know (whatever happened to "on your right"?). When I made it back off of the cliff, I was behind this kid that had to be about waist-high. I "blasted" past him when we got onto the access roads, although I came in right behind a guy pushing a stroller. By the time we finished, it was already quite dark.

All in all, I did pretty well -- 61st out of 107, which is "almost halfway". Results are here.