I took part in the Grand Slam weekend and first up was the trail race.

We hit the expo Friday afternoon which is in the Arts Quest building across from the historic Steel Stacks. It was easy to navigate with a good mix of vendors. Shout out to Aftershokz!

Earlier in the week we received a virtual goody bag with lots of discounts from the race sponsors. Since I was running the Grand Slam I got a long sleeve and half zip. Both were very nice quality.

Parking for the expo was ample but we needed to take a shuttle to the start of the trail race.

We got there about an hour early and were treated to some warm up talks by team Altra which included tips on trail running. Bart Yasso got on the mic then and told us that when we see the final hill we'll know that Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He was right!

The trail is mostly single track so it was pretty crowded from the start. Honestly it was kind of nice because I couldn't have gone much faster even if I'd wanted to. There were some pretty serious hills on the course in addition to the final doozy of a hill.

I remember at least two water stops on the course and an aide station.

The course scenery a beautiful fall afternoon in Pennsylvania.

We were served hot pizza at the finish along with bags of popcorn.

This was my first trail race and I loved every minute of it! I am by no means a trail runner and I found it to be fun and not at all intimidating. I'd highly recommend it, even if you're not a trail runner!