Comments on: Bradbury Bruiser 12 Mile Trail Race

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:11:26 +0000

You can now read about the Race Results here at Run to Win, or you can skip directly to Stephen Wells' site to read about it.

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:20:15 +0000

I'm glad that the race went well. I wish that I could have been there! The results are online here: http://www.coolrunning.com/results/07/me/Oct28_LLBean_2_set1.shtml For some reason they aren't linked to from the main page of Maine results, though.

By: Martin Mackey

Martin Mackey — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:16:39 +0000

Great Race, super fun course with plenty of support. I like the slightly mysterious navigation that presented itself at the end. A bell lap at the end so we knew there was a mile left. Where are the results. Are they posted yet?

By: John Pallozzi

John Pallozzi — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 19:20:51 +0000

This was my first time running a trail run. I did enjoy it, my time doesn’t show it though. Somehow I managed to do an extra loop at the end. My fault. All said and done I was really tick off but I ran the race for fun and that is what I had. As a road runner, for next year I would love to see some mile markers perhaps every 3 miles or so.

By: Dawn Heinrich

Dawn Heinrich — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 21:37:09 +0000

Darn! After my fall (on my head and 4th finger?!?!)my finger was quite sore. It was bending a funny angle and now it is black and blue and swollen. It figures – just like my race time – a little too late! The course was confusing but that added to the fun. I added a little extra to the 12 miles (12.8 according to my garmin) but I’d rather be over than under. Great job with the race. I will be back next year! Thanks! Dawn

By: Ann

Ann — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 19:05:01 +0000

I love trail running but typically run fairly tame trails/dirt roads. I have never really worn trail shoes since I just found that they chewed up the inside of my ankles because of my foot placement. It makes me a bit more careful on wet terrain, but otherwise, I just wear plan ole running shoes. I am planning on doing the Bradbury Bruiser, but the single track, technical nature of the trail makes me wonder if just running shoes will cut it. Any thoughts?

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 16:02:47 +0000

Dave,

If you look at the map you will see that there are 4 water stops, which would provide me with more than enough water in a 12 mile race so I would not bother to carry my own water.

That being said, you are welcome to carry your own water with you if you want. When I ran the Pisgah 50k, I carried a water bottle with me that I refilled at the aid stations (there were 5 or 6 of them.) That race was almost 3 times longer than this one, though.

By: dave

dave — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 15:55:14 +0000

new to trail races. do we carry all of our own water? thanks

By: Tom T.

Tom T. — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 20:11:05 +0000

Excellent points Blaine. It’s going to depend on the individual. When I ran that first trail race at 7 Sisters, I knew it was going to be far different from roads so I went out conservatively and at a moderate pace. When I got to the turnaround I felt very comfortable so I turned up the pace and ended up passing tons of people and getting 5th. I also passed some dudes who normally would be well ahead of me on the roads and they were absolutely hating life after going out fast thinking that because they were quick on the roads they’d be quick on the trails. They blew to pieces and were stumbling and falling all over the place.

I suspect on Sunday we’ll see some who do quite well and some who fall apart because they didn’t respect the course. Some people will become at least occasional trail runners and some will walk away cursing the day they ever thought about doing this race. And it will all be good and fun.

By: Blaine Moore

Blaine Moore — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 19:55:11 +0000

I had a discussion with Stephen on our run yesterday, and he is more of the mind that this course would be fine for people to run trails on.

My thinking, though, is that if you have never run trails but you race on roads, then you are going to be in for a surprise and if you are going to run then you should start near the back.

Fast runners on the roads are not going to be able to as easily navigate the constant switch backs and will not really be used to falling over, which is a distinct possibility on this course.

Only two people that I have run with at least twice on the course have managed to keep their feet, and that group includes both experienced trail runners and newbies from the roads.

I think that the course is a lot of fun, and I would love to run it and think that anybody should make the effort to get out there to run on the course at some point. I just think that going straight from the roads to attempting to race on the course is going to be problematic.

Not that it can’t be done, just that you need to be aware that things are going to be different and be willing to slow down and pay more attention to what you are doing.

The course itself already adds 2 minutes to a road pace.