Sunday, July 4, 2010

Re-energizing Info - Rattling Weekend - Running the RCST Trails


Registration for the Rattling 50 (50 mile mountain bike marathon on trails near my home) came early this year with a discount and I signed up in January. About a month later I starting training for some running events and wasn't riding bike much. My arse has seen more time in the saddle the past few weeks and I think I'd be ready, but to be honest, I miss running! The run hours were cut back dramatically in prep for the Rattling 50 on August 22. Low and behold, my prayers were answered... the Rattling 50 promoter is offering a 1/2 marathon - 25 miles AND a 25K run the day before. I am all over that - a double! 25K run and a 25M bike ride two days in a row. Nice. I don't have to ride bike for hours on end to prepare 'cause I could do a 25-miler today. And now I can add the run miles back in the training mix since there's less saddle time. There's plenty of time to ramp up the miles each week, building to the 15 miles by August 21. The run is a tad over 15 miles on Saturday, then the mountain bike is 25 miles on Sunday, both on the Rattling Creek trails. What a perfect combo. Both include the monstrous climbs to start the race -- Ironmine trail. If you go to the registration, Kuhn will be updating the start location on the Marathon. He lists the girl scout camp, but it's now the Snowmobile parking lot. I have a sneaky suspicion he changed the course too and plans to do two loops of the 25ish mile singletrack loop for the full 50 which is actually a good idea. My original course of the Rattling 50 included a bunch of fireroad/snowmobile trail. Running the Rattling Creek trails is oh-so-nice if you're into trail running. It's typical off-road terrain with lots of rocks, roots, and tight trails. As far as I know, there's never been an organized trail run on the Rattling Creek Trail network. This will be a first.

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