Shannon Trail Series Race #2

This morning was Shannon Trail Series Race #2 put on by the San Angelo Road Lizards at the San Angelo State Park.  I volunteered to give my legs some more down time and just to cheer everyone on.  It turned out to be a bit more well attended than I expected given the freezing temperatures and snow.  Yes! snow!

 I'm pretty sure that this is the first snow I've seen in Texas since 2010.
We went on a course preview run Tuesday night and it seemed fairly challenging.  There is a section of road that has treacherous tufts of grass which very nearly took me out.    After the flat of the road, there's a steep downhill followed by an uphill.  Of course, I was chasing Kent in the dark on Tuesday night so it all seemed steep with dangerous footing.  We also were hunted by some animal.  OK, so in truth, we heard an animal off to our left.  It was probably a deer running away.  But, in my mind, it was a mountain lion that saw how blazingly fast we were and decided it would be better off chasing a deer.
Anyway, I showed up a bit before 7 and someone already had the coffee on.  There were maybe 6 of us getting everything ready and doing our best to not freeze.

The sun is just thinking about peeking up

I really don't know what was going on with my camera.  First time I'd used it in a couple years.

Getting the board ready

Thank Odin for those flaps being down, it actually was pretty windy!

All set up, ready for the "rush" of 110+ runners

Around 7:15, runners started showing up, picking up their bibs, and rushing back to the warmth of their cars.

At about 7:50 some runners did some warm up, others grabbed coffee, and some still hid in their cars.  At around 8:00, the race brief was passed on "Look out for arrows and pink tabs.  If you get lost... it's your fault!" and "watch for ice, don't slip!"

After that, it was a go!  The 5K runners went one way

and the 12K runners another way

What was cool about the course was you could see runners at multiple points while standing at the start/finish line. The 12K course looped right through the parking lot maybe a mile and a half in.

You can barely see a runner in orange through there

Mike cheering on some of the runners

The first place 12K runner probably around mile 2

There's Kent after a night of (I'm told) chili, enchiladas, and tequila

Is that the president?!?!

My camera was dying, so I only took a couple more pictures.  It was while standing there in the cold that I realized I wanted to run the 5k.  Oh well.  There's always race #3

The first 5K runner.  He won by over 7 minutes!

I'd say it was a successful race.  It's a trail race, so there were some spills but only a little blood.  I mean, that's part of what makes a successful trail race, right?  We did have 1 person get lost (Army of course).  He started the wrong way before turning around.  He was the unofficial 14K winner.
The competition was much more fierce in the 12K as there were probably 15 runners finishing under an hour.  The next race in the series is again at the San Angelo State Park (a different course though) and you can register at: Shannon Trail Series #3.  You can bet I'll be running the 5K there.
As always, feel free to download any of these pics.  I might have lifted a couple from friends' Facebook pages.  (extra points if you figure out which two)