This was my first trail race and first ultra. The race takes place at the beautiful Pt Mugu State Park featuring 31 miles of mostly single track and close to … MORE
This was my first trail race and first ultra. The race takes place at the beautiful Pt Mugu State Park featuring 31 miles of mostly single track and close to 6,000 ft of elevation gain.
This course was absolutely gorgeous. Some of the climbs were brutal, but the views at the top and while descending were breath taking. I legitimately gasped “holy shit” a few times and could not believe the epic scenery while descending.
Not only was the course beautiful, but the race production is one of the best. Parking was easy, check-in was easy, drop bag drop off was easy, and the race started on time.
The aid station volunteers were amazing. They were very helpful with refilling bottles with water or electrolyte, our choice. There was also so much food to choose from. Various forms of potatoes, PB&J sandwiches, assorted fruit, chocolate, pretzels, chips, cookies, all sorts of trader joe’s snacks, gels, and salt chews.
The course was also excellently marked. One of my worries was getting lost because this happened at least once during all of my trail running training. I had zero problems getting lost thanks to the excellent trail marking.
The vibes were great. I am loving the trail running community. Everyone was so encouraging and helpful. Honestly the only negative interaction I had all day was with some mountain bikers blowing past me on single track. I get that it’s public land and everyone is entitled to use it, but have some consideration!
The finish line food was awesome. We had the above plus pizza, chili, and lentils. Also plenty to drink from including soda, ginger ale, and more. I stayed for a few hours making new friends and hanging out while other runners poured in.
As for my performance, I can’t be upset. I intended to use this as a training run for the upcoming Avalon 50 miler. I got a little caught up and my effort level was closer to that of a tempo run.. so not an easy run, but not race pace. I had no time goals, but kind of wish I had taken less time at the drop bag station (I spent 10 minutes there) to hit that sub-6 time. Either way, my best (and only) performance at a 50k!
In terms of race swag, we got a nice and warm red sweater and a mug. That’s the best race swag I’ve received because both are pretty useful. I am sipping coffee from my Ray Miller mug in my warm Ray miller sweater as I write this review. Oh, the medal is ceramic, which is kind of neat. I dig it.
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Perfect Trail Race
This was my first trail race and first ultra. The race takes place at the beautiful Pt Mugu State Park featuring 31 miles of mostly single track and close to … MORE
This was my first trail race and first ultra. The race takes place at the beautiful Pt Mugu State Park featuring 31 miles of mostly single track and close to 6,000 ft of elevation gain.
This course was absolutely gorgeous. Some of the climbs were brutal, but the views at the top and while descending were breath taking. I legitimately gasped “holy shit” a few times and could not believe the epic scenery while descending.
Not only was the course beautiful, but the race production is one of the best. Parking was easy, check-in was easy, drop bag drop off was easy, and the race started on time.
The aid station volunteers were amazing. They were very helpful with refilling bottles with water or electrolyte, our choice. There was also so much food to choose from. Various forms of potatoes, PB&J sandwiches, assorted fruit, chocolate, pretzels, chips, cookies, all sorts of trader joe’s snacks, gels, and salt chews.
The course was also excellently marked. One of my worries was getting lost because this happened at least once during all of my trail running training. I had zero problems getting lost thanks to the excellent trail marking.
The vibes were great. I am loving the trail running community. Everyone was so encouraging and helpful. Honestly the only negative interaction I had all day was with some mountain bikers blowing past me on single track. I get that it’s public land and everyone is entitled to use it, but have some consideration!
The finish line food was awesome. We had the above plus pizza, chili, and lentils. Also plenty to drink from including soda, ginger ale, and more. I stayed for a few hours making new friends and hanging out while other runners poured in.
As for my performance, I can’t be upset. I intended to use this as a training run for the upcoming Avalon 50 miler. I got a little caught up and my effort level was closer to that of a tempo run.. so not an easy run, but not race pace. I had no time goals, but kind of wish I had taken less time at the drop bag station (I spent 10 minutes there) to hit that sub-6 time. Either way, my best (and only) performance at a 50k!
In terms of race swag, we got a nice and warm red sweater and a mug. That’s the best race swag I’ve received because both are pretty useful. I am sipping coffee from my Ray Miller mug in my warm Ray miller sweater as I write this review. Oh, the medal is ceramic, which is kind of neat. I dig it.
Tough Trail, a race to remember
First of all, I loved the view from the hills down to the ocean. Most of the race is single track, which is difficult to run especially if you're finishing … MORE
First of all, I loved the view from the hills down to the ocean. Most of the race is single track, which is difficult to run especially if you’re finishing in the dark. There are two stretches over 10 Miles between aid stations that are challenging.