Fall Colors Half Marathon

Did the Fall Colors Trail Half Marathon yesterday morning, up in the hills on the south side of Reno. I used to work down that way, and knew there were trails up there, but have never really been on them - it was cool to get out and experience them. Managed to bring a camera along, so I took lots of pictures of the fall colors and my running buddy Amber.


Pretty chilly at the start - everyone stood around shivering and waiting...


Getting started - it wasn't actually snowing, but this was kind of a cool picture anyway.


Sun just peeking through the trees...


Some of the fall color sown below us - we would run through that canyon later in the race.


Amber on one of the stream crossings.


And another...


And the last.


Crested a ridge to find Mt. Rose staring at us.


And this hawk sitting there watching us.

We dragged our way through, took our time and plenty of pictures (obviously.) It was just after 10 am and warming up nicely by the time we finished. Imagine my surprise when, after the finisher's medal was slung around my neck, someone handed me an age group award! I finished second in the Mens 30-39 division - I think there were only two or three of us. Actually, the race probably had less than 60 people running, so it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

Pretty good elevation profile here - as you can see, our pace wasn't very steady. Very nice day, though, and I'm really glad I got a look at the course. Thanks, Amber! More pictures here at Flickr if anyone wants to see...