Coastal Trail Run - Half Marathon through the Redwood State Park

After the Mt. Whitney hiking fail, I needed some self validation. Yeah, thats a thing. I decided to do this trail run half marathon during my flight back from a work trip 2 days before the actual half marathon. I have no regrets. It was a lot of fun and I had a great time pushing myself to my limits of running. The longest I had consistently run before this half marathon was 9.5 miles, so getting a solid 13.1 mile trail run was pretty exciting.

​The first part of the trail was a brutal 1500 feet gain as you can see from the elevation map below. But, the downhill was a total blast! The trail wound through some technical sections and single track region through the redwoods. I was listening to some Puddle of Mud on the way and it kept my rhythm and speed consistent throughout the run.

The trail wound through the Redwood State Park in Oakland, CA. A short 30 min drive from San Francisco in the weekend morning. Unfortunately, the race organizers weren't able to hand out the bibs till after the race started, so several of us had a pretty late start! The pic below shows our course in Pink.

My overall time was ~2 hours but I can't be sure because of the delayed start. I think we started 10-15 mins after the start time. My goal for this run wasn't the time on the clock but more a test of my physical ability. I had a really great time with some great fellow runners and beautiful trails in the park! Now I am looking forward to the next adventure on the trail!