One of the toughest 100 milers in the US called the Grindstone 100 is this Friday in Swoope, VA. Chris Reed will be back this year after getting a hard earned 2nd place OA the last 2 years. This course is really 101.8 miles and brutal with over 23k in climb and loss.The 9th annual Stumpjump 50k is also this weekend in Chattanooga, TN. Mark Lundblad will be toeing the line on this mostly singletrack and technical course. There is also an 11 mile race option. Jim Johnson will be racing at the Gary Millen 5k in Conway, NH.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
USATF 50k Trail Championships: Flagline 50k
Monday, September 27, 2010
Weekend Results
We had some great representation at the USATF 50k Trail Championships / Flagline 50k this past Saturday. Yassine Diboun was 3rd OA in 4:07:51 and Dave James was 4th OA in 4:07:52. Scott Dunlap was top masters in 4:28:38 good for 12th OA. The finish of this race was a bit controversial with a volunteer pointing some of the lead men off course at mile 27. Some true sportsmanship was demonstrated by Max King who knew the course and voluntarily took 2nd OA and waited 100' before the the finish to keep the 8 guys in order where the course was miss-managed. The Inov-8 ladies did very well at the Vermont 50. Amy Lane took top honors at the 50k distance with a time of 4:46:50. Aliza Lapierre was the top female in the 50 miler with a fast 7:22:19 and Serena Wilcox was 3rd overall female in 8:22:04.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
This Weekend's Starting Line
Yet another US Championship on tap this weekend. This time the scene is in beautiful Bend, OR for the USATF National Marathon Trail Championships (Flagline 50k). Yassine Diboun and Scott Dunlap will be toeing the line which will start and finish at the Mt. Bachelor Ski Resort.The 50k course has 4k of climb over single track and dirt roads. Jim Johnson will be running the Codfish Bowl XC Invitational in Boston (Franklin Park) this Saturday. The 8k race is an old College XC meet that allows Open teams and individuals to run and is part of the USATF-New England Cross Country Grand Prix. On Sunday, Amy Lane And Aliza Lapierre will both be racing at the Vermont 50 mile. The race is held at the Ascutney Mountain Resort in Brownsville, VT. There is also a 50k distance option, a 50 mile relay, and a 50 mile mountain bike race.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Pisgah 50k Race Report - by Ben Nephew
Pisgah 2010
9/16/10
Fire roads and technical singletrack
4000’ of climbing
Unfortunately, this is going to result in an attempt to analyze what went wrong with my 50k this past weekend. In general, it was a great race, but I personally wasn’t where I wanted to be at the finish. Pisgah was my first ultra, and in the early part of this decade I had several good races with Dave Herr. Between the two of us, we brought the course record from just under 4 hours to 3:44. I last raced the 50k in 2005, when I barely held off Dave by 20 seconds or so, as we both ran 3:46. In the last four years, the winning times have all been over 3:54. For some reason, everyone and their brother was running Pisgah this year, including Dave, former winners Brian Rusiecki, Greg Hammett, and myself, and Jim Johnson. George Adams, one of the few who has broken 4 hours, was also running. Now, if all I had to do was to get under 3:54 this year, I would have won. Things didn’t quite work out that way.
The weather looked good for the race, it was pretty cool, but a bit humid at the start, which is pretty common for Pisgah. Dave, Brian, and I settled into a decent pace with George, JJ, and Greg a few steps back. I took the lead into the first section of singletrack, and the pace felt easy. When you are not tired, the technical sections of Pisgah are quite fun. We rolled through the first 8 miles at a decent clip, with JJ coming out of nowhere at some point to join us up front. Dave was definitely pulling us up the hills, and I was starting to worry about how strong he was given his big win at Wapack last week in a very fast time. Wapack and Pisgah are home courses for Dave, and when he has a good race, he’s gone.
Although it was not a warm day and we weren’t really pushing that hard, the humidity was high, and everyone was soaked in sweat. Dave was starting to pull away on some of the climbs, and then we would reel him back in on the descents from 1:00 to 1:30. Some where around 1:45, he switched gears, and Brian went after him. The pace felt too fast for me, so I just tried to keep them in sight. JJ hung with me, as he had PR’d with a sub 15 minute 5k the day before, and was running his first 50k.
There is a lot of climbing in the last half of Pisgah, so it’s a course that demands a healthy dose of respect. My legs weren’t feeling great on the hills at 2 hours, so my only option was to try and hope that things would improve and make a run over the last few miles. The climb up and over Pisgah Ridge from 2:10 to 2:30 was rough, and I was not looking forward the last hour. Jim and I hit an aid station at 2:30, and he pulled away as my quads started to let me know that they might want to cramp. I’ve never had cramping issues this early, and tried to get as much Gatorade down as possible. I backed off the pace and tried to stay relaxed.
