I plodded my way around 10 miles of trails in the Wissahickon on Wednesday evening. I saw 3 horses, 15 mountain bikers and 6 squirrels. I tried to keep the pace reserved, especially on the uphills and just let the miles slowly pile up. I also pieced together a little bit more of the Wissahickon Trail puzzle.

On Thursday I joined the Wissahickon Wanderers for the second of their five Thursday trail races in May. A crowd of about 30 people headed out on somewhat shorter than I was hoping for 3 mile course. I heard rumors before we started that a good portion of the race would be on ill-defined (meaning nonexistent) trails so the leaders would really have to keep their eyes peeled.

The race started on an uphill and when we reached the top I was in second. The leader (Matt) and I exchanged places a few times along the course. Not because we surged past each other but because the person in front would miss a turn, the person in second would see it and yell to the leader to turn around. The person in second then became the person in first. It was all in good fun and nobody was really killing themselves to take this one.

We lost the course, found the course, and then lost the course again on the trail blazing portion of the run. Due to these mishaps I am fairly sure we cut about 1/4 mile off of the course. In the last 1/2 mile we were again on some trails where I could pick up some speed so I took off and was able to come in first place. I have raced Matt, who came in second, in the past and I am fairly he was taking it easy.

It was fun and I'll definitely be back out next week... hoping for a longer course.