Coyote Chase Trail Run 2 Miler: The 2013 Recap

When thinking about unique and exotic places to run, I often long for one of the famed European road races or a marathon south of the Equator. Little did I know that this past Saturday morning would bring me to a location situated in my own backyard, one that offered more than the usual path I run in a local park or along a city street. The second race in the NOLA Trail Run Series, the Coyote Chase Trail Run 2 Miler, brought about two hundred runners to a less explored area of New Orleans City Park for what shaped up to be a great day to race.

The forecast for Saturday morning predicted an onslaught of rain ahead of a much desired summer cool front. In Louisiana, that translates to about an hour of lessened humidity and a drop of about two

degrees on the thermostat. Sure enough, the arrival of the cool front was perfectly timed with the start of the Coyote Chase. I arrived at the race site to park near the football stadium as instructed by the organizer’s website; however, I had no clue there was a trail to run anywhere near the field. Parking near the area where other runners were congregating ensured I was in the correct place, so I just followed the flow to what turned in to a makeshift race location. Shortly before I arrived on-site, an electric light show in the sky had started. I found my coworkers who were also running that day almost immediately. Of course, they were under a tree watching the storm roll in. Knowing this wasn’t ideal, I dared to go against conventional wisdom and joined them. Race organizers had been watching radar on their trusty phones and saw that we were about to be pummeled by a squall, and decided to postpone the start of the race until the lightning passed. We hauled butt to my car, but not before my coworkers grabbed a couple premature beers to do some pre-race carb loading during the delay.

After a solid 35 minute wait anticipating the end of the storm, runners began to emerge from their cars to check on the race status. The lightning had passed and we had received what felt like several inches of precipitation. The humidity had indeed dropped and there was a pleasant breeze from the north that cooled the course. Running conditions, while wet, were indeed better than before the race had been scheduled to commence.

It wasn’t long before we were tearing off toward a freshly cut path that had been etched through a grassy field and brush specifically for this race. After several hundred yards of running around an area of City Park I had never ventured in to before, I realized that we were on a long abandoned golf course that hadn’t heard “FORE!” in years. Not being a golfer myself, it probably took longer for me to realize this than it did for a more seasoned pro. There were several vast and open overgrown green areas that were more than likely fairways at one point, the “hills” that we traversed were definitely parts of on-course obstacles that were now impediments for runners instead of plaid clad golfers, and I’d also venture to assume that the sunken areas that had become mud pits were once sand traps that now swallowed running shoes more efficiently than golf balls. Proof confirming this assumption came from one runner who lost a shoe in a muddy obstacle, only to have it returned by a comrade as she crossed the finish line minutes behind him. I’m guessing he finished the run with a uni-shoe; however in my opinion, the running rescuer who finished the race with a stranger’s footwear in-hand is more commendable.

The second race in the NOLA Trail Run Series continued the streak of giving me a new perspective on an area that I’ve barely run in before. This course was nearly as challenging as the last and equally as fun, but it's really surprising to me that there is such a huge area of a beautiful park that goes underutilized. With the recent additions of running and biking paths in City Park and the development of the festival grounds, the area where the race took place would be the next logical location that can be turned in to valuable real estate for public use.

The NOLA Trail Run Series takes a hiatus for a couple weeks, but wraps up July 21st in another location unfamiliar to me. Tackle the Westbank with a race in Belle Chasse by getting more information on this fun series HERE.

NOTE: Read the recap of the first race in the NOLA Trail Run Series by CLICKING HERE.