You loop back up to the same aid station after 5.5 miles around the Kilburn Pond loop. Even on good days, this section never seems to end, and my legs could not take the hills on this section. I made it back to the aid station at about 3:11, and started to feel better. There is dirt road hill at this point, and I pushed too hard and almost ended my race with 5 miles left to go. Both my quads started to cramp quite violently, and I had to stop, let them relax, and then ease back into my pace. There wasn’t much time to rest, as I soon took a right up one of many small hills in the last 4.5 miles of the race. I pushed as hard as my quads would allow, and backed off when they stared to tighten. Although I knew that I wasn’t running a fast time, at least my legs were not going to rip themselves apart.
Right when I almost started to relax and try to make the best out of my race, I spotted George Adams running me down on a hairpin turn. Great. George is the size of Wolverine (actually, he is larger), and was 50% responsible for the most painful short race finish that I have ever had. In the 23k race at Pisgah a few years ago, George and I traded the lead about 5 times over the last half mile, with this being the result:
1* Ben Nephew M 31 Mansfield MA 1:33:57.0* 100.00%
2 George Adams M 36 Gilsam NH 1:33:57.03 99.9995%
Beating George was not worth ruining my quads, but they were feeling a little better, so I cranked down the pace and hoped for the best. I realized George was probably in the middle of a big PR, so I gave him a yell through the trees on the final hairpin (after realizing I probably would be able to hold him off). I got down to 5:45 pace on the final dirt road downhill section, but George was still chasing me. To my surprise, I felt good on the last road section, and finished in 3:52. George was probably less than a minute back.
While I was glad to salvage a decent time out of a rough day, I missed an opportunity to take advantage of great trail conditions and the deepest field Pisgah has ever seen. Dave hammered all the way to a 3:42 to reclaim the course record for at least the third time. Brian chased him as long as he could, and ran a 3:46, and JJ ran 3:47 for his first 50k after his 14 minute 5k. With George, we had 5 guys under 3:55, when there is typically only 1 or 2 under 4:00. With the exception of me, everyone else in the top 6 PR’d, with Greg Hammett running a 4:04. Dave’s run was pretty remarkable, given that he PR’d by 4 minutes as a 45 yr. old. I guess he felt bad about taking the course record back, as he bought a pair of 315’s and a couple hats after the race! Despite Dave’s success at the race, he’s had a couple rough days himself, and had to drop out one year. Ever since the year he dropped out, he leaves a bike at about 26 miles, just in case. Wait, that would explain the 3:42…..
In trying to figure out where my race went wrong, there a few options. It’s possible that I went with too light a shoe with the Roclite 285’s, but I was still able to run the final downhills pretty hard with the typical amount of pain for the end of Pisgah. Despite drinking more fluids than I probably ever have during a 50k, I may have gotten behind on my electrolytes during the early stages, and couldn’t effectively catch up when the racing started. Since it was so cool, I thought I wouldn’t need to drink as much, but everyone seemed to be getting pretty dehydrated, with many reports of cramping during the race and post race. Another likely issue was the fact that I haven’t been doing much hill work since July. I put in some good training for the road 50k, but had to sacrifice hill work and most of my trail intervals. Apparently I can’t train for the roads and race well on technical trails, and vice versa.
I haven’t worn the 285’s since they revised the sole with a softer rubber compound, but they worked really well at Pisgah. They have a good combination of flexibility and forefoot protection for Northeast trails, and my feet were in great shape after the race. I also wore the 2XU calf socks for the first time in a race, and I didn’t have any issues with my calves. For a while, it seemed like the compression sock thing was a fad that wasn’t really supported by solid data, but there have been some recent studies showing slight performance benefits and improved recovery.
The race staff did an excellent job with marking the many turns on the course, and the aid stations and post race feed were great. It’s nice to see how this race is growing, although I hope it doesn’t start filling up 3 months in advance!
Monday, September 20, 2010
Weekend Results
Another highly successful weekend for Team Inov-8 runners. Amy Lane won the Pisgah 50k in 4:33:09 breaking a stout 10 year course record in the process for the ladies. Jim Johnson in his maiden ultra got 3rd OA 3:47:29(after racing a local 5k the day before and getting a PR in 14:54) and Ben Nephew (pictured selling some inov-8's after the race) was 4th OA in 3:52:45. Kevin Tilton's team called the Washed Up NH XC All Stars won the 209 mile Reach the Beach Relay. They averaged a speedy 5:42 pace and won by 29 minutes.
