To XTERRA or not to XTERRA...

that is the question.

The XTERRA Trail running series returns to Birmingham this weekend, with a series of races tomorrow morning (5K, 10K, 21K and 42K) and a triathalon on Sunday. I'm technically in my own personal "off season" right now, running purely for enjoyment but really thinking about heading down to Oak Mountain tomorrow morning for the 5K. (Yes, I am itching for the race environment.)

I can easily cover the 5K distance (I haven't turned into a slug or a pumpkin since Nashville despite the radio silence) but the inside of my right ankle/achilles has been making itself known the past few days (not so much while running but while walking). I've also looked at the finishing times from last year and either this event attracted a REALLY SLOW field OR this course is so incredibly kick ass hard that I'm going to suffer. I'm not afraid of the latter...I WANT to challenge myself but I AM afraid of a kick ass course with an ankle that's not 100% happy...

Right now, I'm leaning toward going for it. We'll see if better common sense prevails!

I've never run a trail race before (but I do run fairly regularly on some easy/moderately technical trails for fun/training). Any quick bit of etiquette I should be aware of? How does one handle passing in a trail race situation?