The Florida Challenge Trail Half Marathon was held Sunday, Nov. 23 at Alafia State Park near Tampa.
An awesome event, despite some organizational snafus .. see www.tamparaces.com for more info on the
event and pics of the trail .. it was a very tough event. If the idea of "florida trail' makes you
scoff, think again .. this was run on a mountain bike trail (yeah, yeah, no mountains in Florida) at
a state park. Very narrow single track, and the hills were extremely steep and very close together.
Short, but steep, down a 25-foot drop, up a 25-foot sheer wall (using trees to haul yourself back
up) and then down, and then up .. it was never ending. The switchback sections were brutal, and the
obstacles such as roots and rocks were so constant and so demanding, my wife asked me what the
scenery was like and I told her "roots and dirt" because it seemed like I was looking down the whole
way ... although low-hanging branches made even that a bit tricky. Many people fell, many got
whacked in the head by branches, I saw plenty of cuts and bruises being nursed back at the finish
line .. but everyone was smiling.
Unrelenting and challenging, an absolute blast.
On the downside, organizers ran out of T-shirts for latecomers, and there's a $3.25 park entry fee
that wasn't included in the entry fee for the race. With the race slated to start at 8:30 a.m., and
the park opening at 7:30, there was a huge line of people waiting to get in, because the one ranger
at the gate couldn't make change fast enough. The race start was delayed for about a half hour, and
with Florida midday heat approaching, every second counted. Also, awards not offered for age group
winners, and the water/gatorade at the finish tasted like rotten eggs because of the high sulfer
content at the park.
My legs feel like ground meat, but would I do it again? Oh yeah, count on it.
A fun event, worth driving a while to get to. 13 miles of great dirt.