On Sunday I got to run a race, the Skye Canyon 8K Road/Trail Mix!
I ran this race last year (no recap to link to, I had a major brain cramp last year with race recaps. I just didn’t write them!) but the event happened in May. I was excited it was moved up to March, thinking it would be cooler this year. But as people all around the east coast are talking about massive snow dumps it’s been warmer than usual here in Las Vegas. So when the race started at 8 am it was already nearly 70 degrees.
The other good thing is the race was on a Sunday. Sundays are my mornings to do a long run since my husband has to work on Saturdays this time of year. (He’s a CPA.) He usually has to work on Sundays as well, but most often from home so I can get out to run in the morning. On the rare occasion I find a Sunday race, it’s fun to take advantage of that option.
It wasn’t a big race, only about 100 participants. The race takes part in the new Skye Canyon master-planned community here in Las Vegas. It’s still being built out, there were 3 builders in it last year and now there are 4. The start line is at Skye Center, the clubhouse for the community. Everyone starts on the roads and head through the neighborhoods, so you get a glimpse at the different styles. Then around the 3 mile mark the 5Kers head toward the finish line but the 8Kers head off into the desert to run on some trails.
I was a little slower than I would like, but that’s okay. I don’t have any concrete performance goals when it comes to running right now. I just want to run regularly, and feel good.
At the finish they had computers setup where you could punch in your bib number to get your results and I was the only one of my friends who didn’t get results that would pull up. I thought maybe my chip malfunctioned, but later on I got an email from the race timer with a link and my results were in there.
It was a little strange that they didn’t have the medals and water right there at the finish line this year, everybody had to go walk past the pool to the bistro in the clubhouse to get food/drink/medals. Water should have been right there available, especially given that it was warm out.
I went to packet pickup the day before the race, took my kiddo. She was impressed to see all the bicycles at the Las Vegas Cyclery shop where packet pickup was held. And she was excited to see my friend’s baby there, because my 4-year-old is in love with babies right now.
The race packet came in a new reusable shopping tote. We got some flyers for Skye Canyon explaining the amenities, a sample of BioFreeze, a sample GU Hydration electrolyte tab, a double-zip running belt, and a t-shirt.
They ordered gender-specific shirts for the event, but the shirt maker apparently runs pretty small. I got a women’s “large” and it’s sized just like a small. It fits well, but I saw the “medium” and it looked like it would be the equivalent of an extra-extra small.
It’s a great race and I’ll do it again next year if they have it. (Assuming it doesn’t conflict with my husband’s work schedule, I guess.) I’m not sure what the course will be like because they probably can’t keep closing off the streets in the neighborhoods for it each year, the residents get a little annoyed. And as the community keeps expanding the trails may disappear. It would be nice to see some kind of trail maintained throughout the community.
Jill Will Run 