Set this race as a goal after the Powderkeg with the hope that it would provide to be a sharp enough stick to motivate me add a real and significant amount of running/cardio to make longer/bigger ski tours more possible. Along the way I’ve learned that I really like the empty headspace of a trail run about 30 to 45 minutes into things, and now the running is something to look forward to rather than just part of “training.” This race became less of a sharp-stick type motivator and more of an actual “fun” goal. Best part of the whole thing was seeing friends surpass themselves and finish better than they expected.
This scrambly section is the bottleneck of the course, some patience required.
However, the bottleneck is followed by a fast, fun run through pine trees that spread things back out.
Will run it again next year.