Transmountain Challenge

Distances: 20k, 20k relay, 5k
http://www.runelpaso.com/main.shtml?ge_calendar.shtml
A name like 'Transmountain Challenge' makes you grit your teeth and prepare for a lot of mountain climbing. You do get a solid serving of hill running on this one- 4 miles uphill, then 3 down. But the tough part, for me at least, was the 5 miles of flat to get to the finish. The finish looked so close from the 6 mile mark! The road that the race was on was closed to vehicle traffic for the duration of the race, so make sure to allow plenty of time to get to the start before the road closes. There were about 6 water stations, all with porta-johns, though it didn't look like any of them had 1st aid supplies available. I think the aid station at the top of the hill had gatorade as well. This race gets kudos for the substantial post-race grub. Although the race was generally well organized, the information on the website is a little thin. It would have been nice if they'd publicized that there is a bus that will shuttle people from the finish back to the start and they will take drop bags to the finish area.