The annual Santa Trot in Colfax, Washington: would it be another dry year, with your typical 5k on clear roads? Or would it live up to its name and be a true winter cross-country Santa Trot? Much to my excitement, Mother Nature decided to hand us a bit of snow the week around Thanksgiving.

This meant that we wouldn't have another Freeze-your-Fanny incident (a Feb race in which temps reached into the 60s). No, we were to have quite a challenging 5k ahead of us.

The morning of the race, temps were in the 20s, with a wind chill probably in the teens. I pulled out the fleece tights, and my new Brooks quilted jacket, along with a couple other layers, a hat, gloves... I debated about wearing YakTrax, but decided that in most places, the snow was too powdery and I would just sink anyway. I did go with my new Asics Gel Trabuco trail shoes, since they seemed to have the best grip on the icy patches. We waited in the warmth of the car until the last possible minute, than hopped out to do a quick warm up. I could tell it was going to be a tough race - breakfast wasn't settled, the legs weren't cooperating, and oh yeah, we were sinking into 6 inches of snow in most places! We finally made our way to the start, where we were described the course and its 50 turns in 3.1 miles... Then the RD gave his famous last words, "Don't worry, everything's well marked - there's no way you'll get lost." HA! I've heard that one before! And as  I recall, those words inevitably lead to someone (sometimes me) getting off the course, adding miles and minutes...

We started off  by crossing the 2 sports fields and then heading over the levee. At this point, .5 miles into the race, I was in 4th and fading fast! The snow made it fun, but very difficult. I didn't even try to time myself, but instead went by effort. After the levee, we headed into the town park for what should have been a series of end-to-end zigzags. However, the guy shouting out times failed to move for us to see the arrow pointing into the park! So, we all ended up circling the park on an unplowed road, only to learn of our mistake on the other side. So, we backtracked, and I met up again with Kyle, who had pulled ahead, but lost ground when he missed the turn. We made the loops through the park and back onto the levee. It was at this point that I actually had to walk up the hill onto the levee! I was so tired, and the footing was sketchy. Back into the park (on the correct trail this time), then around the fields in reverse order. They had 2 benches set out on the field that we were supposed to jump as hurdles. I made the 2 jumps on the out, but by the time I came back, I had to actually step over the hurdles - my legs wouldn't go that high!! Had I tried, I'm sure I would have had a snowy facefull of bench - not my idea of a rewarding treat. The course ended with a 3/4 lap around the track. I must have pulled ahead of the 3rd place woman when we got lost, as she came cruising up behind me on the final stretch. She cruised right on by - there was no trying to stay with her. When I finished, I had that horrible bloody metal taste in my mouth - the lactic acid had built up. Final time: 30 something? 30:16? Not too sure, but I was averaging about 10 minute miles.

We hung around for awards. Kyle came in second in his age group, and I came in 3rd (4th overall female). There was some debate as to how to present awards, since it seemed that some people had actually cut the course short when they realized they were off-track, rather than going back and correcting.  I don't know what the big deal was, though. It was just a 5k Santa trot, not a Boston qualifier! Most people were fine, but some sure were pissy! Anyway, they gave out ribbons to age groupers, and plaques to the overall winners. Then they had a drawing, and I got another water bottle and a Clif bar. Kyle got a dry-release shirt that says "Run Naked." We traded So, a good time was had by most. I thought it was fun! Afterwards, we headed to Spokane to get x-country skis!! Despite being exhausted from the race, we did try out our skis on a night ski ( full moon and snow reflection) on the Bill Chipman trail. FUN! We've been twice more since.