Run off the Grid, a trail run in the Laurentian Mountains region. How hard could it be? A more appropriate question, how hard could it be for someone like me who just started running and who has never attempted a trail run? 12.5K loop should be fairly easy compared to the 25K and the big 50K runs. To be honest, I had no idea what I was getting myself into but I did know that it would be one hell of a challenge.
ROTG was such an amazing experience, everything from the trail conditions and weather to positive attitudes, encouragement and making new friends. The staff and volunteers did a great job, the event was well organized and the staff provided excellent communication in regards to COVID-19 updates and protocols.
I used the Under Armour map my run app along with my Apple Watch to track my 12.5K run. The big test here was to see the accuracy of the app with no cellular connection. The 12.5K trail is a loop, same start and finish line. For the 25K run you simply run the loop twice and quadruple the loop for the 50K. See below how the running app held up with no cell signal.
As you can see it’s off by .55K, not too bad considering it’s a trail run going up steep terrain and through some thick forest. I had the cellular antenna turned off on my Apple Watch to conserve the battery, the metrics were quite different from the Under Armour running app.
The native Apple fitness app was only off by .12K, much more accurate fitness tracking for this run than Under Armour map my run. I will point out that the Under Armour app did a great job with the breadcrumb trail as you can see on the map.
I completed the race with an official time of 1:47:14.8 and ranked in 19th place for the overall 12.5 K out of 43 participants. Considering my goal was to only finish the race and not give up I would call this a great success for myself. I’m going to keep on pushing my limits and see how far I can go. I am looking forward to next year’s ROTG and I just might attempt the 25K run.
I met two incredible ladies after the run, Leah and Hillary. Both have extremely busy live with family, work and a passion for running, these two are truly an inspiration. Listening to their stories of travel and running events gave me a true feeling of motivation. Keep up the great work ladies!
#NeverGiveUpRunWild