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Lead Stories: Friday, August 29, 2008

Logan Peak Run: Recap of my first trail racing experience

Posted July 17th, 2007 at 5:12 PM by Paul Petersen

Section: Running & Training, Columns

I have lost count of the total number of road, track, and cross country races I have participated in since I began running at age 12. My best estimate is somewhere between 250-300 races. However, my total number of trail races is a bit easier to tally: zero. Yes, although I frequently do training runs on dirt single-track, I have to admit that I was still a trail race virgin at age 28.

That changed a few weeks ago when I completed the inaugural Logan Peak Run, a trail marathon in the local Bear River Range outside of my town in northern Utah. I convinced my training buddy Cody to sign up for the race with me, and our plan was to run together the whole way and simply finish (while hopefully having some fun in the process).

I picked a tough course for my indoctrination into trail racing. Initial measurements reported the route to be 25 miles in length, but the race director suspected it was actually longer due to switchbacks and other features that are difficult to measure on a topographic map or even with a GPS unit. The course starts at 4900′ elevation and maxes out at over 9700′ on Logan Peak. The cumulative total of climbing and descent was over 7200′. I suspected that I might be a little in over my head.

Read the rest of this recap at our partner site: TrailFit.com

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