White Bull Winter Trail Series #4 Chumash

     Bitter sweet! Race #4 of the White Bull Winter Trail Series, its the last race of the series, I am happy to be running Chumash but sad to be done with the race series. Chumash trail is one of my favorite trails in Simi Valley, it has great views, its technical is some parts but also be very runnable single track. Chumash trail hold a special place in my heart as its the trail that got me to fall in love with downhill running, its tremendously fun and fast! But in order to run this spectacular downhill you must first run up it, not an easy task by any means. The first two years of the White Bull trail series it rained on Chumash race day and made for an enjoyable mud run, this year it rained two days prior so the trail was sticky in some areas but definitely mud free, the trail was set up perfect for laying down some fast times.
     The morning of the race Desirae, Connor, CJ and I wake up early in attempt to make it to the race early as Desirae agreed to volunteer during the race. We didn't make it quite as early as we want and ended up having to park in front of Mr. Grinch's house, Mr. Grinch is know for being the cranky old man with nothing better to do but yell at all the runners and hikers that park at the trailhead. Being cold outside we decided to let the kids sit in the car and watch a movie while we get checked in, we lock the doors and set the alarm, the kids will be fine right? After I was done checking in I decide to go back and get the kids out of the car, I open the door and the alarm starts blaring! oops, Desirae has the car keys 200 yards up the trailhead, I start hearing "He's a mean one Mr. Grinch" in my head as I run and grab the keys, crisis avoided.
     As I wait for the race to start I chat it up with all my fellow runners and it get me to realize how lucky we are to live in such a great community with such great people and a fantastic trail system, we truly are blessed, I love Simi Valley! I feel blessed to live in a place I can feel safe raising my kids, all the friends I've met here and all the trails I've ran.We have fantastic neighbors who go out of the way to volunteer for there community, we have great weather year round and we have great schools. We have it all in Simi Valley, we even have Mr. Grinch to yell at us at trailheads, it all makes this community as great as it is! Anyways... back to the race report.
     We line up at the start line, no Melissa again but Jerome (the king of Chumash) is back this week after destroying me at Marrland during race #3. Off we go with Jerome taking up the lead and me holding securely in second place, it would stay this way for the race's entirety. Up up up we go, Chumash is 2.6 miles of climbing all the way to the top, the first mile of the trail being pretty steep and the second mile letting up only slightly, its definitely a lung burner. With Jerome in a solid lead knowing I cant catch up to him anymore and that I have no pressure from behind I fall into a steady pace, I don't push myself as hard as could/should because I have no incentive to do so, I enjoy the run and take in the views of my awesome hometown of Simi. At the turn around point where Chumash meets Rocky Peak I pick up a green bracelet laid out at the top to prove I actually got to the top, I catch my breath and get ready for my descent.
     Down down down we go, the first half mile down is fairly technical with lots of rocks I jump off of and dance around, the trail smooth's out some and I turn on the rocket burners! I just cant hold back on the Chumash downhill, its like a pieces of candy or a good beer, once you get a taste of it you just want more. The best thing about an out and back is you get to see a lot of the other runners you never get to see on loop trail, every runner I pass by going downhill has a positive comment or a word of encouragement and once again I realize how much I love this community. Time and trail fly by as I get to the last and steepest downhill portion of the race, you can see the finish line from here and hear everyone cheering you on to the finish. This just pushes me to run even faster as a fly across the finish line in 2nd place with a time of 41:23 and first overall in the series with a combined total time of 2:27:20!
     I just want to take a moment to thank a few people who made this race possible, Randy and Sarita Shoemaker for putting on the best races in Simi, all the volunteers who helped out and cheered us on. To Nutrishop for the support and bringing delicious drinks, Carbo Pro for the awesome products they donated to the winners and Simi Valley for providing us kick ass trails to run on. Desirae for pushing me to sign up for this race series and always being there to support me, love you! Connor and CJ for getting up early on Saturday mornings to cheer me on, you guys rock! As a legacy runner I will definitely be back next year for more great races, till then a beer to celebrate and a trail to run...