I ran the Ruston Big Dog 20M trail run yesterday in Ruston, LA. A nice small trail run by Ouachita Valley Road Runners http://www.ovrrc.com// . Race director Dr. Jeff Baillie does a great job: cool stuff in race packets, well marked course, aid stations, post-race meal featuring his home-made veggie chili and a wide selection of beverages. Free massages were also available for runners after the race.

The run is in Lincoln Parish Park 3.5 miles north of highway I-20 in Ruston, LA. This park reminds me of Tyler, TX State Park with tall pines mixed with deciduous hardwood trees and rolling hills…lots of rolling hills. Trail was in great shape considering rain on Friday and Friday night; only a couple of areas with standing water on the trail but could easily go around these and just a couple of places where the steep hills were a little slippery. Some very runable stretches for the fast guys and plenty ups/downs to make one thankful for doing all that hill training.

The race start/finish line is adjacent to a lakeside covered pavilion used for post-race food and socializing. Convenient real flush toilets a short distance away (very important for me ;-) and showers with hot water accessible in the camping area of the park. Incidentally, a great place to RV, trailer or tent camp…I camped at the Comfort Inn in Reston J

The course is a 10 mile loop with a separation after the first aid station for the 5 mile runners to take a short route then rejoin the 10 mile course near the end of the loop. 50K runners ran the opposite direction for .5 miles; turned around at a cone then 3 of the 10 mile loops. There is enough variety on the trail that running 2 or 3 loops is definitely not monotonous. Again, outstanding job on marking the course clearly.

I enjoy well organized small races – this is a perfect example with most likely 120 runners. A nice addition to any trail runner’s Thanksgiving.

Linda Boggs