Williamsport Community Challenge
Williamsport, PA
- Half Marathon, 10K, 5K
- Trail (Unpaved)
- Official race website
Pull out your pens and mark your calendars for this November’s Williamsport Community Trail Challenge! This year’s challenge will once again include unique 5k, 10k and Half Marathon options that will test your mettle on the pristine, Williamsport Water Authority property. New this year: Custom Finisher Medals for all events. … MORE
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The Challenge
On Saturday, My hubby Bill and I traveled to Williamsport, a town about two hours north of us, to take part in the Williamsport Community Challenge trail race. One intriguing … MORE
On Saturday, My hubby Bill and I traveled to Williamsport, a town about two hours north of us, to take part in the Williamsport Community Challenge trail race.
One intriguing feature of the race is that the race director changes each course every year, so even if you do the same distance two years in a row, you will not be running the same race. Another interesting feature is that you get to run on the Williamsport Water Authority property, a place usually off-limits to hikers, bikers, and runners.
We arrived at the race site early, picked up our bibs, and went back to our car to stay warm before the race start. The temperature was 19 degrees when we woke up that morning, quite a difference from the 80-degree temperatures at the Marine Corps Marathon less than two weeks ago.
15 minutes before the start we ambled over to the starting line (two orange cones set up on a dirt road), looked for our friend who was also doing the race, listened to the race director’s brief instructions (Follow the orange ribbons!), and were off.
The first part of the race was run on a dirt logging road. It was crowded with 400 runners and difficult to settle into a comfortable pace. We turned onto another, even rougher logging road at the half-mile mark and began climbing. And climbing.
The climb soon worked to thin out the runners and the trail quickly became much less crowded. I ran for the first part of the climb but soon switched to a run-walk strategy. As we climbed, I passed people when I ran, then saw them pass me while I walked. The runners who passed me, however, began to diminish as the climb wore on past the one-mile, then the two-mile mark and I wound up passing a bunch of runners on the way up.
To read the rest of the review, please click on the following link:
https://meditationsinmotion.wordpress.com/2019/11/10/the-challenge/