The Pasadena Trail Race Series is a series of four seasonal races taking place in the Pasadena area in April, June, July and October. Each race has several options in terms of distance and difficulty. To pursue my objective (Don't Let The Old Man In), I signed up for all four races, although I signed up for the easiest option available in each of the four races. To my delight, Tracy signed for all four races also.
LOGO FOR THE APRIL RUN
This first run was held on Sunday, April 7th. Tracy and I picked up our race packets at the Run With Us store in Pasadena on Saturday afternoon, and made our way to the Hahamongna Watershed Park for the start early on Sunday morning. For this April Run, runners could select either a 5-mile or a 10-mile route, both on a combination of dirt roads and narrow trails near the Devils Gate Reservoir and in the nearby Angeles National Forest. Both courses included some steep, rocky and rutted hills, that had been affected negatively by the winter storms. The 5-mile route, shown in the illustration below, was rated modest, yet challenging, and was certainly a challenge for me. Tracy said it was challenging for her also, but of course she ran it faster than her daddy.
Approximately 2 miles of the course was on the west side of the I-210 Freeway. The Start/Finish and the other 3 miles were to the northeast of the freeway. For people generally acquainted with the area, the La Canada High School is across the street from the entry to the
Hahamongna Watershed Park.
Photos below are of Tracy and I before and after the Run.
Click Photo to Enlarge - Use Arrows for Next Photo
Even though winning my age group long ago ceased to be an objective, it's difficult to resist the temptation of knowing how you did. I've always joked that if you stay active long enough there will be no one left in your age group. There were three runners in my age group (70 to 79); one guy at 70, one at 71, and me at 78 taking 3rd place, 9 minutes behind the 2nd place guy. Of course, I could have come in an hour later and still taken 3rd place. There was one guy at 83 years of age and, being the only guy over 80 crazy enough to still be running, he won his age group! Although Tracy ran a faster time than I did, she's in an age group that has significantly more competition.
All Finishers received a medal like the one pictured below. The medals are made from wood and are quite impressive. You can see there are four levels to the medal representing the four different race courses we will run. The top level is inscribed with "5-Mile" and "10-Mile", the distances for this April Series.
The people from Run With Us did an excellent job of organizing the race and all the things that are included in making such an event a success. Tracy and I enjoyed the exercise and the experience out on the course and are looking forward to the next run in the Series which takes place in June.