jeffonthetrails: 2018

So what does one do, when you are in the middle of a three week Agatha Cristie Stage Production? Sign up for a trail marathon the same day as a performance right?

Makes perfect sense to me! Especially when you have the chance to run a local trail race through some pretty countryside that skirts along some of the Historic Oregon Trail. Sounds like an open and closed case.

As I journeyed over to Hebron only about 40 minutes away from the house, with coffee in hand it was a chilly but beautiful day for running. Temps started in the low 40's and ended upper 50s. I arrived to get my packet and waited on the school bus to drive us to the start line as I prepped my gear.

As always I have my staples. My UltrAspire Spry with 1lt bladder and my Squirrels Nut Butter anti-chafe. I was sporting some great accessories as well. My UltrAspire arm sleeves and buff were just what I needed to take the chill off. It's so nice to have companies like #UltrAspire and #squirrelsnutbutter who make the best products at what they do. Runners making gear for runners!

The Oregon Trail run is a point to point Marathon and 1/2 Marathon 98% of which is on gravel country roads. As I started out the race, my goal was

to have a good race, with no injury and just enjoy the beautiful scenery around me. The volunteers around the course were friendly and even though this race is very small, I found a few people here and there to have some nice chats with. Overall I ran about 16 of the miles solo and 10 with people. Nice mix of just "doing my thing" and enjoying the company of fellow trail runners. Really nothing earth shattering about this run, other than, it went EXACTLY as I expected, just a reasonable pace, with a little bit of run/walk mixed in and a great fall training run.

I wish I had more exciting tales to share, but as Inspector Craddock and Miss Marple suspected, this case truly was an easy one. Great weather, pretty countryside, smiling and friendly aid station volunteers and happy trail runners. The best warm up for a night on the stage!