XTERRA 21K Richmond

Off we go!

Waving to Mary!

Glad to finish.

This staircase was no joke.


This last Saturday I ended up running the XTERRA Xduro 21K or half marathon in Richmond. For those of you that don't know the XTERRA races are based around outdoor mountain/trail type settings. I had seen a couple on TV and knew they always threw in good obstacles and stuff to make the run more interesting. Boy was that an understatement. The run ended up being the hardest physical thing I have ever done, even harder then a full marathon.


Within the first two miles they already introduce three long steep staircases that destroy your legs right off the bat. About 80% of the run was done in windy one person width bike trails that seemed like they were all uphill. Then when you would finally get to a downhill portion the trails were so rocky and uneven you had to slow yourself down just enough to be careful and negate the downhill effect. I will say for all it worth that the race was definitely the most interesting and exciting run I have ever competed in. There were no mile markers so you never knew how far you had gone and there were numerous natural and artificial obstacles that you were either running across (like a 2 foot wide uphill concrete slab over a ravine below) or running through (multiple water crossings and a river that you had to cross by jumping from rock to rock).

I definitely plan on doing one again, but next time I will do much more hill work and know what I am getting into.