This is my first trail race as a San Diego resident. The race was at the beautiful Mission Gorge Regional Park. This race really has everything. Amazing views, creek crossings, wildlife, challenging up and down hills. It was beautiful. Honestly, the beauty made up for what was lacking in other areas.

The start of the race was easy enough to find but parking is super limited. We parked about a mile away from the start and walked there. Which was not a big deal to me, but if there were more runners it could be a safety problem having so many people walking that far to the start and having to cross some major intersections.

The start of the race was pretty crowded but you go up a VERY steep hill within the first mile or so and the crowds really clear out. Before the race I really had to go to the bathroom but I didn't want to wait in line, and looking at the website I saw there was a bathroom at mile 1.2 and 6. I figured my bladder would be good until I reached mile 1.2. There was NO bathroom until mile 8.5!!! This race was a 15k, about 9 miles, which was actually closer to a 16k so when I got to mile 8.5 I thought screw it I'll just wait until the end. That sucked.

The race started at 8am and around mile 5 we started coming across mountain bikers and hikers. Luckily most of the people were really cool and saw we were racing so they stepped aside. Mile 7ish was an area that was almost a single track and we ran into so many people. I ran by a group of about 8-10 people with dogs so it was a little tough walking by them. Around mile 8.5, where the bathroom was, we ran through a parking lot. I didn't care much for that because I had to run around a few cars. And being a runner, I know people in cars don't always appreciate us.

That being said, mile 7 on was the flattest part of the race and so beautiful. I love creeks and rivers and getting to run a long a cree (and through it!), and cross cute little bridges, hope rocks...it was a lot of fun! This race is super technical and if you haven't at least hiked this area you're in for a tough race.

The end of the race was where my biggest disappointment came. Post race there was NO FOOD! They had some juice, oranges and bananas but the "hot breakfast" that was advertised was not there. I guess the food truck wasn't working. Which was no surprise. That food truck looked awful and maybe this was a blessing in disguise because I don't know if I would have wanted to eat the food.

While this race had a few things that could use some work it was definitely a good race! It was super challenging but SO MUCH FUN! The volunteers at the race were great. Aid stations seemed to be stocked well, I didn't stop at any. The people manning the course were great too. They cheered us on and really kept an eye on the runners. One had binoculars and I heard him talking to someone about a runner he was concerned about. I felt like it was well organized and we were taken care of.

Minor improvements needed, but I would run this race again next year.