The Desert Marigold is race number two in the 6-race Cactus Flower Trail Series put on by RaceTimers. I've been loving this race series so far!

Here are my 6 top reasons why I loved racing this the Desert Marigold 6k.

1. This trail race series is adamant about being green. You must bring your own collapsable water cup (or hydration vest or handheld). They provide water on the course and at the start/finish line it’s just there aren’t any paper cups. Same with safety pins. You either have to bring your own, or you can purchase a strappy bib holder from them. I like to use BibBoards. All of this being green means less trash on the course which means the Arizona desert stays more beautiful.

2. I’ve raced in Estrella Mountain park, but never on the West side. It was spectacular! The desert was beautiful and it felt like we were all in this little oasis.

3. That middle uphill that makes you dig deep. Hills are a love/hate relationship for many of us. Since this is a trail race, there must be hills. Well there is one nice big hill in the middle with parts that are 10% to over 20% of elevation grade! It was hard at times, but I dug deep and made it happen!

4. Downhill finish to boost your confidence. I was hoping that after the hill climb, there would be a downhill. I wasn’t disappointed! The last 1.5 miles of the race was downhill with just a baby hill at the end. I ran fast and strong with running 2 minutes faster the last .75 of the race vs. the first .75 of the race!

5. All that swag! Lately, I’ve been not really into swag, sometimes even medals bore me. But the Cactus Flower Series mixes up how they give out medals each year as well as swag. This year the medals form a dream catcher! I’m on medal 2, so I’ll have to wait till the end of the year to compete it. Also, they handed out an apron, technical hat and tech shirt at this race. The apron and hat were totally unexpected but I will totally use them. My husband even wanted both.

6. Finish line food. The finish line is packed with delicious food and snacks such as bagged cookies, chips, crackers, protein bars, oranges and bananas. It was like a mini feast.

Don’t fret if you feel like you have to wait a year to run this course. The Cactus Flower Series starts up again in the fall. So you can run this 6k again on November 16th! I’m curious to see if I could pick up my pace and run faster in the fall.