I’m a road runner but keep trying trail races because they seem like they should be so much fun! The Fox Valley Winter Trail Challenge #3 (FVWTC#3) is part of a three race series with race #3 being a 10K on the mostly single track trails of Fabyan Woods in Geneva, IL.
This is a small, old-school race with about 150 participants. There was free parking in the Forest Preserve lots, a couple of nice volunteers handing out the bibs on race morning, no aid stations on the course, no timing mats (although the event is timed by a volunteer), no fancy swag (there is swag if you run all three events), a group start and just bananas and granola bars at the finish.
FVWTC#3 was held on St. Patrick’s Day and we were encouraged to wear the green and most participants wore at least a little. It was only 32 degrees with some wind and cloud cover – most of us still wore light jackets.
The race starts on a paved surface and quickly moves onto single track trail. For the first mile of the race, the single track was solid but slippery with a few tree roots and rocks to avoid and with a couple short climbs and switchbacks. I was getting into a groove and staying close to a group of people in front of me.
The first water crossing wasn’t bad, just one foot actually having to go into the water but the trail started to become muddy — not just muddy but shoe sucking, ankle deep, trail wide (or wider) mud for the next mile. There were also two more stream crossings with the one of them being a foot soaker. This was not fun at all. This is where I made the decision to just complete one loop and DNF the race. At least two times, I slipped on rocks hidden in the mud; this part of the run was an ankle biter! Most of the last mile of the loop was run on slippery, but mostly flat single track with a number of trees that had to be climbed over and then finished with about two tenths of a mile of grass running.
Trail running is not my thing but this is a great race run by a great organization. Everyone was friendly and having a good time and the trails were beautiful. I might even try it again sometime if the trails are less muddy.
First place male and female, Jim Kuch 48:41 and Rebecca Meier 56:17, respectively. Congratulations to both!