Scott Dunlap was 23rd OA in 1:28:41 at the XTERRA Trail Running National Championship in Bend, Oregon. Lastly Anne Lundblad was the 2nd OA female at the USATF 24 Hour National Championships, running a stellar 133 miles on a 0.90 mile loop and garnering a well earned spot on the US 24 Hour Team.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
On Top of Mt. Baldy
"Going back to Cali, strictly for the weather, women and the weed..."
-Notorious B.I.G.
OK, I didn't go back to Cali for the same reasons as Biggie, but we definitely agree on the weather. Well, I do consume a lot of weed but it mainly consists of tomatoes, cabbage, carrots and the like, not the sticky-icky. What Biggie didn't happen to mention is Mt. Baldy. The Mt. Baldy Run-to-the-Top is the first mountain race I have ever done and, in my opinion, one of the best mountain races out there..and it's been around for a while, 45 years to be exact. Situated in the San Bernadino Mountains, just outside of LA County, the Run-to-the-Top consists of an 8 mile course, beginning at 6,400 ft and descending steeply on a road for 400 meters before climbing the rest of the way to the summit of barren Baldy at 10,064 ft (also known as Mt. San Antonio).
The first 400 meters of the race is the painful pounding of a steep downhill on the road, which was a uncomfortable experience when you know that you have to immediately climb the next 7.75 miles. That didn't stop many people, including a few females, to bomb down the road at full tilt. I was in about 20th place, but that very quickly changed once we hit the road to the start of the climb and I found myself in the lead after another 400m. Knowing that I was ready to climb well after coming off the Pikes Peak Ascent and a very successful mountain season, I pushed the pace to see who would go with me. No one did, so it turned into a solo effort the rest of the way.
The first half of the race is a steady climb on service roads, and relatively fast for a mountain race. I hit the halfway point in 29 minutes and was hoping to maintain a fast second half. The grade and terrain becomes significantly more technical in the second half of the race, adding a healthy chunk of time to your overall time. A section dubbed "The Devil's Backbone" is a single track path with 1500 ft of drop-off to each side and can be quite precarious when you are in oxygen debt and oxygen deprived at 9,000 ft of altitude.
The devil has scoliosis - The Devil's BackboneI was just under an hour with a half mile to go in the race and thought I would be in a good position to run a fast time. The last time I ran this race was in 2003, so I forgot how rugged and difficult the last part would be. That might be a good thing with these type of races, after a couple of months you forget how bad it hurt and then you can decide to do it again. I was also challenged the entire race back then, resulting in a faster time. It was a lot of fine, unstable rock with a few routes you could choose from to reach the summit. My race number acted as a sail within the last half mile as it caught the strong winds near the summit. That last half mile turned out to be about 8 minutes and I crested the peak to the finish line in 1:08:21, over three minutes ahead of the 2nd place finisher.
Dancing on the rocky moonscape of Mt. Baldy (running, actually)I was happy for the win but know I should have been a few minutes faster. Once on top, there are majestic views of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, LA and Orange County and the Pacific Ocean far out in the west. The only drawback is that you must run (or scramble) 4 miles back down the same trail to the halfway point, where food, drink and the awards happen. That is the only way to get off the mountain. In 1999, this is where I witnessed a man go into cardiac arrest and die.
After a 10 or 15 minutes, the coldness creeps into your bones and you need to get down the mountain. So, a few of the top finishers were headed down and our prize for winning the race...carry a trash bag full of cups and orange and banana peels back down the mountain. It felt moist and heavy, like a bag full of poopy baby diapers, just without the stink. They had to pick the skinniest person out there to ask. I had to discover myself, a couple of miles down the trail, that there was a huge rock in the bag along with the trash--Congratulations! After all, it was Labor Day!
Cheering on racers...and carrying trashI laced up my flashy red X-Talon 190's for the first time, straight out of the box! I have been hearing a lot of good things about these new lightweight racers. I have not had any problems with blisters or hot spots on any of the Inov-8 shoes, so I was hoping for the best with these. I wasn't let down. The more comfortable upper of the F-lite 230 with the claws of the X-Talon 212 topped off with the fire-engine-red color. They had a stiffer outsole which prevented sharp rocks from coming through the bottom of the shoes, as I have experienced with the X-Talon 212. Not only did they perform amazingly, I received a lot of compliments on them.
