This race has been plagued with bad running weather every year , until today ! We were blessed with awesome temperatures, low humidity, and clear blue skies. My husband and I have been training together for this race for the past three months , mostly long runs on the weekends. He was super nervous and having many doubts about finishing because of some ankle pain and just not feeling like he’d put in enough miles. With his rebuilt leg , he can only push himself so far in training without risking damage to his knee and ankle . But today went well! He’s pretty sore , especially the ankle , which takes a beating from the leg being at a crazy angle and one hip higher than the other, but he’s feeling great about the race. His goal was to beat his only other half marathon distance time , an unofficial run, of 3:23, and he killed it by hitting 2:59 at the 13.1 mark . This course was long and was actually 13.8 miles , as confirmed by the race director . Our finish time was 3:13. After hitting the goal we took our time crossing the line .

Our medal is a cute Christmas sweater! Last year’s medal is behind it, with the alligator. I ran the marathon last year and I’ve ran there several other times. So many of my local friends run this race , it’s hard not to have FOMO if I skip a year!

Brazos Bend is a big race that attracts runners from all over the country. I believe there were around 900 runners today. Started by the Trail Racing over Texas race director Robert Goyen six years ago, the race has rapidly gained fans thanks to the flat and fast , but still considered trail , course . The December version offers distances of 100 miles, 50 miles, 26.2 marathon and the 13.1 Half marathon, but be forewarned that the actual distances may vary.

The trails are wide gravel and dirt paths around several scenic , tree- lined lakes which are home to many native alligators and birds. On a day like today with cool temps , the alligators stay mostly in the lakes , but during warm weather they can be seen sunning themselves along the trail or even crossing it . Sadly I only saw one gator today and it was swimming too far away to get a good photo. The race also offers a good excuse to wear a holiday themed costume and you may even win a prize for best costume if you try hard. There’s a 50 mile version of the race in April if you missed out or have other races in December.

The April race offers :

100k: 5:30am start – 4×15.8mi loops

50mi: 6:00am start – 3×16.8mi loops

50km: 7:00am start – 2×15.8mi loops

25km: 7:45am start – 15.8mi loop

10km: 8:30am start – 6.25mi loop

5km: 9:00am start – 3.1mi loop

http://www.trailracingovertexas.com/brazos-bend-50

Check out Trail Racing over Texas website for more information.