It was a tough race, but not hard enough to really be considered a "toughest". Of course, most races in Utah are downhill so even a flat 10K might be one of the toughest.
This race looped all the over the Soldier Hollow cross country ski area. Never ran the same section twice, but never went more than about 3/4 mile from the start/finish area. 90% of the race was on a mowed down underbrush and trail mixture. Lots and lots of up and down but no more than a couple hundred feet at a time.
A high school kid took off a wee bit too fast for me, so I let him go. I followed another kid for the first mile then dropped him. The leader stayed about 15-20 seconds ahead of me for almost the entire race. In mile 5 I put in a big unsuccessful effort to catch him and it ended up pushing me over the line. Struggled over the last mile and got beat by about a minute.
This was a great race that I would definately do again. Still not that tough because I was only 4-5 minutes slower than a flat 10K. Would have been even easier, but I only have about 4 weeks of hills in my legs. I have a tough time on the uphills and I don't yet have the skills to go all out on the downhills. | 