My laboring was done on Labor Day, time for a beer!Of course, I did pour out a little liquor for 2Pac
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
This Weekend's Starting Line
There are 2 more National Championships up for grabs this weekend. One of which is in the ultra distance of 24 hours. The USATF 24 Hour National Road Championship or Northcoast 24 Hour Endurance Run is this Saturday in Cleveland, OH. The course is a 0.90075 mile loop at Edgewater Park next to Lake Erie. Staying mentally focused might be just as big a challenge as staying on one's feet for 24 hrs. Anne Lundblad and Dave James will be representing Team Inov-8 this weeekend. In Bend,OR Scott Dunlap will be at the XTerra Trail Running National Championships. This trail half-marathon is mostly in the Deschutes National Forest and is considered a fast, rolling, and scenic course. Jim Johnson will be trying out his first ultra race at the Pisgah 50k this Sunday in the Pisgah State Park in the Southwest corner of NH. Amy Lane is no rookie at ultras and will be racing as well at the Pisgah 50k. Kevin Tilton will be at the Reach the Beach Relay both Saturday and Sunday. Teams will cover 200 miles through beautiful NH in 24 hours. Yassine Diboun will be covering some ground of his own at the Pine to Palm 100 Mile from Willams to Ashland, OR. A remote and rugged point to point course traversing the Siskiyou; Mountains Range in Southern Oregon climbing nearly 20k.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
VHTRC Women's Half Marathon Trail Race
Last Saturday I ran in the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club's 18th annual Women's Half Marathon Trail Race. This awesome event is held on the same course as the famous Bull Run Run 50 and always brings out a mix of speedsters and new trail runners. There were many inov-8 devotees on the trail, including the winner, Heather Schaffer! For my race report, go here.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Weekend Results
At Curly's Half Marathon Amy Lane (pictured) took the overall female win in 2:10:28 and Todd Walker grabbed 5th OA in 1:59:39. Kevin Tilton was the overall champion at the Bradbury Bruiser- 12 Mile Trail Race in 1:22:40. Last weekend on Labor Day, Peter Maksimow won the Mount Baldy Run To the Top Race in 1:08:21. This is an 8 mile uphill race going to the top of Mt. San Antonio starting near 6,000 feet and ending up at 10,064 feet in CA.
Friday, September 10, 2010
The Pikes Peak Ascent Race Report
This was not your normal Pikes Peak Ascent: the Brits showed up, as did the Scots, the Spaniards, and the Slovenians, the Aussies, the Swiss, a Kiwi, a Kenyan (actually, a no-show, they are allergic to mountains) and the locals. It was shaping up to be quite a stacked field. Matt Carpenter didn't want to say it in the press conference (he had a benevolent response when asked about who he thought was going to do well in the race with "I have my predictions but I'm not going to tell you [the media]...I don't want to put more pressure on anyone.") but he told me after the race that he knew the foreigners were going to struggle at the high altitudes. And they did.
Looking around at the start line revealed a plethora of colorful multi-national uniforms, enough so that I felt I was in a EuroPop video. The start went out quick for a 13.32 mile, 7,815-foot vertical gain race, but then again, it was the World Mountain Running Association Long Distance Challenge. The runner who took it out and literally lead from start to finish, no one really believed he would stay out from the way he rocketed off the line, was a young Coloradoan and first-time Pikes Peak Ascender named Glenn Randall (a professional cross country skier with Norwegian blood—go figure!). Race favorite and eventual 4th place finisher, Ryan Hafer, was quoted in the local newspaper, “I thought he just wanted to get in front of the cameras...I thought he would come back to the pack pretty quick.” Well, he didn’t, sorry Ryan.
The first 1.45 miles is on road, so it is very fast, then the verticalness hits you even before the trail, probably a 16-18% grade for a short distance, but that’s all you need to get put into oxygen debt. I think miles 2-4 are just as difficult as the last few miles, though without the high altitude and view of Kansas. It definitely weeded out the serious contenders from everyone else.
Rickey Gates, who went on to place 3rd overall, seemed to be turning to into the Hulk as his tights were tearing as he ascended up the mountain.
A few miles into the race, I found myself running alongside a Brit, zee Germans and an Aussie in about 16th place and the race began to take shape. This is where the race gets lonely, especially if you are not running with anyone, and the miles fluctuate as much as Al Roker’s weight does. I felt that way (lonely, that is, not fat) up what is referred to as the W’s, multiple switchbacks where the average grade is 13.4% for a 3-mile stretch. There was a German named Marco Strum who passed and towed me along. I was fascinated by his psychedelic compression socks, black and gold with what appeared to be 3-dimensional honeycomb shapes. I hit a 9:30 mile, 11:50, then an 8:48 and an 8:10 as the trail leveled out—Al Roker miles!
