The night before the Willow Springs International Raceway 8k, dad and I decided to sign up. It was only about 20 minutes from the house and with the Rose Bowl Half Marathon postponed, we thought it would be a fun thing to do. Since we decided the day before, I was neither tapered and my nutrition wasn’t great. I likely wouldn’t have eaten a plate full of Korean BBQ ribs the night before.
The Willow Springs International Raceway is a “super fast” car race track that features 9 turns. People come from all over to race cars there.
Before the Willow Springs International Raceway 8k:
Dad and I headed to the race track around 6:45 am for the 8 am race. It is *very rare*, that I get to sleep in my own bed the night before a race. While the list of races in Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego is endless, the list of races within an hour of me is not. I’ve now run just 3 races in the Antelope Valley including that one.
I had never been to the Willow Springs International Raceway, so I was excited to see what it was. Once we got a few miles away, we noticed how hilly it was. I was not expecting that! But it was not flat. Could I have googled it? Sure, but I didn’t. The Willow Springs International Raceway is 2.5 miles with 190 feet of elevation gain per mile and it’s really 1 mile with 190 feet, .75 downhill, and the rest flat.
We got there around 7:30, picked up our bib, and had time for a 1 mile warm up. Most races I’ve done in the last few years have become such a production. I’m driving into Los Angeles, getting a hotel, driving to the race, then driving home. It becomes a whole thing and I don’t have the opportunity to do very many local, very low key races. Honestly I miss the lowkeyness. The race started late because there were still people getting parking and walking up. We could have done more of a warm up but I didn’t want to risk it.
For the Willow Springs Race Track race, you had the opportunity to do either the 5k or the 8k With the 5kk, you ran one loop, plus a little more and the 8k you ran two loops. Both races were $35 and you just did the one you wanted to do. T shirts were an extra $20, and I appreciated not having another one that I did not need.
Willow Springs International Raceway 8k:
We were off around 8:20. I knew I didn’t feel great, and I knew it was going to be challenging. I told myself anywhere between 7-7:30 pace would be great. About a year ago, I remember doing a very flat tempo where the wind was at my back and just getting under 7 min pace and feeling so proud. I know I’m in better fitness than that now, but with the course and no taper, I had no idea how the day would go.
I found myself as fourth person overall between the 5k/8k. The first mile was hilly. You basically go into straight uphill, climbing around 100 feet. It doesn’t feel too bad until you get to runs 3 and 4 that are super steep. I reminded me of running in Napa. I hadn’t been doing a ton of hills, so it was nice to get some hard hill efforts. My first mile of the Willow Springs International Raceway 8k was 7:31 and I felt pretty good.
From there, we coasted downhill. I’ve become a lot better at downhills since moving to the West Coast and I ran a 6:33. I passed one person and from there we went into lap 1 and I was in first. On the second lap, a guy passed me and I was never able to catch back up.
I knew the second lap would feel extremely hard. I ran a 7:02 for mile 3 and a 7:14 for mile 4 (that included the steep section as well as the downhill). I wasn’t feeling terrible, but I was feeling like I didn’t have a ton of energy. I thought it was because of my mileage for the week, but my period started the next day. I usually have lower energy in the days leading up to my period, so that made sense.
For the last mike, I wanted to average under 7 min pace, so I pushed as hard as I could. That ended up being a 6:55 mile.
I crossed the Willow Springs International Raceway finish line with 5.07 miles in 35:38.
Willow Springs International Raceway 8k Thoughts:
I’m happy with how this race went. I wasn’t expecting a ton with all of the miles I’ve run lately so it was a nice surprise to average a 7:02 pace. Running the tangents on the 9 turn race track was somewhat hard, but I tried to my best. In all, I enjoyed the race and it makes me miss local and uneventful road races.
You can see Strava here and all race recaps here.
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Questions for you:
Have you ever run on a racetrack?
Do you do more big events or small local races?