Before I get into to this, I want to give a shout out to the woman I ran with at the very end of the race. Many may see it as though she sparked my competitive spirit, however, I was just happy to have someone to talk with the last 1/2 mile. She had seen a black snake at around the time I caught up to her and, thankfully, I had just missed it. Had I seen it, my heart rate probably would have spiked, and I would have slowed down. She scared it away and for that I am grateful.
White Oak Running kicked off this new series on 4 Wednesdays in May (5/8, 5/15, 5/22, 5/29). It's a low key 10k through trails from a private part of Patapsco State Park. The Pickall area pavilions are only open to private parties who rent them, so it felt like quite a treat to be there. This inaugural event in the series was a 5k-loop that you ran twice. A nice aide station with the essential trail snacks was setup between loops.
Originally, I had reached out to Race Director Mario about volunteering at the 5/15 event. He wrote me back immediately with extreme gratitude for offering. He also gave me a code to sign up for one of the events. Of course, I obliged and signed up to race the 5/8 event with Karen and Beth. They are training for a BIG race in a couple weeks, so I knew their strategy might be different from mine.
Karen picked me up since we live so close, and we arrived at the pavilion with plenty of time to check-in and chat with Mario and other runners. The Johnnycake Jolt 10k was created for people to explore the trails they may not otherwise in this part of PVSP because it is mostly private. Each week, Mario will alter the course slightly to allow for some new trail discoveries. Beth arrived and we bibbed up and headed to the start.
The temps were fantastic, especially considering it had been hot and humid the past few days. The humidity was low, a nice breeze, and overcast. 
A quick race briefing and 3-2-1, we were off!
We ran along the street until we reached the Restivus Trail. Everything was so GREEN and LOVELY! The course was single track, some loose rocks and roots, but many stretches were very runnable. Beth, Karen and I stuck together for a little bit but then I had the sudden urge to pick up the pace on the downhill sections. Once I got in the zone, I kept my eyes down and followed the very well-marked trail. We sat high above Patapsco River and at a few spots where the tree line opened up, I stopped to take it all in.
Since it was a small race, there was a lot of solitude out there and felt like it was just what I needed. Following the pink and black checkered ribbons on trees, I could easily navigate each turn. The sound of rushing water grabbed my attention, and I looked left and realized just how high up I was. However, after a sharp turn, another climb. I could see a playground and recognized the pavilions.
Popping out of the woods on to the road, I saw a few runners who had gone to the turn around point and were heading back. It had gotten quite hot under the thick canopy of trees. I was looking forward to some Gatorade.
On the straightaway to the aid station table, Mario screamed about ice cold water. When I approached the table, I saw a young boy with a huge sponge in a cooler. He asked if I wanted him to squeeze ice water and I said, "HECK YEAH!!" Excellent decision. I drank some Gatorade and headed back out. Passing more runners, I clapped and cheered them on.
On the second loop, I felt a bit more comfortable pushing the pace because I could remember the technical spots. It flew by! I stopped a few times to take a couple of pictures, including at a spot that smelled so good last time and I wanted to try and find the plant. It was coming from the flowers of a few trees that looked and smelled like honeysuckle. It smelled amazing and lingered for a 50 or so feet.
A few gentlemen passed me on this second loop. Towards the last climb on the Schools Out Trail, I approached a woman who asked me if I had just seen the black snake on the trail that she passed. I had not. Thank goodness!
She said that this was her first ever trail run. I told her she was crushing it!
Approaching the pavilion, I picked up my speed a bit to bring it home.
I high fived Mario and stopped my watch. Karen had made the very wise decision to stop after her first 5k loop. She hadn't run trails in a while. Since her and Beth have pretty big race coming up, it was smart to ease back into trail mode and not risk injury.
Pizza, beer, and a podium!! Mario considered me 3rd female overall. I had actually tied with the snake woman who I met in the home stretch but she had left. What was even more impressive were the 2 women who finished way ahead of us!!
Love the small trail race vibes!
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