Limestone Canyon Eco Challenge 12k/25k
At six-thirty this past Saturday morning, I found myself sitting hunched in a near pitch-dark port-a-potty, desperately trying to get my freezing cold legs to stop shaking like skinny midgets hopped up on methamphetamines. I could have been cuddled in my warm bed sleeping in. Or eating pancakes and sipping delicious coffee in the comfort of my own home. But no, instead I paid good money to risk popsiclization at the crack of dawn awaiting to run 15 miles over a bunch of very steep hills.
Okay, yes Tahoe Spartan people, I know you had it way WAY worse, but I fully admit that I am a total wimp with cold. This is why I have never done Tahoe. Temp drops below 70? I’m breaking out the base layers. And this fine morning we were hovering around 40 degrees of respectable chilliness.
So why again did I sign up for this?
Living in Orange County, and mostly participating in Spartan OCR races, I am fortunate enough to be able to drive to quite a few of them. But those are still mostly a few hours away. I was curious if there were any races closer by. Actually in Orange County.
A quick internet search led me to Into The Wild OC, an organization that puts on trail races in Orange County throughout the year. Many of which take place on protected Irvine Ranch Conservancy lands, where the average joe is not allowed to traverse outside of the occasional guided hiking tour.
And although I don’t have much experience yet with normal trail races, I’ll say this – Into the Wild OC puts on a really great race.
The Race
Offering both 12k and 25k distances (for half the price of other races I’ve seen around), The Limestone Eco Challenge course wound around the hills and ridges of Limestone Canyon, along a good mix of fire roads and single track. I opted for the 25k (15 miles) – even though I’ve been training for several shorter Spartan races coming up and the 12k would have been the more rational choice. But I am a serious cheap-ass and since registration for both races were the same price, I thought hell – let’s do the 15 miler. It’s a deal!
I was pleasantly surprised to find that the organizers run a very tight ship, yet one that seemed effortlessly casual as well. The race itself felt intimate – as they capped participants at what seemed around 100 split between the two races, with the larger balance doing the 12k. There were no unnecessary frills, just pin your bib number, tie your chip to your shoe, line up and go.
Cold as I was, I made the mistake of starting off too fast – desperate to run in order to warm up. This kept me in the front of the pack and feeling good about myself for a few miles, sure, but after a bunch of climbs, followed by a bunch more climbs (total elevation gain of the course was near 3000ft), I started to feel fatigue begin to set in far sooner than it should have. I should know by now that my body really likes a mile or two to warm up properly – and I did not plan well for an extended run. Especially not an extended run with no breaks.
I’ve never done a traditional running race before. Not road or trail. Only OCRs (and one Ragnar, but that’s a relay). In OCR, you run from obstacle to obstacle – and get a tiny break (at least for your legs) as you work other muscle groups for a moment, before running off again. I realized that even on training runs, I’ll stop to take a picture or two, or chat with others on the trail. But to constantly pump the ambulatory bipedal motor for a couple hours straight without pause was certainly a challenging new experience for me.
Though, ok, I did pause once or twice. Because their aid stations were fantastic. I’m used to Spartan’s aid stations of water and… water. Then coming upon Into The Wild’s aid stations offering a smorgasbord of electrolytes in a variety of flavors, sweet and salty treats, salt tabs, gels, gummies, orange slices, watermelon, granola bars, and more, I just wanted to camp out and sample everything. It felt like an insidious trap, one that I fell into as I paused to fill up and exchange pleasantries with the awesome volunteers while other racers whom I’d been leading ran on by, passing me up.
All in all, I finished the race – respectably smack in the middle of my age-group. And with a bunch of free samples! I had no previous basis on what my time should be – but felt good that I came in fifteen minutes earlier than the initial time I estimated.
The awards were great. Really cool to see cash prizes for overall top three men and women, and gear prizes for top three in each age group. Plus raffle prizes! And a ton of snacks and drinks in the small corral. No fuss, no muss, just simple and straightforward. It was a very cool race and I’m very excited to have gotten to take part.
Into The Wild OC puts on trail races all throughout the year, in the Limestone/Blackstar/Irvine Regional Park areas. Simple, straightforward, well-managed – they are great opportunities to explore some of the inner protected lands of Orange County. I’ll definitely be running more of them in 2020. Hope to see you out on the trails!