Rocky Ridge Race Report

First, here is a bit of the pre race instructions email that was sent out -
"One note for everyone coming: these are some tough courses. While the distances may resemble those of road races, the experience is going to be a lot different. Hills will be super-tough, trails will be bumpy, rocky and full of roots and water stations will be spread out much further than most would prefer. The Las Trampas Wilderness is not for sissies! We're not trying to scare you, we just want to make sure you know what you're getting into and are mentally prepared. You will likely have some tough times out there, but we believe everyone is capable of finishing. "

This was directed to the adults. I will say I have some tough little ladies in my brood! My girls attacked this course! There was the count down, air horn, a blur of Emma running away from me, and that was the last I saw of her for a long time! She finished what the Race Director says is the toughest 5k course in the Bay Area in 42 minutes, swooping up 1st in her age division.

Sophie and I had a blast running through the woods. She was whooping and hollering on the roller coaster sections which took me, and those around us, by surprise. I wasn't expecting all the yelling and hollering (as if she was actually on a roller coaster : ) , but I loved it as I knew she was having a blast running full steam through the up and down sections, jumping dried creek beds, veering off course to go around a fallen tree, jumping over roots and rocks and cow pies....I love watching my girls running out on these trails. You can just tell they are loving every second of it, having fun, and forgetting about how hard they are actually working! After we came out of the woods we were on a downhill section of fire road (if you are from WA, think logging road through a grassy, hilly field that has cows roaming around). At the bottom was the aid station. We would pass it twice, once before we started up "the hill" and once on the way back down. It lived up to all her expectations, filled with chips, pretzels, chocolate cookies, m&m's, gummy candies, and water. I know that sounds ridiculous, but your body works so much harder during a trail run and it's not enough to just have water at the aid stations. The half marathoners would climb over 4000ft out there today, you can bet they were stopping to eat at the aid stations! The volunteers took extra time with her, talking to her, telling her how good she was doing, asking how old she was, then we were heading up, and up, and....up. It was pretty brutal, I won't lie. There were adults basically talking themselves out of it. This was super frustrating for me to hear, especially with my little lady out there and trying to keep her moving and convince her she was totally capable of doing this. I have never heard "I can't do this", "It's too hot", "I can't make it", or "how much further?"so many times in one run. About 1/3 of the way up, we saw Emma heading down coming straight at us. She had made it to the top already and was flying back down with a huge smile! She was about 20 minutes ahead of us, and looked to be in pretty good shape. I am super proud that she was able to push herself up the side of a mountain by herself, and that she looked to be enjoying it! I was a little bummed I couldn't have been with her to see it first hand, but it's good for her to have the confidence to head out on her own and have an experience like that on her own, at 8 years old I would have been terrified and she was having the time of her life! Soph struggled a few times, but I made her hold my hand the whole time going up. When I would let go she would wind down and nearly stop moving, but if she held on she could maintain a pretty good pace walking. We walked backwards, side ways (both sides), and we snaked (back and forth like downhill skiing, but going up) our way up the hill.
As hard as the uphill was, it was the downhill that rattled her the most. In her mind, she was going to run the downhill. Never having done this sort of run before, she had no way of knowing that the downhills are harder than the ups. It was going down that I heard for the first time "I cant' do it", and 'My legs hurt'. We walked the down hill, too. I would try to get her going again on the not so steep parts, but she is 6, and her little legs were shot. I tried to just keep talking to her, telling her that she was doing it, there was only one way back to the finish, she was almost back down to the M&M's....did you hear that lizard, look, there's a cow....anything to keep her distracted and moving. She made it back down and we took a break at the aid station. She had some salt (chips), some sugar (everything else on the table), water (in, and down her shirt), talked some more with the volunteers....and then we were making a right hand turn and had about .3 miles to go to the finish. This part was again on fire road, rolling like a roller coaster, which she loved, and we could hear the finish line. She kept a hold of my hand and we ran pretty hard all the way to the finish. When Sophie runs, she has a wicked fast turn over. She moves very fast for a compact 6 yr old. That is how she ran until she crossed the finish. A few of the 10k men passed us along this stretch and i have to say they were so nice to her! They all took a minute to tell her how good she was doing, that she' a great little runner, that she was maintaining a good pace.....She would just smile and look at them and keep running. I pried her hand out of mine and sent her across the finish ahead of me. She got her medal right after she crossed, some water, and spotted her bro and sis who were already eating It's It ice cream sandwiches (have I said how much I love Brazen Racing??)
Once the results were posted, both girls learned that they had placed in their age divisions and would be getting another medal. We hung out for a while, the kids had a few plates of watermelon, bagels, and other post race food. We got to see the half marathon winner finish, setting a new course record, which is amazing. Oh, I forgot to put in there that both girls fell during this race. I have run only a few trail runs w/o falling, it's just part of trail running. I didn't see Emma's, she just told me about it. Sophies I did see, though. She popped right back up both times and kept on going. I think it is more frightning for the other runners than for me or her.
As I keep saying, I am very proud of my girls. I look at Emma with her confidence, determination, drive, and lack of fear and its hard to imagine she's my child. She is so the opposite of me at her age. She has done enough runs now to trust her abilities and just go out and enjoy herself. She knows she can hang with the adults, and has the confidence to do so, and that is amazing to me! And my little Soph, she is in the stage of learning what she is capable of still. Seeing her after the finish with a huge smile, realizing what she just did, and that there are still people finishing 30 minutes after her is just great. Seeing her confidence building as it is happening is a gift. Seeing how huge her eyes got when i told her in all the runs I have done, I have never gotten a medal for winning in my age division was priceless. ( I got a ribbon once, but that' s just not the same).
So again, I have to say how much we love Brazen Racing. We love how welcome they make children feel at their events, how wonderful the volunteers are, the medals, shirts,( I registered late and ended up with a cotton shirt instead of a tech shirt, and I absolutely love it!! I will actually wear this one, it fits great and is great quality!) aid station food and drinks, registration process, starting on time, challenging courses.....I think you get the picture. First class racing company! Oh, free parking, and free pictures??? Yep, the photographers are volunteers and post the pics on line for you to download for free. If you want to have a diffirent racing experience that is both challenging and a blast, and worth every penny of the registration fee, try a trail run with Brazen.
Good times!!
(I am putting up all the photos - yes, i know, there are even more - on the photo site now, the link is on the left of this page)