What’s a trash panda? It’s a fun term for a raccoon… because they sort of look like giant pandas (in their coloring) and they sort of look like red pandas (which sort of look like raccoons) and also, they like to dig through the trash. It’s also the slightly-bratty-but-still-kinda-cute little sister race to our perennial powerhouse, the Raccoon Mountain Marathon. In fact, if you ran ANY of the spring Raccoon Mountain races, and you run the Trash Panda, you get a third medal. Because anyone rad enough to hang out with us on the same mountain twice a year deserves some extra lovin’.
We will be using only the trails that connect to Laurel Point. There will be some short road sections. The loops for most of the races will be roughly 4.5 miles long (obviously, if you’re doing the 5K, your loop will be shorter.) We’ll have an out-and-back section marked for each distance to get you to the appropriate mileage.
The trail is technical in that there are roots and rocks, but it’s not particularly difficult. There are no water crossings. Trail shoes are useful, but not necessary. Beginners, hikers, children of all ages are welcome. There is an eight hour time limit for all distances (afternoon half time limit is four hours.) We don’t DNF; we’ll give you a finish time for the distance you did complete.
Distance options available: Ultramarathon (50K), Marathon (26.2 miles), Metric Marathon (26.2K), Half Marathon (13.1 miles, morning and afternoon start options, feel free to do BOTH), 10K, 5K
This is NOT a slick, corporate, super-professionally produced race. We’re still the same grassrootsy, laid-back people we’ve always been. We cater to the non-competitive, fun-loving runners of the world. We are a bunch of dorks that can measure a course and make it fun. If you are expecting Ironman-levels of organization, you came to the wrong place. If you want to have a good time in an atmosphere that is more ‘giant group run’ and less ‘super professional NYC marathon’-type thing, we’d love to invite you to join us! If you’re only worried about running super fast and not about enjoying your experience, this is NOT the race for you. You have been warned.
Brought to you by the cool kids at Awesomesauce Events and Run Chattanooga.
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Run race, nice course
I don't like loop courses. I do them if they are local, or if I cannot avoid them, but I don't like them. I would actually give this course a … MORE
I don’t like loop courses. I do them if they are local, or if I cannot avoid them, but I don’t like them. I would actually give this course a 3.5 out of 5 stars, not 3. But it’s also not quite a 4. But for a loop course, it’s a 5.
This loop race, however, broke the mold. Of course, I’d still rather have a course that is not a loop, but I’ll absolutely be back to do this race again. It’s a nice course, the aid station at the loop turnaround is great, and the runners and volunteers are friendly. It’s a local race for me, so I don’t need to travel far. Having run the race, I might drive an hour or two do to it if I were in the region, but it’s certainly not a course to travel across the country for.
Bathrooms? Yes. Parking? Yes. SWAG? Yes. Great aid station? Double yes. Nice course out on a trail in the woods? Yes. There is nothing about this course that you won’t like… except for the loops, and the loop is long enough that you may just forget you are running a loop. Anyway, the aid station is enough to offset any gripes about the fact that you are on a loop.
My average time for a trail run like this should be about 2:20, give or take. I was slower on this course because I was out of the country for four months and only ran once during that period. This was my first race after about five months of not running. So if you typically run trail HM courses in about 2:20, then you’d probably manage that time here as well.
Finally, I’m skeptical that the distance is actually 13.1 miles. The RD assured runners that the distances are correct. But… I’m not sure. If you are a stickler for distances, then this may not be the race for you. Or at least confirm the mileage on your own before registering.
Harder than it looks
This is a loop but on a moderately difficult trail with lots of cross traffic 5k, 10k, half, full and 50k. You are allowed to reverse your loop, but that … MORE
This is a loop but on a moderately difficult trail with lots of cross traffic 5k, 10k, half, full and 50k. You are allowed to reverse your loop, but that only worked once for me in terms of a mental “break”. After about the first half loop, I started encountering A LOT of traffic coming the opposite direction or from behind. It was a single track the whole way, so there were countless traffic jams before the 5K, 10K, and 1/2 marathoners finished their races.
Maybe because I’ve never done a loop marathon before, I found it to be pretty tough but really enjoyed the overall atmosphere of the race. People were nice and beautiful mug (instead of tshirt) was fabulous. Medal, not so much. Aid stations are much bragged about but really what I would expect from any trail race (there are two, one halfway, one at the start/finish).
Parking and logistics were otherwise easy and packet pick-up was morning of, so also easy.