I must have been close on Marco’s heels because he turned and asked me at one point “DO YOU VAUNT TO PAUSS?” I practiced my German and replied “Nein, ich bin fine.” I was entranced into a good pace by his socks and didn’t want to lose my groove. At one point I had to steer him back on course when he tried to climb through a rock arch off the side of the mountain. “Nein, NEIN”! I had to leave the socks, uhh, Marco, I mean, behind and continue to reel people in, so I said “Auf Wiedersehen” to him and went after the next language lesson of the race, a Mexican named Miguel Lopez. There was a piece of navy blue fabric laying on a rock as I passed, I wonder what that was from.
“Hola, como estas?” I say to Miguel as I come up alongside him just after Barr Camp, the halfway point to the top of the mountain, as he’s coughing up a lung. We work together for a while and I encourage him to go with me to chase down the English runner ahead of us. “Vamanos a la playa”, no, that’s not right, there is no beach around here. “Vamanos la Inglaterra.” He got the message even though it was a grammatical mess, porque mi español es mierda. We alternated having good and bad patches over the next couple of miles but remained in close proximity.
Just before 4 miles to the summit, there was a lot of jockeying for position going on: Miguel had passed me and began to pull away, then Andy Peace, the Brit, went by me and last year’s Ascent Champion, Tim Parr, was struggling and getting passed by everyone. I asked how he was doing as I went by him and he replied “I’m just not feeling it today.” I encouraged him to keep plugging away and maybe he would feel better in a mile or two. He knew, though, he is a very 
experienced trail and mountain runner, but we all have those days. With his scarlet #1 pinned to his jersey, he couldn’t evade the expectation to do well again this year. He bid me well and I suddenly began to feeling good again, so I kept my eyes on those in front of me and kept climbing, passing the big medal sign telling you where to go to get to the Peak, and where to go to get to the Bottomless Pit.
A-Frame is the 3 mile to the summit point, and also treeline, at 12,000 feet. Named because an A-Frame structure stands just downhill from the trail. This is where the sun beats down on you, the trees are replaced by boulders and you begin to have strange thoughts. A few years ago, it wasn’t the sun that was beating down, it was water, in various forms. Search and Rescue advised some of the lead runners that the conditions were turning bad from the freezing rain and hail and that they should consider turning back. After the conditions worsened a short time later, all runners were told to turn back. So, if you weren’t to the A-Frame point by 3 hours or so, you weren’t able to finish. I heard a story of someone who was a little further back in the race that had been bludgeoned by hail so large and fierce that he was bloody everywhere he wasn’t wearing clothes. It would be like running around on a driving range while golfers were hitting balls at you. Ouch!
There is another strip of that blue fabric again, strange.
I had trained on the barren, oxygen-scarce last three miles of the peak, so I knew what to expect and how my body might feel, but anything could happen at that altitude, as one of the zee Germans exemplified. I was slowly pulling away from mi amigo Miguel and there was no one in sight, but when you blow up at that stage in the race, you really blow up. With about a mile and a half to go on a long uphill straightaway I could see a struggling figure. It couldn’t have been more than two handfuls of people, as I calculated I was in about 13th, but I couldn’t decipher who it was. Then, at the last aid station of the race, I saw him: stopped, in a daze, chugging water as he looked down the trail at me gaining on him and it was zee German. I wasn’t aware at the time, but I was told after the race that he, Timo Zeiler, is a very talented mountain runner and actually beat Jonathan Wyatt in a race in the Alps last year. But, like I said, when you blow up, it nuclear! I passed him right at the one mile to go sign and he was alternating walking and running and finished three minutes ahead of him. So, he had run (power walked) the last mile in over 18 minutes. After the race we shook hands and I told him he looked like “schiße” when I passed him—he agreed. “Uf, it vaus vary hard,” he replied. I know how zee Germans love their beer so I told him we should drink a “stein of bier” to celebrate getting up the mountain. He wanted none of that. Imagine that, even Germans don’t want beer after running up a big mountain….weird!
