Dewey Peacock (pictured) ran a great race at the 2009 Ed Anacker Bridger Ridge Run this past Saturday despite feeling under the weather. Dewey grabbed 2nd OA in 3:41:37 while wearing the Roclite 295's. Back on August 8th Ben Nephew got his 2nd win in a row at The Dam 11 Mile Trail Race in Oxford, MA (1:12:06) wearing the F-lite 230's. Ben's race report is posted below.
The Dam 11 mile trail race
Oxford, MA 8/8/09
After Escarpment I decided to test my speed at a much shorter and faster race. I have run the Dam trail race several times, but skipped it a few years after being mis-directed on the course one year. It is a very difficult area to mark a trail race, but the current race director has been doing a great job. I would have to say that this year’s course was the most clearly marked trail race I’ve ever run. There must have been a thousand red arrows out on the course to guide us through the thousand intersections.
It was a great day for trail race, cool and dry despite all the rain we have been getting all summer. While the air was dry, the original course had to be altered due to flooding in a few sections. Instead of 10.5 miles, the course was going to be somewhere around 11 miles. This wasn’t a surprise to anyone who has raced the Dam; the course tends to be new every single year! Since race day was going to be my long run for the weekend, I went out for about five miles in my f-Lite 220PK’s before the race. My plan was run steady for the first half, and try to pick up the pace in the last 5-6 miles.
Everyone let me go at the start, and I should have taken that as a hint to back off a bit. The first five minutes were probably a little too ambitious, but I settled into a safer pace after that. The new race route was surprisingly dry, which made running through the relentless turns and small rolling hills very enjoyable. Although the Dam course is mostly flat, it can wear you down with dozens of tight turns and consistently rolling terrain.
I started to increase my pace at about 35 minutes, and soon regretted my quick start. We had two shallow water crossings in this section, and it took me a while to get back up to speed with wet shoes. By 55 minutes, I was struggling to maintain my speed, but I soon started to realize that I was approaching to the finish area. I won in 1:13:40 last year after a small detour, but I wasn’t sure how long the new course was going to run. The course workers informed me that I had a big lead, which allowed me to focus on running as hard as I could to the finish and not worry about someone creeping up on me. I was suffering on the small climb with about a mile to go, but pushed as much as I could after recovering at the top of the hill. My time ended up being 1:12:06, which was considerably faster than I ran last year on the shorter course.
I went for a 4 mile cooldown, and then hung around and talked with a number of people about some of the recent trail races and recommendations on specific Inov-8 models. Talking Inov-8 shoes after races is becoming a common occurrence, and it’s nice to see more and more people wearing Inov-8’s at the New England trail races.
Full results at: http://runwmac.com/gt2009/dam2009.html
The Dam 11 mile trail race
Oxford, MA 8/8/09
After Escarpment I decided to test my speed at a much shorter and faster race. I have run the Dam trail race several times, but skipped it a few years after being mis-directed on the course one year. It is a very difficult area to mark a trail race, but the current race director has been doing a great job. I would have to say that this year’s course was the most clearly marked trail race I’ve ever run. There must have been a thousand red arrows out on the course to guide us through the thousand intersections.
It was a great day for trail race, cool and dry despite all the rain we have been getting all summer. While the air was dry, the original course had to be altered due to flooding in a few sections. Instead of 10.5 miles, the course was going to be somewhere around 11 miles. This wasn’t a surprise to anyone who has raced the Dam; the course tends to be new every single year! Since race day was going to be my long run for the weekend, I went out for about five miles in my f-Lite 220PK’s before the race. My plan was run steady for the first half, and try to pick up the pace in the last 5-6 miles.
Everyone let me go at the start, and I should have taken that as a hint to back off a bit. The first five minutes were probably a little too ambitious, but I settled into a safer pace after that. The new race route was surprisingly dry, which made running through the relentless turns and small rolling hills very enjoyable. Although the Dam course is mostly flat, it can wear you down with dozens of tight turns and consistently rolling terrain.
I started to increase my pace at about 35 minutes, and soon regretted my quick start. We had two shallow water crossings in this section, and it took me a while to get back up to speed with wet shoes. By 55 minutes, I was struggling to maintain my speed, but I soon started to realize that I was approaching to the finish area. I won in 1:13:40 last year after a small detour, but I wasn’t sure how long the new course was going to run. The course workers informed me that I had a big lead, which allowed me to focus on running as hard as I could to the finish and not worry about someone creeping up on me. I was suffering on the small climb with about a mile to go, but pushed as much as I could after recovering at the top of the hill. My time ended up being 1:12:06, which was considerably faster than I ran last year on the shorter course.
I went for a 4 mile cooldown, and then hung around and talked with a number of people about some of the recent trail races and recommendations on specific Inov-8 models. Talking Inov-8 shoes after races is becoming a common occurrence, and it’s nice to see more and more people wearing Inov-8’s at the New England trail races.
Full results at: http://runwmac.com/gt2009/dam2009.html
1 comment:
Way to go, Dewey!
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