Happy Girls Run Bend

I was in town so ran this knowing I wouldn’t likely love it. It’s mostly trail with a few miles total of paved segments. You start out in a park and pop on the riverside trail that quickly turns to crushed cinder/limestone and then full on dirt single track. The issue is, the race starts late (9A local) which means 1) if it’s going to be a hot day, you don’t get a jump on that and 2) the trail is crowded by Saturday folks out for walks or bike rides or runs, sometimes with kids/old people/dogs who don’t know what to do for trail etiquette. The first 3 miles are through dirt trail up and down and through the woods which is pretty but has the technical challenge of tree roots and rocks and people who don’t move their dogs or kids causing constant trip hazards. After you finish this segment, you run on the paved trail along the river for a bit through a HIGHLY trafficked area (it literally has a mall and multiple river access points) so this is a real hazard and requires constant dodging and weaving. Then you come to more trail–some crushed cinder, then gravel (like full on break your ankles gravel), then dirt and some monstrous hills that –bonus– may or may not have mountain bikes tearing down them. The course marshals were great at traffic control but since this is a small race, you easily could lose sight of the person in front of you and the signs are not frequent enough, you could easily make a wrong turn or take the wrong fork. I was constantly in free of losing the person in front of me and not knowing where to go. Because the course is somewhat challenging, there aren’t a lot of water stops, and it was HOT. I highly recommend carrying what you need. There were some hills that were so staggering I had no choice but to walk (and I live in the mountains). At about mile 8 you turn around and head back along the same dirt/gravel/neighborhood/paved section but now it’s later in the morning and it’s RIDICULOUS crowded. To the point that you sometimes have to stop because people would not move and their dogs would try to trip you. The finish was nice, you get a beautiful sunflower. The medal was meh. Instead of a shirt (which you can buy), you get socks. There are only awards/ceremony for overall and masters. If you AG, you get a ribbon. There are tons of other activities like jazzercise, yoga, stretching, lots to do for kids, good food (but no water bottles? Just shot glasses of water and tons of beer??) It was SOO hot, I wish they start around 7A before it heats up but I guess this was an anomaly. This one really took it out of me between the course and the heat but I still got 2 AG. Not a big field so the older you are, the more competitive you can be.