Steep Ravine: newbie questions

[maudiemc]

I'm interested in running the 7-mile portion of this event, but I'm fairly new to running, so any help would be appreciated!

I've been running for just under a year, and have done two half-marathons; I'm planning to run my third on January 30. So I'm not so concerned with the distance, but I haven't really run anything steeper than the hills in my neighborhood (relatively flat, by San Francisco standards). Will the elevation of this run totally kick my ass?

Also, I haven't run on trails at all, really. Will I be OK in my regular road shoes, or are trail shoes necessary?

Anything else I should know about a run like this?

Thanks!

[Tozilla]

My personal advices to your questions are :

1. you need to get a trail running shoe to get better grip of the road.
It's for your safety.

2. Don't force yourself to run the steep uphill, just walk through it. Walking won't slow you down too much, and you could save a lot of energy and catch up later during the downhill.

3. Take a rest at the aid station, eat and hydrate, bring a bottle for quick refill, hydration backpack might look cool, but we have a lot of aid stations, no need to carry heavy water yourself.

4. smile and enjoy the beautiful trail !!

Toz.

[maudiemc]

Definitely looking forward to the beautiful trail!

Thanks very much.

[Sherry]

I personally have found no difference in running in trail shoes versus regular running shoes. I do; however, follow conventional running thought and run only 400 miles in each pair of shoes, so all of my shoes have great tread. Don't forget to bring another pair of shoes or flip-flops to change into, so that your car doesn't get dirty. And bring a bag for the muddy shoes.

Otherwise, I concur with everything Tozilla said.

[maudiemc]

Thanks for the info, folks!