Alexa's Thunder Run half marathon

I did my first trail half marathon at Kittatinny Valley State Park in New Jersey and walked away with an extra medal for finishing 2nd in my gender and age group.

First trail half marathon complete.

Why Alexa's Thunder Run

The day before the half marathon, I was searching for upcoming races I could do in New Jersey while I'm visiting my family. Most were 5k's, but I found 2 trail half marathons for the next day. 

I had never done a trail half marathon before, so this seemed like a good opportunity to try one out.

I preferred the course for Alexa's Thunder Run because it went by lots of lakes and the course was 1 loop, while the other was 2.

Most importantly, I decided to run a half because I've been stuffing my face with food while in the US, so this race was a chance to offset some of the damage.

A very cold morning

I talked about in my last race recap how I had a very long wait in the cold. This race, I had a shorter wait, but it was much, much colder.

It was below freezing, no sun. While I did have a running sweatshirt with me, I didn't wear it because I didn't want to stick safety pins through it. So I opted for my light long-sleeved-hooded shirt with a fleece jacket on top. 

This was the most bundled up I've been for a race.

Guest appearance by my mom's dog.

Before the start, even in my jacket on top of my fleece, I was shivering. I couldn't feel my hands or toes. My mom let me borrow her coat until the start. I don't know why, but I put it on backwards, and then my mom zipped it up, so I looked proper silly.

Cold racer.

A small, communal race

This race probably had the best community feel I've ever experienced. There were quite a few 10k runners, but the half marathon race had maybe 25 people participating. I had quite a few chats along the route with other runners.

Waiting for the start.

The event area was set up at the entrance to the trails. While filling in my registration form, I asked one of the organizers how hilly the course was as I wasn't sure I felt prepared for a half marathon of hills.

The event village.

She said the first mile was uphill to a place called Tower Hill, then you go back down it for the second mile, and it's less hilly for the remaining 11 miles.

I settled with the fact that I could deal with the uphill mile at the start.

An uphill start, but downhill was scarier

The uphill start was indeed uphill, but it was very much manageable. What was less manageable was the 2nd downhill mile.

The trails as seen from the event village.

Downhill on leaf-covered, rocky trails was terrifying. I was amazed at runners who kept up their speedy paces going downhill and didn't trip. 

I didn't think I'd fare so well being that risky, and sure enough, I had a close call to tripping 4.5 miles in. 

I was also expecting the last 11 miles to be more level, and while it was in parts, it was also still hilly with more scary downhill bits.

There were also the natural obstacles of trails like walls to climb down and countless fallen trees to hop over.

Lakes and planes

Despite the obstacles and hills, the views made up for it. Lots of the course went around pristine lakes. 

Lakeside running.

One of the lakes bordered a small airport, so I got to see lots of single-engine planes hovering around the course. 

Zoom in, there are planes!

Runners getting lost

Unlike a major road race with lots of runners, it's a lot more challenging to know where you are going on a small trail race. 

At 2 points I came up to runners ahead of me questioning if they were going the right way. There were white arrows on the ground to point you in the right direction, but until you saw the next one, you couldn't be confident you were going the right way.

This first time was 5 miles in where a runner behind us who had done this race before told us where to go.

The second time was 9.5 miles in where a runner literally ran back to retrace his steps, and then a runner ahead shouted out she found the next arrow.

A trail race really requires constant vigilance. 

Slow but steady

I'm pretty sure by mile 2 I was 3rd to last in the race, but this gradually changed as the course went on.

I may be a slow runner, but I don't stop running. Lots of other runners were walking the hillier bits, which meant I was eventually able to zoom past them as I kept on running.

For much of the last few miles of the race, I was neck-and-neck with another runner who I would run past as she walked the hills, and then she would run past me as the course leveled out.

She did eventually finish ahead of me, but she complimented me on my running after I finished. Always nice to hear that kind of feedback from a fellow runner.

She also noticed I dropped my Kelpies snood along the course as I was delayering as it got warmer, so I'm forever indebted to her for telling me this. I love that snood and would have hated to lose it.

A video finish

My finishing time was 2:45:45. After a slow uphill first mile, I kept under 12 minute miles until mile 9. 

I really started to feel it in my legs at that point. Mile 11 got up to 14:03, but I thankfully got a bit faster for the last few miles.

Strava says I ran 13.8 miles, so the course was definitely a bit longer than a half marathon, and apparently another runner complained about this. 

It's a small race through a state park. Calm down, mate.

My mom, who very kindly stuck around for the whole race while I was running, caught my finish on camera. As you can see in the video, she was most displeased with the person blocking her view.

Swag before the finish

I actually got my race swag before the start, and my-oh-my, I was not prepared for how much swag there was!

I got my first long-sleeved technical shirt from a race. It's too big for me, but I'm already using it as my new sleeping shirt.

My mom modeling the shirt. 

The swag was wrapped inside a bandana. 

Swag bandana.

There was everything from a hat to laptop stickers, to snacks, to the most pandemic-y race swag of all: a web cam cover.

All the swag inside.

Very much in love with the new hat. 

The hat and shirt combo.

A feast for the runners

This was a very well-catered event. While I normally am not that hungry right after a race, I very much appreciated hot food after a cold half marathon. 

I had a nice cup of pumpkin soup and took some other snacks which I ate later on.

Soup and snacks.

A second medal

This race was truly memorable because it featured something I never thought I'd experience: a medal for my finishing time. 

I never normally see the medal ceremony because it happens long before I finish the race. But this small, communal race waited until the cut-off time to reward its speedy racers.

Needless to say, I was not in the top 3 females, but then they started awarding medals by age groups of 5 years.

I couldn't believe it when my name got called for getting 2nd place female finisher in the 25 to 29 age category.

My first race with a second medal.

I'll note that there were only 2 of us in this age and gender category, so I technically also came last in it, but shhh, don't spoil my moment. 

I walked away with a 2nd medal. I find this both equally cool and hilarious.

Next race

I hope to do at least one more race while I'm in New Jersey. Probably a 10k. We'll see.