Wednesday, November 23, 2016

AUM Warhawk Challenge Race Recap

October 8, 2016

The AUM Warhawk Challenge is a four mile run along the beautiful, gently rolling fitness trail at Auburn University at Montgomery.  This course is the only trail run in the city limits of Montgomery.
The start/ finish line is located at the AUM Baseball Complex. 

Auburn Montgomery is my college alma mater, although we were the Senator's when I graduated. I've always wanted to run this race, but it's conflicted with other races and marathon training in the past. The race directors moved it back a few weeks this year, so it finally worked out where I could run it.

I've never run a trail race. I've run plenty of races along the paved Back Country trails in Orange Beach and Gulf Shores, AL, but that doesn't really qualify as a trail run. I've also only run two 4 mile races, my current PR is 33 minutes flat. I didn't really know what to expect for this race. I figured my time wouldn't be as fast as my previous 4 mile road races. I was really concerned about watching my footing and ensuring that I didn't trip and fall.

The trails weren't as rough as I anticipated. The path was well traveled and free from twigs and debris. I tried to hold pace with the first overall female in hopes to eventually take the lead, but she proved too fast for me. I was beginning to wear down at the halfway point. I started to notice the "gently rolling" hills on the course. I stopped to walk up one of the hills in the third mile. I later regretted walking when I noticed how close I was to a PR. I picked up the pace in the final mile, but it wasn't enough.

Mile 1- 8:18
Mile 2- 8:32
Mile 3- 9:15
Mile 4- 8:25

I crossed the finish line in 33:45. I was second overall female. They awarded the first overall male and female, then the top overall finishers in each age group. I placed 1st in the 25-29 year age division. After looking back at the results, it turns out I was the only female in my age division.






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