Buffalo Alley 10k - Camp Pendleton

Today was race day, for the third Saturday in a row! This time, I was back at Camp Pendleton for the Buffalo Alley 10k, an "all hill, dirt road, go go go" race through Camp Horno. The race was originally a loop course, but for some reason this morning they had changed it to an out-and-back course. The first mile was up the hill - straight up, it seemed - and it was really tough. I had planned to run all the way, but there was no chance for me. Parts of the hill were steep enough that I was able to walk faster than I could run.

Just past mile 1, the course changed to a gentle downhill for the next two miles, to the turnaround. Unfortunately, the two miles downhill were now two miles uphill, and they were tough. But after that, it was a very, very fast sprint down the last mile. I felt like I was flying all the way down! My overall time was 70:10, and I'm happy with that.

Here is the course, by the way. Remember, it was an out-and-back, so we ran to 3.1 miles, turned around, and came back the same way.


Here we are before the race, still clean and feeling great.


And this is the Start/Finish line, along with a view up the hill in the background.


And here is a quick video of the event, featuring Austin and Joe!