Little Mountain Trail-a-Thon 10k

I ran a 10k on Little Mountain yesterday, in support of the efforts to improve the trail system there.  Little Mountain is in south Mount Vernon, and so the start of the race, at the Carpenter Creek Winery, was minutes from home. I liked the unusual start time of 2 PM, which was perfectly timed at 45 minutes after the conclusion of the Seahawks game. The 10k distance allowed me to get home in time for the finish of the Rams-Saints game.

Yesterday was a very wet day, with sideways rain coming down. It wasn't so bad during the run, but the rain pounded on the roof before and after the event. The running group was small--maybe 30 runners? I was the last one out of the parking lot, heading on to the trail. I huffed and puffed up the hills--the first mile or two of the event is mostly up, on switchbacks. I passed a few people, but mostly ran alone, when I wasn't hiking, bent over. The trails were beautiful. The view from the top, pictured above, was a bit obscured by clouds and rain. During tulip festival, you can see the fields, in stripes of yellow and reds. The end of the run was a great downhill, though potentially slippery. I finished in 1:28, which seems quicker than when I ran a 10k on a similar course here. Slept well last night.

The work that has been done on this trail system in the last 15 years has been incredible. The trails benefit runners, hikers, mountain bikers and other enthusiasts. Thank you to all the volunteers who make these trails great, and to everyone who put on the event yesterday.

Little Mountain 10k

I ran the Little Mountain 10k trail run yesterday, in Mount Vernon. This was one tough little race-- just perfect for me right now!

The race is 95% trail, starting at the Carpenter Creek Winery on the south side of Little Mountain. The Mount Vernon Trail Builders, charity beneficiary of the event, have put in 14,000 volunteer hours on Little Mountain over the past 7 years, and it really shows.

The first three miles are plenty of up, with a few really steep pitches. Already gassed, I just groaned when we came upon Fred's Trail, which is basically a miner's trail to the top.  I've seen my share of trails like this in longer trail races, but it was kind of cool to get a challenge in the middle of the 10k distance. There's really a need for more shorter distance trail runs like this. They're just perfect for a Saturday morning.

At or around 3 miles, you hit the top, and get views of the beautiful Skagit Valley, Olympics, and San Juan Islands, if you care to stop and look.  The rest of the course is mostly downhill or flat, with a few steep pitches thrown in for good measure. Love the downhill, switchback glide to the finish.

I ran slow, as usual, 1:40 or so. Plenty of walking, and a five minute break up top.  I see some improvements with my recent efforts. Carry on, carry on. The temperature was in the high 80s, low 90s, so caution was merited. Most of the course was under tree cover.

The event was put on by RunFare, operated by friends Joe and Shawna. Good to see them out there, as well Rob, Darlys, and many others from Skagit Runners. Mount Vernon Trail Builders were also out there. Carpenter Creek was a great place for race HQ--pretty cool to check them out. Thank you all for your good works!

This is one of my favorite shorter trail races I've ever done. Really excellent, especially for me, since it's a 5 to 10 minute drive to the start. Skagit Flats Half is next on the list. Happy to note that I'm on pace for my annual goal of at least one event per month on average per year.

Little Mountain

I went up into Little Mountain Park in Mount Vernon today. This park has all sorts of new trails, due in large part to the work of Mount Vernon Parks and Recreation and the Mount Vernon Trail Builders.  The view this month includes Skagit Valley's tulip fields, which don't look as big from on top of the mountain. The fields can be made out in the picture above, if you squint.

Little Mountain

I didn’t make it up to the high country this weekend, as my Saturday was full, with a WWU board meeting in Seattle in the morning, and then a wedding in Bow in the afternoon.

I’m not a wedding person, but I had a great time. The groom, Chris, has been a friend of mine since the late 1980s, and there are plenty of stories, but I haven’t seen he and Jenn much these past ten years. As weddings sometimes do, though, many old and very close friends came together to celebrate their union. And it was good. There was glow in the dark bocci ball, very bad renditions of Don’t Stop Believin’ and Loverboy’s Turn Me Loose, as well as campfire and s’mores. Many hugs and smiles. And a few new children too.

The master weekend plan had me going up high early Sunday morning, but it didn't happen, as my sloth spirit animal took over. But not for too long--eventually, when the afternoon sun came out, I made it up Little Mountain. Little Mountain is a nob of a hill, similar to Bellingham’s Sehome Hill, just east of I-5 as you enter the MV. MV Parks and Recreation has been putting in lots of new trails, and it makes a good run from my doorstep.

I managed to break a sweat and stay out for a couple of pleasant hours. It’s mushroom season, and so my intent, above all else, was to find something odd. I managed to find a cluster of big hooded ones, pictured below, variations to be determined. I didn't kill that one that's flipped over--that was some other shroom killer. I also caught some beautiful views of the valley, the Puget Sound in the distance, the towns, the Skagit River. If you care to look, I live in the middle of the top picture somewhere, in one of the heavily treed areas.

So now it’s Sunday night. I’m getting ready for my week, and listening to “Harper Valley PTA” on the AM Radio Sunday Night Classic Country show. They just finished playing the old Barbara Mandrell/George Jones duet, “I Was Country, When Country Wasn’t Cool.” Makes me smile.

And, as I'm thinking about this week---last week I went to a sports psychology seminar, sponsored by the most excellent Triathlon Club of Bellingham. I've been in one of those seasons of planning and assessment, of late. And so one takeaway from this seminar that I seem to be chewing on today:  Better to aim too high and fail, then to aim too low and succeed.

Now they're playing "Delta Dawn." (: