Race Report: Bear Trax 20k

I have THREE race reports to write! So behind! So let's get moving...

On April 28, I concluded the "Birthday Month of Running All the Races" with the Bear Trax 20k trail race in Wisconsin. A while back, Riyanti had asked me if I wanted to do this one with her. It was easy to get to and inexpensive ($25 I think?) so of course, I was in.

So, when you are running a race EVERY SINGLE WEEKEND for 5 weeks in a row, there are going to be some races when your race prep the night before is less than ideal. This one was that. The day prior we had dentist day (we still see the dentist where we used to live - we drive more than an hour and take over her office on a Saturday morning and get all of us done at once) followed by a giant plate of eggs benedict at our favorite pancake house there. Then we drove back, chilled for a bit, cleaned up, and drove an hour in a DIFFERENT direction to see our friends' band play. And ate bar food. And hydrated with beer.

When Riyanti and I pulled on to the highway Sunday morning, she looked over and said, "Bobbi! I didn't peg you as the kind of runner who puts on a full face of makeup to run a trail race!"

Busted. That would be last night's makeup.

We made it up there with no problems and got parked just in time. Not long after the lot filled up and we'd have been MUCH further away. We picked up our bibs and shirts (one of my favorite race shirts ever!) and ankle chips, hit the potties, and then figured out our vests. We were both testing out new hydration packs, so we were both a little clueless.

Our goal of the day was to have fun and catch up. Spoiler alert - we totally met that goal!

us at the start - on the left you can see the awesome race shirts - bright purple with bear paw prints down one arm

We had such a good time! We chatted, we swore at the hills (1300 feet of climb in 12 miles!), we ate the BEST chocolate chip cookies at one aid station, followed by not the best sugar cookies at another (not that the cookie was bad, more like our stomachs weren't happy with the choice post cookie).

We took a lot of pictures (so many that I got asked if any actual running happened, haha!)

We did really well until the last couple miles. The good news was that we both pooped out at the same time, so neither one of us minded a little extra walking. But the Kettle Moraine hills are NO JOKE. Walking up some of them winded me! That said, it is just gorgeous there. I can't wait to go back again...

Some things of note:

- I need to figure out how to run DOWN hills. Up? No problem. Hike as necessary. But I'm so timid running down. Riyanti suggested running like Phoebe (from Friends) and that really did help!

- We saw lots of people out hiking. One man towards the end asked us just how far this race was, anyway? He must have been seeing lots of runners. When we told him that it was 12 miles he exclaimed, "Twelve MILES!?!?!" and the look on his face was so awesome. We giggled about that the rest of the race.

- Riyanti looked adorable. She got no less than 5 compliments on her Ruu-Muu.

- We met a girl on the trail who was struggling - I shared my McD's salt packets with her - I hope it helped some!

- I baptised my brand new vest with Gu. Oops. But the vest? Was a win! Loved it!

As we were heading for the finish, it wasn't super clear which way we should go. To be fair, there weren't very many people finishing when we did (they were all eating, haha!). We kind of held our hands out in a "huh??" gesture and the volunteers yelled, "DON'T FOLLOW THE NAKED GUY!"

This, of course, completely cracked us up.

the naked guy

We finished in 2:40 or so, and had a fabulous time. I adore running with Riyanti - we always have the best conversations. Can't wait to run more with her this summer.

done!