Pizza the Trail 5k

15 hours after landing in the US, I ran a 5k trail race where you get a slice of pizza at the end.

Off a plane and onto the trails.

Why Pizza the Trail

I'm in the US with my family for 6 weeks. I of course had to look at what races were happening while I'm visiting.

I came across this 5k trail race that had 2 main selling points to me:

• you get a slice of pizza at the end
• the course was using (relatively) new trails along the lake I spent my childhood summers at 

It was taking place the morning after I was set to arrive in the US. I held off booking thinking maybe racing so soon after a long day of travel wouldn't be the best idea.

But I do love racing and it was only a 5k, with pizza, at my favorite place in the US. I felt okay after I landed, so I signed up as soon as I got back from the airport.

A long wait in the cold

The race website said pack pick-up 8:15am, race start 9:30am. It wasn't clear if that meant pack pick-up FROM 8:15am or AT 8:15am, but I aimed to get there shortly after 8:15am just in case it was AT.

After my mom dropped me off, I realized it was clearly a FROM scenario, so this meant I had an hour-plus wait in 39F degree weather wearing only my running top and bottoms with no jacket.

I used the wait as an excuse to walk down to the lakefront and reunite myself with a place I had not seen in 2 years.

Pre-race lake views.

Truck help for my jumping selfie

I thought the lakefront would be the perfect place to take my jumping selfie. 

There was no one around, so I couldn't even ask someone to take my photo. But there was someone's truck parked right at the edge of the lake.

I placed my phone against the little ledge jutting out from the back of the truck and took a Lauren-approved selfie in one take. 

Thanks truck for the selfie help.

Truly the real accomplishment of this race.

A challenging course

The course description was described as beginner friendly, but as someone who trail runs, I think it would have been quite challenging as a first-timer.

The start of the trail course.

It start off with a few steep inclines. The trails were mainly sand with rocks over it, which you could have quite easily lost your balance on. 

Starting the trail run.

Some part were covered in leaves, so it was difficult to see any obstacles you may have been running over.

Leaves covering the trail.

As a non-beginner, though, I loved it. It was great to experience something new in a place so familiar to me.

Liffy Island loop

The highlight of the race was getting to run off the trails and onto a bridge that takes you over to Liffy Island, which had another trail loop on it.

The bridge to Liffy Island.

Got some great lake views.

Taken mid-bridge run.

Faster than a teenage boy

This was a very small (a little over 120 runners) and very local race. Quite a few people were there just to walk the course. Not the type of thing people would have traveled far for.

Small, local race starting in a basketball court.

So it wasn't exactly the most competitive atmosphere for a race. But that didn't stop me from feeling like I had to run faster to eclipse other runners in front of me starting to slow down.

For about a mile of the race, I spent it with this teenage boy running directly behind me.

He overtook me at the bridge as we were exiting Liffy Island, then I overtook him, but he stayed right behind me. When the course got hilly again, I kept pushing myself, ultra determined to not be outrun by a teenage boy.

Sure enough, the hills became too much for him and he started to walk. Nothing like the sweet taste of victory of having greater endurance than a child. 

Pizza at the finish

I'm not sure what my official time is yet, but according to Strava, it looks to be somewhere in the 33 to 34 minute range. And my distance says 3.25 miles.

My third mile was my fastest and had the most elevation gain, so I'm feeling pretty proud about that.

The hills made me feel super deserving of the slice of pizza at the end.

It even came individually wrapped in a single-slice pizza box.

It was decent quality for my first NY-style slice in 2 years.

The medal was pizza-themed as well. 

Suitcase weight limit will be eaten up by this chunky medal.

Pizza + lake = great

Overall, I'd say the 2 selling points of the race held up. 

It genuinely felt special to race in a place that's so special to me. And it was pretty much the first thing I did after getting back to a place that I've been separated from for the past 2 years. It was a great way to 'come home'.

And that nostalgic feeling was topped off with pizza at 10am. So that was pretty cool, too.

Next race

I'm not entirely sure I'll be doing another race in the US while I'm here. But my December running challenge is to do interesting runs in the US, so we'll see what pops up.