Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day for a cross country race! Check out that blue sky!
In fact, we hit double digits on Saturday. With it being so warm out it was the perfect day to race in shorts.
Seriously…racing in shorts in Calgary in January? That is insane!
12 Mile Coulee was a two loop course. Thanks to the warm weather we had been having the snow was a bit of a mess in parts and we could see the tundra poking through in places. It is amazing how different the ground conditions have been from race to race. We started out by running along a long ridge with a couple of fun downhills along the way. My Kahtoola Microspikes were awesome for helping me run down the icy hills, although I still need to trust them and my body more so I can fly down with the same abandon that my friend Karen does!
image via Calgary Roadrunners
I had some company for the beginning of the race, a lady named Maria. She decided to make me her pace bunny! I noticed that she was wearing an “In Training for Ironman Coeur d’Alene 2014” shirt so we chatted Ironman and training for a bit. Having her behind me pushed me, but I was worried I was going to fizzle out so she passed me and moved ahead. We were now running through the coulee and it was so pretty!
It was a little shaded through here so there was a nice chill coming off of the snow. I really appreciated that as I was feeling a little overdressed in long sleeves when I was out in the open.
As I ran through the trees eventually homes started to come into view so I figured I must be nearing the end of my first loop. That meant I’d get to pass a very special volunteer…my husband! Neil was helping out with course marshalling duties and he was stationed right at the bottom of the big hill to the start of our 2nd loop/to the finish. He cheered me on and I got a kiss, then it was up the hill and on to lap two. I definitely lost some steam on the second lap and walked a bit more. The downhills were still really fun though!
image via Calgary Roadrunners
When I passed Neil before my final hill to the finish I figured a quick photo was in order.
Then it was time to climb that hill and finish this race off!
Official Stats
Measured course length: 4.77 mi (7.68 km)
Elevation gain/loss: ?? My elevation readings on my Garmin have been wonky lately!
Time: 1:07:23
Overall: 61 out of 63
Women 30-39: 7 out of 7
You guys are so lucky with all your beautiful sunshine in the winter! I love that one pic of you, so cute!
You are adorable and look like you are having the BEST TIME! Love it.
That course looks fantastic! GREAT Run girlie!
That looks like so much fun! Congrats on a great run!
WE should all look so happy when we race! You look like you are having a fabulous time! Nice legs :0
Thank you Crystal!! I really was having a great time! 🙂
What perfect weather we had on Saturday! I went out for a quick run, but did my long run on Sunday. Poor planning. Brrr!
You look so, so happy running!! 🙂
Oh no!! At least you got to take advantage of the nice weather for a bit on Saturday!
You look like you had a blast! Good job!
Thank you Erica!!
Great job Leana and those are some awesome race photos, way better than mine yesterday lol! I can’t believe it was so warm in Calgary, warmer than here!
What a beautiful course! It looks like a fun race. And shorts in January! Fantastic.
It is unbelievable how nice the weather was on Saturday. We are about to dive back down in to more seasonal temps this week now though!
You look like you’re having a ton of fun – what a great way to race!
Shorts with snow on the ground is amazing! Looked like a great challenging course 🙂
great course. and a good challenge!! i am a tad sad that i have YET to do an XC race…of course i have had to work for every one! bah!! soon….
Congrats, what an awesome race!! Trails are really intriguing to me, but running in the snow takes it to another level! What was the temperature? I think I would have been freezing!
Thank you!! It was 12C or 54F on Saturday. Unusually warm here at this time of year!! It really didn’t feel that cold running on snow thanks to all of the lovely sunshine!
Wow this looked like a fun race!!! Plus it must have been so nice to have some warm weather! I just love trail running and its always an adventure when you have to throw on your microspikes!
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