Mountain View Trail Half Marathon - 
This inaugural year trail race is put on by ultrajim and striders running. It is held on Antelope Island in the middle of the Great Salt Lake. I have been wanting to finish out this year with a final hurrah and this trail run looked perfect. The weather was perfect for a great day to enjoy a new trail. I got to the start and did some warmup checking out the course. The map shows the course backwards from how the race actually went. It was pretty hilly, but after the first big hill, it was just rolling hills. Anyway.... The race got underway and I found myself in the lead setting pace for the lead pack. I ran what felt like a comfortable but brisk pace up and over the big hill. On the downside, I had a blast running a section of "trail" that was so faint, I just ran through the bushes. I kind of pulled away briefly through that section. Before too long, we found ourselves on Mountain View Trail which we would follow all the way to the ranch (finish line). I led for about a mile or two and noticed the lead pack was down to 4 of us. I was really laboring to run 6:30 pace on this trail and before long, I was getting passed by the other 3. No biggie, yet. I hung with them for another 2-3 miles before I started slipping back. I was dying. My heart rate was through the roof and I had no leg power. The trail was tricky with lots of rocks and bushes, but the worst was the sand. I swear the trail was all sand. I felt like I was running on the beach. Tough to push off. Before long, my 6:30 miles turned into 7:00 pace. I was able to see the 3 guys since there are no trees on the island, but was losing ground. In another mile or so, one of the guys dropped off the lead and started to come back to me. I would catch up a bit then I would drop off my previous pace and lose what I had gained. I just couldn't catch that guy. I may have except for the 20 sec pit stop behind a bush (my stomach was not happy today and nearly lost it after the finish and that never happens to me). The course was sweet though and I look forward to running out there again. Miles and miles of trails. Even if they are sandy.
Highlights: The buffalo were awesome to watch. They traveled around in packs of 3 to 30+. I guess skinny runners spook them pretty good as they took off running when we came by. In some cases they got uncomfortably close. They would kick up this huge cloud of dust as they would crisscross the trail right in-front of us. I wished I had a camera for some of those moments. Crazy. I did get a shot of one with my phone as he crossed the road in-front of my car when I left the island. 
The post-race lunch was sweet. Hamburgers, hotdogs, drinks, cookies. That helped settle the stomach a bit. Prize money. Top three overall got money. I missed out just barely on that one, but luckily the 2nd place guy is on Weber State's team and had to give back his first prize money he has ever won. So, third got bumped up to the second place prize and I got $40 for my 4th place finish. Sweet! Money I didn't earn. We had some serious competition for a first year trail race. I was impressed.
The atmosphere. I love the laid back attitude most people have at these trail races. I made some friends at the finish and on my ride back to the car. I hope to run with them again. I will be back for the Buffalo Run in the spring next year to tackle either a 25K, 50K or 50M on the Island. Watch Time: 1:28:20 (6:44) 179 ave 187 max Splits: Mile 1: 6:17 Mile 2: 6:52
Mile 3: 6:16 Mile 4: 6:34 Mile 5: 6:29 Mile 6: 6:34 Mile 7: 7:07 (hilly)
Mile 8: 6:51 Mile 9: 6:46 Mile 10: 6:58 Mile 11: 7:01(pit stop)
Mile 12: 7:00 Mile 13: 6:47 Finish: 44sec PM: In the evening, I headed up to Mill Hollow (one canyon west of Spring Hollow) for a run-hike. I was able to run up the trail for about 2 miles before I was totally bushwhacking up the canyon. I turned around and headed down looking for the actual trail (since I figured I took a wrong turn). I found it and followed it for about a half of a mile before that "trail" disappeared too. I pretty much hiked over the bushes and trees until I couldn't handle the pain any longer. Coming down was easy, I just looked for the blood on the bushes to find my way. I ended up making it up to 7000 feet before giving up. I figure I was pretty close to the North Syncline trail, but I will probably not ever return that way to try and find it. Ok, I just measured it on Google Earth and I was only .35 miles shy of the trail. ~5 miles total. 1:30:00 
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