What: 26km, 52km, 78km trail races

When: April 18th, 2009.

Where: Pickering, Ontario

Website: www.mudpuppies.ca

 This year was my first experience with the Seaton Trail race.  I’d like to say it will have been my last, but this race kicked my butt so hard that I’ll have to return in a year or two (once the nightmares have stopped) for vengeance at some point. It’s even taken me a few weeks before I could write about it. Here, summarized, are some criteria for you to decide if you should give the Seaton Trail race a go in future years:

Do this race if you like:

-mud

-water crossings

-running up and down stairs

-emotionally scarring and psychologically traumatizing hills

Don’t do this race if:

-like me, you thought it would be a nice, easy, get back into the swing of things run

-like to daydream on the trail instead of paying attention every footstrike

-you aren’t willing to finish physically and mentally exhausted

Humour aside, this trail is a great race location and the Mudpuppies do a great job organizing this race.  When people told me this race was tough, I scoffed.  Having only signed up for the 26km, I thought, “how tough could it be?”  When I finished the race, I thought, “who knew there were so many hills in Pickering?”  The 13 km out-and-back course is unrelenting, but a great challenge for those of you who need an early April wake-up call!