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Fall for the Fells 5K Trail Race and Festival

The Friends of The Fells held their First Annual Fall for the Fells 5K Trail Race and Festival on November 6th, 2016.

The festival, which was sponsored by Whole Foods, was held next to the soccer fields behind Medford High School. About a dozen Whole Foods partners provided snacks and there two food trucks.

The 5K Trail Race ran the “Mustang Loop Trail” and the “Cross Fells Trail” out to just before South Border Road. There we turned and headed back to the High School.

It was a beautiful day for a race in The Fells.

Running the Fall for the Fells 5K Trail Race

I’ve only run one other trail race and that was the VERT Sasquatch Trail Race from the Stone Zoo. That was a 2.5 mile run, in the summer on a nice, clear trail.

The Fall for the Fells 5K Trail Race was on a trail covered in leaves. Fortunately the leaves were dry, but it was often impossible to know how your foot would land. Being a road runner, I’m used to landing my feet solidly on the pavement and pushing off strong.

While I typically take in my surroundings, during this race I mostly saw about two feet in front of me.

We started on the pavement at the foot of the stairs going up to the Medford High soccer fields. Within 200 yards we were lined up to get onto the “Mustang Loop” trail for a challenging run.

I discovered that on a trail run it is difficult and un-safe to run close to other runners. I found that getting too close to the runner in front of me blocked my view of where my foot would land next. Due to the completely unpredictable and random nature of the terrain I had to keep my distance or risk serious injury.

After I figured these things out I began to enjoy the challenge of the trail. The not knowing and risk of injury added some excitement to a distance I run all the time. A trail run isn’t always about running as fast as you can. You have to read the terrain and make quick decisions.

My finish time was 29:16 for a pace of 9:26. That pace is just a bit faster than I ran the Boston Marathon at! I managed 7th in my age group and 63rd out of 263 runners.

John Paul Lewicke or Arlington was the first place male at 19:58 and Isabella Donadio of Somerville was the first place female at 21:25.

Full results HERE

Photos courtesy of Friends of The Fells.

Run well my Friends,

Andy