NJ Winter Trail Series 10k

 I ran a very rainy, muddy, hilly trail 10k at Lewis Morris Park, and it wiped me out.

Jumping in my race shirt.

Why NJ Winter Trail Series

This was the other race I was thinking of doing 2 weeks ago when I did the half marathon at Kittatiny Valley State Park, but I didn't like that the half marathon was 2 loops.

It's part of a winter series, so I decided to run the 2nd in the series but only do the 10k.

The trails at Lewis Morris Park.

A rainy race

In a forecast of seemingly endless sunshine, the only day with predicted rain was the day of this race. And rain it did.

Luckily, it was only a light rain, but it meant spending most of my pre-start time in my dad's car keeping dry.

My dad was the official umbrella holder of this race.

The worst race toilets

I got an email the day before the race to say there were no porta-potties being brought in for the race. Instead you had to make use of the single porta-potties that are in the various parking lots that are near the course.

Near the course. But not at the course. The nearest one was a 5 minute walk from the start and the next one was a 10 minute walk. 

How can you organize a race and have so few toilets that are so far away from the start line?? Do you know how runners' bodies work??

Because I went early, I avoided any queues, but let's just say there were some sights in the first porta-potty I used that I will never be able to unsee.

It was also at the first toilet that was a 10 minute walk from the start that I met fellow runners who were also clueless as to where the start was. It was a big park with lots of parking lots.

This content designer had some issues with this race's poor comms and signage.

Finally found the start area.

No bibs but a choice of swag

This was the first race I did where I didn't get a race number bib. Instead we only got ankle chip timers we had to return at the end.

Ankle chip timer but no bib.

I know I really don't need to add endless bibs to my collection, but it was a bit sad not to get one.

My main race memento was a technical shirt. And not just any shirt, a women's sized shirt. Something actually made to fit my body!

It's super cute with a snowman on it. Runners actually got the choice between a shirt, a buff, a cup, or socks.

A shirt that fits.

I was tempted by the socks as I've never gotten race socks before, but I couldn't turn down the opportunity for a women's shirt. 

From flat lake to zig-zagging trails

The course started going around a lake before turning into the forest trails where we ran for the rest of the race.

Sunrise Lake under rainy skies.

I only took one photo mid-race and it pretty summed up my view for the entire race. I did also cross quite a few bridges over streams, too. 

The zig-zagging trails.

For the first half of the race, these trails felt like an endless zig-zag. Just kept running turning left and right every few yards, all pretty much going uphill.

A tiring run

By the 3 mile mark, I was exhausted. It wasn't just the hilliness of the course. In the days leading up to the race, I had some pretty bad sleeps and had also been doing very hilly runs. 

My body had had enough. I was depleted.

By mile 4, I started to perk up mentally, but my pace did not. At least some part of my body had woken up, though.

It was around this time that I found myself alone on the course. I couldn't see or hear any runners in front of or behind me.

Finally someone passed me at a very fast pace and I realized I was starting to get eclipsed by the half marathoners on their 2nd lap.

Someone passed me with mud all over their butt, so while it may have been a super slow run for me, the real victory was not slipping on the mud. 

No fanfare for the finish

I finished the race in 1:20:00, 41st out of 50 runners. My pace for this 10k was 49 seconds slower per mile than the half marathon I did 2 weeks prior, which just goes to show how exhausted I was and what a tough course it was.

I said in my half marathon recap that Alexa's Thunder Run was a small race with the best community vibe. This was also a small race but had no sense of community at the finish line.

Never ever have I finished a race and there been no one at or near the finish line cheer for me or say well done at the end.

I'm not saying I need or deserve to be congratulated at the end of each race. But one of the nicest things about this sport is how encouraging and congratulatory other runners are to each other. It felt so strange not to receive that positive feedback.

Literally the first thing that happened when I finished was one of the organizers came up to me to take the ankle chip timer off me. No 'good job', just give me back our property, please. 

(I will say that I did get some well dones and good lucks from the half marathoners who eclipsed me in the course. So there was that.)

Goldfish reunion

On top of no feedback at the finish, this race also had no medal. Walking away with a shirt, but no bling.

They did at least have a beautiful snack selection at the finish.

A choice of snacks.

I chose a bag of goldfish, one of my favorite American snacks and one I had not yet had this trip. So this bag was my first goldfish in over 2 years. A yummy, cheddary reunion. 

First Goldfish in 2+ years.

Dealing with the consequences of a wet race

Turns out getting the shirt was the sensible option. After finishing a race in the rain, I was indeed soaking wet.

Thankfully, the race shirt was something dry to change in to, and my dad lent me his sweatshirt for the drive home.

A trail race in the rain also meant I finished with mud over the back of my legs and all over my shoes. I took a nap before making the attempt to clean them.

Muddy race.

Always grateful to race

As you can probably tell from some of the negative comments in this post, I wasn't the biggest fan of the race's organization and overall vibes.

I guess because I only just did another trail race in norther NJ 2 weeks ago, I can't help but compare the experiences. Alexa's Thunder Run was definitely better organized, but to be fair, it was a more expensive race.

It also wasn't rainy for the half marathon.

Regardless, I'm grateful there was another trail race for me to do. At the end of the day, I rather be racing than not. I'm learning to love my homestate a lot more through discovering its trails.

A very tired trail runner.

Next race

Not planning on doing anymore races in the US.

I am signed up for a 5k in Edinburgh in January, but I get the feeling it will get canceled. 

Sigh.