Oleta River Trail Running Races

I participated in my first trail running race on Sunday June 27, 2010 . I didn’t have a race scheduled for the weekend of June 27/28 and did a search on Active.com, hoping to find a local 5k race that my husband and I could do. Instead, I found a link for the Oleta River trail running races. I’ve done a few trail runs as part of my regular run training, and have always thought that I might like to try a trail running event in the future.

Oleta River Park

I decided to to go down to Miami on Sunday morning for the 10k Oleta River race. Hmmm, not a local event, and a bit farther than a 5k. My husband thought I was crazy, but he drove down with me so he could ride the mountain bike trails while I was attempting to run. He’s got a really awesome 29er mountain bike that he doesn’t get a chance to ride very often.

I sold my mountain bike 2 years ago so I haven’t seen a mountain bike trail in quite some time. My mountain biking career consisted of doing a lot of walking, so getting a chance to run on the mountain bike trails seemed like something I thought I could do, especially since I wouldn’t be dragging a heavy mountain bike with me!

Did Not Finish

I decided to try the 10k race. It was a really hot and humid day. The race was supposed to start at 7:30 AM, but we didn’t end up starting until just a few minutes past 8 AM. So the sun was really starting to heat things up by the time we ended up starting. And it was extremely humid out. Note to self, bring a bottle of bug spray for the next race. The no-see-ums were tearing everyone up as we were waiting for the race to start.

I should have only attempted the 5k for my first trail running race. Trail running isn’t anything like road running. The race took place on the expert level Gilligan’s Island mountain bike trail section of Oleta River. The trails were a lot more technical than anything I’ve ever run on; lots of climbing, twisty, turny trails, tree roots, gravel, log overs, bridges. The heat and humidity took their toll on me. I couldn’t freaking breath (I have asthma), my heart felt like it was going to explode in my chest and I started loosing my footing around mile 2.8.

I bailed out on the run at around mile 3.7, that’s where we came out of the woods, and passed the timing table. Anyone doing the 10K was supposed to go right, to finish the run, but I couldn’t face going back into the woods. I do a ton of racing, but this was the first time I ever DNF (did not finish), that’s never happened to me before. I tweaked my left ankle a bit, and had to ice the top of my left foot/ankle after I got back home.

Go Pro Camera

About a month ago, I got a Go Pro video camera to start filming some of my cycling events. My main blog is the Bike Diva, I am a much better cyclist than runner. But I really do want to improve my running skills and speed. I want to go back on August 8 and actually complete the Oleta River 10k trail run. I have to figure out a way to attach my camera to my body, either with some sort of body harness, or head mount. We ran on Gilligan’s Island trails at Oleta, an expert section of mountain biking trails. I would really love to get some video footage of the more interesting sections of the trail run.

Park Location

• Oleta River State Park
• 3400 NE 163rd Street
• North Miami Beach

Video of Gilligan’s Island

Here’s a link to a YouTube video I found showing part of the Gilligan’s Island expert mountain biking trails. Person taking the video is riding the trails on their mountain bike. This is where the trail run took place.