Big Foot Trail 10K Race Report

Disclaimer: I received a free entry to the Bigfoot Trail race as part of being a BibRave Pro. Learn more about becoming a BibRave Pro (ambassador), and check out BibRave.com to review find and write race reviews!

My first trail race, the Bigfoot Trail 10K,  was a success in that I ended up first female!  My official time was 42:58 (6:55 avg pace).  I came in 6th overall out of 97 10K runners.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I had no expectations for this run.  As I was running it though, I realized that this was a bit of a lie.  I had expected to run faster than that.  Honestly, my 5th mile clocked in at 7:12 and it took me about 0.25 miles to not think about all of the marathon miles that I logged that were faster than that.

But, I am getting ahead of myself.

I woke up bright and early Saturday morning at 5:00 AM, although not because I wanted to get up that early.  My alarm was set for 5:45.  My son was ready to get the day started.  I was running this race as a BibRave Pro, which meant that I had to wear my orange BibRave Pro jersey for the race.  I got myself dressed, braided my hair, and went downstairs to get something to eat.  The night before I had made a bottle of Gen UCan to store in the fridge (I think it tastes better this way...or at least I have fewer problems choking it down!).  I brewed some coffee for the road and had a slice of wheat toast with cashew butter.

I had a little over one hour drive one way to get to Big Foot Beach State Park.  It was a pretty easy drive from my house and I had a mug of coffee.  I got to the park, paid $5 for parking and easily parked.  I had an hour and fifteen minutes until race start.  I should have brought a book!

Beautiful view!

Packet pickup took 30 seconds.  They made it really easy by emailing me a QR code last week.  The race featured water bottles in lieu of shirts.    I went to the line of porta potties because I wanted to get one pit stop in before the crowds.  I ended up walking a bit to check out the park, which was pretty.  Then I came back and drank my Gen UCan, doused myself with Off! bug spray and made another pit stop.  I still had 30 minutes to go so I decided to run a bit to shake my legs out.  My legs still felt heavy.  More runners were assembling but it was still a fairly small crowd.  We lined up for the start and they played the National Anthem.  They explained that one loop was a 5K and that 10K runners needed to do two laps.  And then...we were off!

I felt I ran pretty conservatively to start.  We ran on grass, then over a wooden bridge and then were on the groomed trails of the state park.  Sections were very squishy and muddy and there were some roots to look out for, but overall, I didn't feel that it was a very technical course.  It definitely was 98% on trails - there was a section of the loop that was on a service road but that was it. It was a nice balance of sun and shade.  I did feel like I was lucky to not trip or fall - it is hard to run for a long time on grass!  There was a downhill section that was muddy and filled in with wood chips.  I just let it rip down it and then realized that was probably a foolish move.  The race directors had warned me on Twitter about a little hill near the end of the loop.  The first loop this hill didn't feel too rough.  The second time through was a little tougher.

Part of the course

The course was well marked and featured two water/Nuun stops.  My first mile beeped in at 6:54 but I didn't see it.  I was running with a guy for most of the first loop and just tried to stay with him.  Miles 2 and 3 were 6:48 and 6:49 according to my Garmin.  According to the official timing, I did the first loop in 21:19 or 6:52 pace.  The guy ditched me heading into the second loop and I was running by myself.  I didn't see anyone else behind me.

By the time I started the 4th mile, I felt like I was going to puke.  I really wanted to stop.  The 4th mile was at 7:02 and 5th was 7:12.  I ended up dumping a cup of water on my head at one of the water stops because I was so hot.  I chugged along on the last mile (7:01) to cross the finish in 42:58.  According to my Garmin, my finish was 43:01.  I was excited to see my official time come in under 43.

The finish featured some more Nuun and water but no food, which I was disappointed about.  There were no awards either - which maybe that is a trail race thing?  I met another WI Bibrave Pro ( @pktrish on IG) and chatted with him.  He also had never done a trail race and we agreed it was a good one for a beginner.  The park was beautiful and you had views of the lake!

Overall, I thought this was a great race to try my hand at trail racing.  It was easy to get to and well marked and organized.

My bibrave.com review is here.