River-to-Ridge Trail Race Report

Recently I was invited to take part in the Driftless Sports Convergence in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Stay tuned for more about that. My contact suggested I might enjoy the River-to-Ridge 5-mile trail race also taking place that weekend. Of course I jumped at the chance to take on that adventure.

Our hotel was literally a 2 minute walk to Riverside Park, where the race started. After a lazy morning sipping coffee and watching the Royal Wedding, I strolled over around 8:20 for the 9am start and realized we were right along the Mississippi river as well. How cool is that? Because I’d just signed up earlier that week, the race shirts had already run out. My bad.

The race was smallish but this was the 24th running of it, so pleasantly old school as well. We went off to an air horn promptly at 9. It was in the mid-60’s and sticky. I should’ve packed shorts instead of capris. Who knew La Crosse would be so warm? Already warmer than ideal for me but I was planning an easy run. Plus it was “only” 5 miles.

Goal: Just have fun

My training since the injury has been limited to casual, easy runs, rarely longer than 4 or 5 miles. This was going to be an easy breezy pace. Plus who knew what kind of climb I had in store? I knew there was over 650ft of elevation gain, most of it coming in the final 2 miles. I hoped the handful of stepmill sessions I did might be helpful but I knew better. I’m a flat lander after all and I didn’t train for a trail race with climbs.

This path looks tame, right?

We were off down a road then quickly veered off onto a paved bike path. Was this a trail race? Or a bike path race?? My question was answered about a half mile in when the surface changed to rough gravel and then to dirt. A couple of hikers approached our path from the right and the woman lost her footing and bit it right in front of us. Alright then, hopefully that will not be me today. I found myself drafting behind a big guy but after 2 snot rockets, I knew I had to get past him.

We ran through a sunny, marshy area. The first couple of miles were flatish, yet I struggled to catch my breath and find a pace that wasn’t labored. I took photo breaks. This was supposed to be fun after all.

There were long sets of stairs on a few parts of the course. Okaaaay. There were also a couple of spots with sand. Not the damp, nicely packed kind you can run on, I’m talking deep, dry loose stuff that fills your shoes and makes you move in slow motion.

About halfway through the race the trails became more technical single track. Lots of roots, rocks, undulations and opportunity to trip and fall. The scenery was stunning and I appreciated the shade.

This was the last pic I took before the trail required my full concentration.

Then we climbed. And climbed. And climbed. I thought maybe my Garmin cut out in mile 3 because it seemed to take FOREVER. Only when I saw the mile marker did I realize my Garmin was right. I was moving that slow.

The trail from mile 3 to the end was barely runnable to not-at-all runnable. Silly me thought hiking would be easier than running. Ha! Not so much. My heart was beating out of my chest and my Heartzones Monitor showed zone 5. Ugh.

I spent those climbing miles behind a girl in capris with a green pattern on them. I was perfectly happy to stay behind, but I was gaining on her. Still though, I had no desire to pass. Finally she pulled over and smiled, signaling me to go ahead, so I did. I wanted badly to stop and pull over myself (there really wasn’t anywhere to pull over now because we were on the edge of a deep ravine) and take a breather. But I wanted to finish more so I kept going.

A guy who’d let me pass on a runnable portion of the trail now passed me on a climbing part. When we got to a small flat I broke into a run. Never did I expect I’d prefer running at this point but I did and it felt great. That same guy in green let me pass again. Apparently he was a better hiker and I the better runner. I wanted to take in the stunning scenery (and I did to some degree) but my mind was consumed with where to put my feet next. The footing was that dicey.

At last, up through the trees I caught a glimpse of flags. Flags that lined the finisher’s chute, at least I hoped so. There was a very steep climb out of the trail and I prayed I wouldn’t slip or struggle here since course marshals were watching. The clamber to the finish line was a short one but the grass/weeds were high and the ground was extremely uneven. In the final stretch I caught a glimpse of green shirt guy coming up hard behind me so I found another gear and battled in.

I was so winded I had to walk around a bit to regroup. The top of the bluff had a good party going on complete with live music and a barbecue. We feasted on burgers (meat and veggie) chips, fruit and cookies.

Overall it was a very well done, no frills race. There was no finisher medal to speak of and a small number of race shirts that quickly ran out. One water station at the halfway point of the race didn’t seem like enough to me, especially because it was warm and sunny, but I had my handheld so it was all good. Post-race food and entertainment were excellent. I appreciated that the race went off on time, they did the awards ceremony promptly and shuttle bus service to take us back down to the start area was extremely efficient.

I had no goal time in mind for this race but estimated it’d take me about an hour. Turns out I was exactly right. That was good enough to snag AG3 in the 50+ category. I’ll take it.

The River to Ridge Trail Race was a perfect way to kick off our La Crosse Adventure Weekend.

Have you run a trail race? Do you enjoy technical trails?