Race Recap: Beer & Bagel Off-Road Series in Memphis

I know this is a food blog, but for me, running and food are SO interrelated. So much of what I eat is either for pre-run fuel or post-run recovery. But the best meals are post-race! I live for those celebratory meals of carbs and beer.

When I heard about the Beer & Bagel Off-Road Race Series moving to Tennessee, I knew I had to sign up. This trail series has been going on in other states for several years, but they expanded to include Memphis this year. The race was this past Saturday on the Wolf River Greenway and through some trails in Shelby Farms. The race's mascot is Bigfoot, and he was waiting for us about a mile into the 4(ish)-mile course.

He jumped out at runners as we passed, and then when we passed him again toward the end (the course was an out-and-back), he gave out high-fives. 

The course started through some single-track trail through Shelby Farms. It was muddy from the previous week's rain but not as bad as I expected. No big mud holes! The race organizers said they had to change the route a bit after the rain because part of the planned course was underwater. After we got through the single-track (about a half-mile), we switched to the paved Wolf River Greenway. We got to run on a new portion of the Greenway, which follows the Wolf River through a beautiful shaded forest area, that isn't yet open to the public. Very cool! There were butterflies everywhere!

As the race name implies, this event ends with beer and bagels, two of my very favorite foods (yes, beer is food). They had locally made beer by Wisecare and handcrafted bagels by Dave's Bagels.

We also got a sweet finishers' medal with Bigfoot on it. It doubles as a beer opener, naturally. Not pictured is the awesome race shirt we got — a long-sleeved tech shirt that says "I'm a runner with a drinking problem" on the back. Can't wait to wear that on some winter runs. I only wish they'd had short-sleeved shirts so I could wear it now!

There were two vegan bagels — Plain and Cinnamon Raisin — and they were cut in half. So I got a half of each. They also had BBQ at the post-race party, but of course that's not vegan. So I took some of the BBQ sauce and covered my plain bagel in it so I could have BBQ too. Turns out BBQ bagels are really good!

Super-fun race! I love the chill vibe of smaller trail races so much more than the high-energy, anxiety-inducing vibe of big city marathons.  Love running both, but I'll take a trail race over a road race any day!