Lake Chabot Trail Challenge Half Marathon

Click on the Elevation Profile above for a better view - looks like fun, huh?

Today was the Lake Chabot Trail Challenge Half Marathon. This was a challenging, hilly run; primarily on trails, around Lake Chabot. I had a great run, finishing the tough 13.1-mile course in a time of 2:01.

I started out conservatively, knowing that I had some challenging hills ahead. At mile 3 the fun began with a very long, steep hill - climbing about 600' in elevation in less than a mile. The course continued to be hilly thru mile 8. It was a fun race. I had runners to run with, and compete against, for the entire run.

I'm very pleased with my results. I didn't have a goal for this event, but I certainly didn't expect to come in so close to the 2-hour mark. I 'm also very happy to find that I that I was able to run all the hills just fine and felt pretty good at the finish. All the miles I've logged, and hills I've been running have paid off...

Looking at my splits, I don't think I could have done a better job of pacing myself. I ran the first 3 miles in a leisurely 26:40. By mile 10 of this hilly course, I was still strong enough to knock out the final 5k in 25:35, or 8:14 pace - not bad!

I finished 103rd out of a total of 243 runners.
This was the 2nd of the East Bay Triple Crown Trail Championship events. In two weeks I'll race in the third and final event: The Dick Houston Memorial Woodminster Cross Country Race - a tough 9 mile run through the Oakland hills...