With a half-mile to go, there is a section dubbed the “16 Golden Stairs”, basically short switchbacks consisting of large boulders. Probably the worst possible terrain you could come across at 14,000 ft with almost two and a half hours of running in your legs. I had to hold off a fast approaching Galen Burrell, 2nd place in the last WMRA Long Course Challenge in 2005 here at Pikes Peak. I didn’t think a kick was possible at this altitude, but apparently it was as I put 16 seconds on him in the last 400 meters or so. I was told I was in the top ten overall and 5th American after I finished, but I argued that there were a lot more runners who I never passed, like the whole US Team. I learned a lot up there at the summit: places 4th-7th ran off course, how lack of oxygen can turn you into zombie, and those blue stripes of fabric were shreds of Rickey Gates’ tights that were cutting off circulation to his legs. That explains a lot!
Tommy telling me he went this way instead of thatA veteran of the race, and second place finisher in the 2009 edition, Tommy Manning, was questioned in the press conference a few days before the race on what edge he believed he had over the multi-national field. He replied, "My advantage is that I know the course." Ironically, he was in 5th place when he followed the 4th place runner, Eric Blake, and towed along 6th (Zach Freudenburg) and 7th (Jason Delaney), to a 15+ minute detour and ended up finishing in 15th place overall. Recall that medal sign I mentioned earlier, they followed it to the Bottomless Pit and not to the Peak. Whoops! I’ve never seen Eric Blake drink so much beer as he did after the race.
It was a good showing for Team Inov-8, as Alex Nichols placed 5th and I was 8th. It was a great showing for the shoes as there were a huge number of Inov-8's carrying people up the mountain. As for the X-Talon 212's, they served me well on the rocky, technical, washed out and bouldery trail. The only drawback was that there were some sharp rocks that felt like they wanted to come through the bottom of my shoes, that hurt.
Top 10 Overall Males (5th Alex Nicols & 9th Galen Burrell missing)Results @: http://www.skyrunner.com/ppresults/2010ppa_m.htm
Lean Horse 100 Race Report
Ultra Runner logic and wine get me to the starting line of Lean Horse 100...
read about it here "Lean Horse 100-Getting to the Starting Line"
A middle of the night encounter with a Mountain lion is not getting in the way of me and my belt buckle- or a PR 100 finish...
read about it here "Mountain Lion, Black Hills and Buffalo...oh my!"
Check out my short video story of race. I took it during walking breaks, it includes the beautiful Black Hills, Granite Mountains, and buffalo.
This Weekend's Starting Line
Abby Mahoney will be back at it this weekend, this time at Curlys Half Trail Marathon in Pittsfield, MA. Jim Johnson will be defending his title at the Nahant 30k Road Race in Nahant, MA. Kevin Tilton will be at the Bradbury Bruiser 12 Mile Trail Race in Pownal, ME.
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
2010 World Mountain Running Championships, Kamnik, Slovenia
(USA Men's Team after winning the Silver Medal)
The World Championship has come to a close and I leave Slovenia feeling very accomplished. The Men's team made history in the 2010 edition of the World Mountain Running Championships. This may have been the most competitive year EVER. More Africans, more teams, more individuals capable of a top 20 finish! I said before the race Team USA could medal and it turns out I was right. In all honesty I did not think Silver was possible with the likes of Uganda, Eritrea, Italy, and Turkey. I thought if we had a perfect day we could get Bronze. We pulled it off despite my doubts! So I must thank my teammates for pulling their weight and making history. Most of all, I must thank Tommy Manning, I think I speak for the rest of the team when I say Tommy was the biggest piece of the puzzle in helping the USA team win the Silver. Tommy was our 5th man, but at the World Championships he put it all on the line and ended up being our 3rd guy!
Race day: After breakfast, the team and I sat there in the hotel, all of us thinking about the day ahead and how tough it would be to medal this year. At the start line you could see the 40+ countries striding, getting ready for battle. I glanced over at the peak one last time noticing the clouds covered the skies and more than likely, there would be some mushy sections. God answered my prayers! Wet conditions would only make USA's chances better being that everyone on the team had experience running in less than perfect conditions. Minutes later, the fight began. Max and I lead the team through the opening kilometers of the race. Max and I got out in the front pack and pretty much fought to stay there the entire way. As the course started to get steep we went by a few Ugandans as well as a few other top runners from different countries. Around 5k I looked up a bit and realized I had reeled in the Champion from last year Mr. Kusuro, I thought this guy must be hurting. I later found out he was just biding time as he made a surge to take home the Bronze. Around 8k I was in no mans land and slowly catching up to multi World Trophy champion Jono W. He too made a good surge in the latter stages of the race to place 8th. Also noticed that I was ahead of all the Italians and only a few Ugandans were in front of me. At this point I "Ran Like Hell".
