Friday, August 19, 2011

Phlail Change - Trail Race!

I'm happy to report that the 6th Annual Phil Soule Phlail will be a trail race instead of a road race. For various reasons, we've had to move the race from Whitter Field to the Pickard Field complex. Rather than running through the neighborhoods around Whittier, we'll be using the XC team's 5k race course (2 laps of a 2.5k loop). Although it's always hard to change an established event, I'm actually pretty excited about this. The old course was pretty unexciting - although the new course will be just as flat as ever, it's quite a nice little run, with a pleasant mix of grassy fields and wooded trails, with good footing throughout. Better yet, there's no traffic to worry about and (hopefully) minimal risk of people going off course. Also better parking, better indoor space, and internet access to help with timing. It's too bad to lose the connection to the football field and Phil's rock, but in the end I think that it'll be a better event because of the change. I'm hopeful that our local runners will agree!