Courtesy of Defiant Photography Atlanta

Be a part of history and run the trails at the Georgia Horse Park where the Olympic Mountain Biking competition was held in 1996.  The XTERRA Georgia Trail Race Series Runnin the Rocks 10k Race is a great trail race at the horse park put on by Dirty Spokes Productions, LLC.  I know what you are thinking about this race.  6.2 miles isn’t that serious.  Well, you’re wrong.  This is a very difficult course with a number of inclines and technical downhills that will challenge you and leave you breathless.  Breathing is for suckers anyways.

This race may have been a little more difficult for me than other runners because I started it a bit too fast.  Although I held my position from my quick start, passing two runners and not allowing any to pass me during the race, I thought I was going to throw up at about mile two.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it.  The runner in front of me had been slowing down so I figured what better time to pass him than when I was exhausted.  I decided to blaze past him on the uphill.  About two minutes later I heard him gagging and throwing up loudly!  It sounded like he was feeling just as bad as I was.  When running competitively don’t focus negatively on how poorly you are feeling personally, but think about how slow and tired the other runners in front of you are.  You’re always thinking of yourself anyways.  Maybe you should think of others sometime.  Then pass them!

Dirty Spokes Productions, LLC describes the race as, “…a great single and double track off road running experience! The race will start in the “Steeplechase Field” (required for spacing) but will soon lead into the woods. The terrain is rolling hills, single track, double track along with technical sections and creek crossings (about 2-3 feet wide ⁄ 2-3 inches deep). The course is beautiful and offers something for every runner truly wishing to ‘ditch the city’.”  I had a great time ‘ditching the city’ for this run on a beautiful Saturday morning.  I liked that there were logs and other obstacles to hurdle on the course giving you the feeling of really running on a recently blazed trail.  The trail floor was also very technical with a lot of exposed roots and rocks to dodge and maneuver which was a lot of fun.  The switchbacks were great, letting you truly feel like you were escaping the city.  I didn’t even know I was near downtown Conyers, GA!

The XTERRA Georgia Trail Race Series “Runnin the Rocks 10k Race” was a well run running event.  Race registration was quick, there were plenty of restrooms, plenty of food and Gatorade afterward, and again quick race results.  My favorite thing that Dirty Spokes Productions, LLC does that other races don’t seem to do is the overall quick post race operations.  When you are tired after a race you want to relax a little bit, talk to other runners, and refuel, but eventually get back home to take a shower and eat a much deserved lunch.  After the bulk of runners finished the race, the organizers quickly posted the “unofficial” race results.  Any psychologist will tell you, positive reienforcement needs to be quick to be effective.  Same goes for negative reienforcement so no matter how you did in the race you’ll be able to give yourself quick feedback!  Yeah for you!  Dirty Spokes Productions also start the awards ceremony at the right time.  Even though there were still a few participants walking the course, the race organizers went ahead and started the awards ceremony which I really liked.  It allows other participants, who may or may not be receiving anything, to attend the awards ceremony and cheer on their fellow running comrades.  It allows for a fitting celebration for fit individuals.  How fitting.

So next year be a part of history and run this Olympic course in the “Runnin of the Rocks 10k.”  Likewise, if you want to run a well organized and executed trail race then check out one of the other races in the XTERRA Georgia Trail Race Series. Do it.

Courtesy of Defiant Photography of Atlanta

I ran the XTERRA Georgia Trail Race Series Race Thrills in the Hills today and it was just an extremely sloppy event…because it had rained for 24 hours prior.  It was wet out.  I’ll go ahead right now and just tell you; I loved it.  After watching 24 hours of rain and waking up at 6 am, I wasn’t very motivated to run this morning but that soon changed when I got out on the course and started running.

The trail is used for mountain biking and is highly trafficked so the trail floor was good ole’ Georgia red clay.  I love it.  It made the course a little more technical with the abundance of standing water.  Let’s see you do that Pacific Northwest soil!  The start was wide enough to allow for runner’s to space out for the first 800 meters, then it’s 95% singletracks…dot com. The only points that weren’t singletrack were the longer hills traveling up the power lines which worked great for the course on this wet morning.  These hills had grass on the sides of the double-track trail which made going up the hills a little more bearable.  This is where I made my moves.  Three water and Gatorade stations spread out enough that you we still able to get your time in by yourself on the trail.  Overall, the best thing about the course was that it was rolling, allowing you to keep a fast, rhythmical pace.

The race was also very well organized.  It looked like the 400-500 people who registered, showed up for the race even in such harsh conditions!  Race registration was the smoothest I have ever seen it.  I was a race day entry and they got me an ankle chip and a number within 7 minutes of me getting there…and this was less than an hour until the race start!  They probably could have used a couple more porta-potties but I’ve never been to a race that didn’t have a long line to use the restroom.  I pay attention to porta-potty levels because I go to the bathroom before every race I run…maybe you didn’t need to know that.  However, there was an abundance of woods if you had an emergency.  Interesting huh?  My favorite thing about the race organization was how quickly they printed out unofficial results.  I hate having to wait, sometimes until the next day on the Internet, to find out if I broke into the top three in my age group, what place I got overall, and what my official time was.  Everyone you see after the race is going to ask you how you did.  I hate having to say, “I don’t know.”  I know everything.  At Thrills in the Hills they had the times posted about 30 minutes after the first finisher!  Just enough time to enjoy some fruit and Gatorade and talk to other runners.  Mixed crowd, all types of runners; all had extremely dirty calves.  The front of my body was pretty dirty too.  So yes.  I was behind somebody at some point in the race.  Well, about 17 somebodys.  I know this because I saw the results before leaving the race!

Overall, this is a great race and trail to run.  I drove an hour to the race this morning but I would travel at least 2 to run this race!  If you live in Georgia and don’t run this next year you are lame.  I’m cool.  I ran it.