I figured if I held on to my position (10th) we definitely had a shot at the Bronze. Placing 10th would also be the highest finish of an American at the World Mountain Running Championship so far. Mr. Benford from last year's team currently held the highest finish at the World Championship with 13th in 2009. Looking over my shoulder near the 10k mark I noticed Tommy had passed Max and they were pushing each other toward the finish. This only gave me more drive to finish strong and hold on for my team.
Inov-8 President Wayne Edy made an appearance at the Championship this year. Around 11k I passed the Inov-8 booth and seeing that and knowing Wayne had to be watching I knew I couldn't let the two guys closing in on me pass me with only a K to go, and with so much on the line, giving up a position was unacceptable. Uttered up the last bit of strength I had and accelerated up the last climb feeling pretty strong as I reached the brutally steep peak. I waited at the finish, excited, anxious to see what the results would be from my team. I kept my eyes open for teams I knew would challege us so as I watched the line I was trying to do the math in my head, Italian, Swiss, Max (USA), Italian... I had no idea who was ahead of me, then a friend of mine tells me I was the 3rd Non-African so I knew for sure, Team USA was en route to a medal. After the 4 scoring members of the team had made their way in, the tallies were in and I estimated that we had beat Italy (This had to be a first)! However, I thought Uganda and Eritrea destroyed us by a huge margin.
Turns out, I mis-calculated the score for Uganda. Their 4th man pretty much lost it for them and Italy also ended up beating them. Team USA won the Silver by a very close margin! This was the first ever Silver medal by the Men's Team.
http://www.wmrc2010-kamnik.si/Priloge/26WMRC_results.pdf
Italy was only 6 points back while Uganda only 8! Talk about a sigh of relief!
I was at the finish line in pain, I knew I ran hard and I left it all out on the mountain. It was said that breaking an hour would be tough and that only a few would accomplish this task. They were right as only 12 managed to do so. I became part of that small number running 59:27 on this very steep technical course, sprinkled with a few flat sections near the top and a pretty technical downhill near the 8k mark. During the Awards ceremony it was great to see two other teammates on the podium with me who made history with me when Team USA won its first ever medal for the Men's team back in 2008 (Rickey and Eric). We joked how we now needed a Gold medal so that we could have a nice assortment of medals at home!
More Weekend Results
At the Wapack 17.5 Mile Trail Race, both Jim Johnson and Amy Lane grabbed second place overall finishes. Jim raced in the Roclite 295's and finished in 2:28:13 and Amy's time was 3:18:54. This course sounded brutal with 7,500' of climb which goes from New Ipswich, NH to Asburnham, MA and back. At the uphill 8 mile Mt.Greylock Road Race, Abby Mahoney got top female with a speedy time of 1:05:40. Alex Nichols won the American Discovery Trail Marathon in 2:30:32 to set a new course record. Last but not least, Amber Moran won the female title at the Applefest 8k road race in a fast 29:16.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Continental Divide Trail Race/USATF 10K Trail Championships - Race Report by Gina Lucrezi
Continental Divide Trail Race/USATF 10K Trail Championships
My adventure started at 3:00am on Friday morning. I had to catch a shuttle for my 6:00am flight out of Boston, which required an early rise. I grabbed a Starbucks before hopping on my JetBlue flight...can't start the morning without some caffeine. After a few episodes of Sports Center and The Nanny, I landed in Charlotte, NC. I met up with last year's Master's Champ Andy Ames, who I shared a car with out to Laurel Springs. We arrived around 2:30pm, and then proceeded to go on a course preview run. Both of us had raced the 10k Champs in 2009, so we were already familiar with the course. I knew the course was no joke...and for some crazy reason, wanted to experience the technical climbs before the race. We ended up running approximately 5 miles + of the course. As I finished, I could feel an uncomfortable twinge in my right glute. I just thought "oh great, I just strained something on my pre-race run...real smart."
After a refreshing shower at the Tise Lodge (bunk house for the event stay), I headed to the mess hall for a pasta dinner, graciously put on by some volunteers working at the Laurel Ridge Camp. It definitely hit the spot after a long day of traveling. Many of the competitors sat around after dinner talking about past battle stories. My watch read 8:00pm and I decided to head back to my bunk where I would meet my two other roommates Emily Potter and Amber Moran. All three of us chatted for approximately an hour and then hit the hay.
