1 weekend, 2 races, a group of friends, and infinite mud equals one hell of a good time.

We all know weekends are great. We all too often are living just to get to the weekend. Add in the ability to run in two different races on the same weekend and you can only increase the amount of enjoyment your weekend will brings. Getting to spend the weekend running a couple of races with your group of best friends and your cup surely runneth over. Add to that the fun and challenges that are present only in slip sliding muddy messes that are spring trail races after a rainy early season and it becomes one unique and fun experience.

I came into this weekend not sure what to expect. I have been battling some nagging minor tweaks and strains that haven’t stopped me from running but have slowed me down a little. I ended up running 9 miles at Sehgahunda which wasn’t what I had hoped for when I was planning for this race earlier this year, but it was more than I feared I would be able to do a week ago, so I was very hapy with that. After a 9 mile run that ended up being as challenging as the Sehganhunda run proved to be I probably would have taken a rest day on a normal week all things considered, but next up was Chief Wetona 14 miler the next day. The weather forecast was for a rather warm day. Between the weather, trail conditions, and my soreness I was fully expecting to spend a long, long time out on the trails at Chief Wetona. Thankfully everything went better than I expected.

This weekend wasn’t really about the running though. This weekend was about spending time with people that matter to me. Sehgahunda was about running trails with my friends and our running community. I was on a relay team with my best friends. My wife was able to come and watch with one of our dogs. And we had a whole group of other runners in our community participating in this event. We had a large portion of our running family down at this event all cheering each other on. We had several different relay teams from our area participating in this event comprised of our youth runners as well as adults. We also had several runners participating in the full marathon. It is always great to attend an event with your closest friends and be surrounded by your larger running community all cheering in supporting each other in a common purpose.

The next day was Chief Wetona Trail Challenge. My relay teammate and I were all participating in this event together as well. I had never participated in this event and I had such a good time. The run went better than expected. Even better was being able to hang out with my friends before and after the race, including friends that I did not even know would be there. The after party after Chief Wetona is exceptional. Piles of food and cupcakes galore and my friends and I just sat, ate, and hung out together and enjoyed one another’s company. This is what running is all about. I had a really enjoyable weekend being part of my running community.

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