Squirrelly Six Mile Trail Race – 10.31.20

I mentioned in a previous post that I signed up for a 6 mile trail race on Halloween. The Squirrelly Six/Hairy Gorilla Half Marathon at Thacher State Park is my favorite local race event! I first ran the 6 mile race 10 years ago! I can’t believe it had been that long since I last ran it. But last weekend on Halloween morning, a few friends and I participated in this fun race!

The Albany Running Exchange did an excellent job organizing this event despite COVID restrictions. The start was staggered with social distancing protocols in place. Everyone had on masks (Halloween masks too!) so I felt very safe!

It was so nice to participate in a race again. AND it was my first race since I injured my knee and my first race since the 2019 Seneca 7. Crazy. It had snowed the previous day so the trails were covered, but it was so pretty! It was also pretty chilly—below freezing!

Our wave started at around 10am. My friend Frank (who usually hikes with me!) joined me for the race. I started out pretty slow since I wasn’t sure how my knee was going to like the slippery trails, however it felt great the whole race. I did a run/walk combo and it felt amazing!

We finished the 6 miles in a little over 90 minutes—1 hour, 35 minutes to be exact. I was expecting it to take me two hours but I am very happy with that time after not running for almost a year and after having major knee surgery.

It felt great to be back! Thank you Frank for running with me, it was a blast! AND a HUGE thank to the ARE for organizing such a great event—it almost felt normal.