The Bark Beetle Race is put on by the YMCA as a fund raiser to fund youth scholarships for the local YMCA. The YMCA is an important part of the local Custer community as it gives the youth a place to go and get involved in things that can have a positive influence in their lives. The RD of the race, Connie, was a sweet and highly energetic lady. This year she had a tough nut to crack as the Black Hills from Rapid City to Custer and all around were dowsed with rain the last several weeks, leading to flooding and high/fast stream levels. Typically, this race is a trail race that crosses a small stream about six times. However, this year, due to the rains, the course had to be altered to a mostly paved trail race, with either a 5K or 10K option.

You do need a pass to get into beautiful Custer State Park, (yes there are bison!) but once you find the Peter Norbeck visitor's center, there is plenty of parking. We had a beautiful day for this old school race---think finishing clock but with your place given to you on a popsicle stick.

We each got a nice tech shirt and plenty of samples, along with snacks afterwards. In fact, everyone even got a homemade wooden medal and the trophies for overall were made of wood as well. Though Custer is around 5000 ft in elevation, the total elevation gain for this race was less than 300 feet. I poked through this 10K and managed it under an hour, quite a feat since the day before I had hiked Harney Peak, the highest point in the state, for the 3rd time in about 9 days, and this last time, the hardest way, 11 miles with over 2400 ft of elevation gain. (Plus I had fallen and bruised my ribs in Hell Canyon on Monday.)

Overall a great local event and if you are out in Custer or the surrounding area next June, look up the Custer YMCA and put this race on your calendar. I'm sure when it returns to an actuall off road race, it will be even better!

At the beginning of this year's race we were told it would be a little shorter, closer to about 2.5 miles. However, it was actually a little less than 2 miles! Though shorter than we expected, the race was fun. Course was different and more challenging this year with the addition of a short hill, big mud puddles/bogs, and greasy trails from all the rain we had received that week. Awards were homemade jars of muddy dirt with our age division placement crafted and glued on top out of twigs. (So I placed 2nd in my age group and the jar of mud had a big 2 glued on top.) Nice t-shirt and plenty of food supplied by Hy-Vee and Panera Bread. We had a lot of fun.

This first year race was held on the Old Creamery Trail in Garrison, IA. Supported by Pizza Hut, this race is held to raise funds for the World Hunger Program to help feed kids that are deprived of meals. Held in small town Iowa on an old rail line, this race was an out and back with a slight grade at the beginning before flattening out before the turn around. Then flat and slightly downhill to the finish. But, add that we ran the course on snow back and/or mud/dirt where it was clear of snow. Though it was a small crowd, they raised $700 in proceeds for World Hunger. We were treated to Pizza Hut pizza or wings along with other goodies afterwards, and a nice long sleeve t-shirt. A simple, down home, good race to begin the season and help others. My fuller review will appear soon on www.trailrunningfaith.blogspot.com

This is a great old school trail race. You mail in your entry and show up. It's 4 miles of tough farm land and woodland running. There's quite a bit of hills and even some creek crossings. It's about 50/50 field running and woods. There's usually a pretty big crowd and they even have awards for the 70+ age group. Part of the event is also the Woodsman/Woodswoman challenge. You can do pull-ups to take time away from your overall time and compete in this part of the event. Quite a diverse group of people and ages show up for this event. Schwag is usually something different. One year it was a small duffle bag with the race logo, the next year it was a hunting camo stocking cap with the race logo. Afterwards, there is a simple but great lunch provided by the Iowa Machine Shed!!! Awesome beef stew, pumpkin cake, and hot cider or coffee. It's worth the drive even 90+ minutes away! Good race for kids to cut their teeth on for a length longer than a 5K, but challenging!