Race Review: Trailblazer Race 2

Event: Trailblazers Race 2
Date: 3rd July 2016
Type: Off-Road
Distance: 9.4km, 5.3km
Where: You Yangs Regional Park
Event Partners: PB Events, MyPhysio, GPC, The Fitness Movement

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If an event happens to coincide with a trip down to Melbourne, is that a good enough reason to do it?

I happened to be in Melbourne on this particular weekend because it was my sister 40’s birthday.

I checked with my sister and the rest of the family if it would be ok for me to do this run.  It was only a 20-minute drive away, and I would be back in time for lunchtime celebrations.

When I got the go-ahead I entered.

Located approximately 50km from the Melbourne CDB, or 20km from Geelong, the You Yangs are distinctive granite peaks that rise up from the flat volcanic plains which make up the area.

It’s a popular place for mountain bike riders, hikers and runners. With various tracks to suit all abilities.

Now I’ve done a Trailblazer event before, but that was back in April 2014.

Since then I have done numerous trail runs, with varying levels of difficulty from elevation to technicalities.

PB Events advertise this event as a trail run, and yes some may consider this to be a trail event, especially if you are new to trail running.

This for me, however, was far from a trail run.  I do not consider running on a gravel road a trail run, so yes I was disappointed in that regard.

However, if you are new to running, and looking for something a bit different, then this event is for you.

There were 2 run distances and also a duathlon (run, Mtb, run).

I chose to do the long course distance of 9.4km.

While waiting in the event village, I bumped into a local running friend Juzzy.  This never happens, so I was very excited, to say the least.

Both distances started off together, with the 5km turning off just before the 3km mark.

I could consider this to be a pretty flat course, with a 2km gradual climb from around the 2km mark until the 4.5km mark.

Some may consider this to be a hill, however with all the trails and hill training I have been doing, this hill was a piece of cake.

I crossed the line in a time of 44:41.

If this had been a 10km course, I most likely would have seen a new 10km pb.

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Top – Salomon
Bottoms – SkirtSports
Socks – ProCompresion
Shoes – Under Armour Gemini Speedform 2
Underwear – Bonds & sixty4