1st trail race = 1st place??!!

I ran my first trail race this morning with my dad. It was a 5 mile route through the woods of Brighton. When we arrived, it was so cold out. I thought for sure I had under dressed. We stayed in the car to keep warm until 5 minutes before start time (10am). We hopped out of the car, jogged around a bit, lined up at the front of the pack and off we went. My dad was ahead of me, which I knew would happen. He's 56 but a faster runner then I am!! It was windy and cold at the start, but once we cut into the woods the wind was gone. During the first mile, I passed a guy I know from our gym. He does ironman events, so that kind of made me smile that I was able to pass him. Of course, he'd smoke me if we went out biking or swimming. Anyway, back to the race. The ground was almost completely dry and firm. There were spots here and there with a little bit of mud, sand and rock. Otherwise, I thought it was in great conditions for running.

They had one water stop on the course at the 2.5 mile mark. I ended up skipping the water. I was into a groove and holding a good pace. I didn't need the water either since I knew we only had 2.5 miles left.

There were some hills which I was not expecting at all. Pretty steep too! I owe a thanks to my dad for having me do incline work on the treadmill. I believe that really helped me out when I hit those hills.

I ended up crossing the finish line at 38:47. I couldn't believe it! I expected about a 45 minute finish time, not under 40! My dad was pretty impressed at my time being that I have only ran on a trail twice prior to this race. We grabbed some water and headed to the car to get warm while the other runners finished. Once the race ended, we went over to the pavilion to check the results. Well, what a surprise to my eyes. I GOT 1ST IN MY AGE GROUP!! I couldn't believe it! My dad also got first in his age group!!

Results:
Finish Time- 38:47
Pace- 7:45
Place- 1st out of 17 in age group

I would say that trail racing was a success! Next up, Trail Half Marathon on April 25th! and from what my dad told me, the hills are brutal. Bring it on!