Alarm went off at 6:00am...I hesitantly rolled out of my bunk. I was greeted by the crinkle sound of the pee-proof liner covering the mattress, and then realized where I was. As I was collecting my race uniform, I was reminded of the "tweak" I experienced at the end of my pre-race run. Eeeeek! My right glute was definitely being a "pain in the a**." I was immediately concerned, but then figured that since this was my last race for the season, it would be worth running through it. I figured that if the race resulted in a minor injury...so be it...I would have time to recover.
I ate my staple pre-race breakfast, two pieces of toast consisting of peanut butter and jelly, along with half of a banana. I spent some time chilling with a few other athletes...just killing time. Before I knew it it was 9:15am, time for my warm-up. I laced up my red 190 x-talons. I totally LOVE these shoes! They are super low to the ground (only 3 mm high), stick to the ground like glue, and have one heck of a relaxed mesh toe box (no restricting rand). My glute was killing me on the warm-up, but I just tried to ignore it.
Finally time to go. 10:15am...bang! We were off! The very beginning of the race is about 200 meters of a flat straightaway. I ran with Emily Potter for this first piece, then decided to take the lead and attempt to control the race. The first mile is tough not to run "hard." Last year I ran a bit faster than I should have, and ended up paying for it at about the 6k mark...ouch! I just tried to stay under control, and focus on pace.
Everything seemed to be going well. I definitely didn't feel "fresh" but knew I had enough gusto to make it through the next few miles. I attacked the first section of technical single track. I wanted to lengthen the distance between me and second place, so I worked pretty hard through the single track. I really enjoy "dancing on the rocks" and am grateful for being short enough to duck around low branches, etc. I have to admit, I never thought that my experience with the steeplechase would pay off, but I had a great time floating over the downed logs.
The single track eventually turns into a challenging uphill run. This section knocked the wind out of my sail’s last year...but this time around it wasn't so bad. The next few miles were either up or down, noooo flats. Planning out recovery was tough, but I would just try to stay relaxed on the downs.
I have about one mile to go and I'm feeling pretty beat. At this point I was running out in the open with the sun beating down on me. North Carolina isn't exactly cool...so I couldn't wait to tuck back into the woods for the last section of technical single track. I entered the woods and just relied on my 190's to keep me upright. My legs were starting to feel like jello, so I was happy to have some grippy shoes that would help me with my weakened stability.
I had no idea how close my competition was. I wasn't planning on letting up, but I also didn't pour anymore on. I maintained my pace and eventually reached the last uphill climb of 22%. I had to use my hands on the "rock scramble" section so that I didn't fall forward...or backward for that matter. It was really tough getting my legs to turn over the last 100 meters up the hill, but I knew the end was near.
I popped out of the woods with about 200 meters to go. At that time I realized that I was going to win the race. I never really envisioned winning a USATF National Championship, so this epiphany was pretty amazing. I ran though the tape with a smile. I was extremely happy to win the title, but also glad to be finished running. The first thing out of my mouth was "Jason...I hate you (Jason and Alison Bryant designed the course)." Of course I was being sarcastic, and everyone got a good laugh. The course was tough, but it should be. In my opinion it was/is a true example of a REAL trail course. Kudos to Jason and Alison Bryant, along with all the other volunteers and helpers that made the event such a terrific experience.
Can't wait for 2011 :)
Monday, September 6, 2010
Team USA Takes the Silver Medal at the World Mountain Running Championships
Joe Gray finished an impressive 10th OA and 1st American in 59:27 at the World Mountain Running Championships. The senior men's team captured the silver medal with the best team finish to date and the women's team just missed medaling with a strong 4th place team finish.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Transrockies Race Report- by Aliza Lapierre & Chad Denning
Here is a great report broken down for each stage from Aliza and Chad on their 3rd OA finish in the mixed team category at the Transrockies 6 day stage race last week.
“INFERNO”
Stage 1: Buena Vista To Railroad Bridge Campground
Stats: 20.6 miles/2721 feet of climbing
The energy was high as all the runners packed into the corral for the start of the Transrockies Run. I was very nervous not knowing where we would fit into the mix of those around us. Chad remained calm and excited to explore everything that the course had to offer. With not a cloud to be spotted in the sky we knew that the 20.6 mile route through high desert would be hot. Going into the day of running we were naive to the conditions we would face along with the terrain. We found ourselves running on converted railbed, sandy moto trails, tight single track and dirt road all of which were really exposed to the sun.
The gun sounded and the pace was solid from the start, in retrospect we started the day at a blistering pace. Chad and I had discussed strategy in the days before the race and to be honest before we even left New England. I would be the one to determine the pace and Chad would run in front on climbs, on flats I would run off his back shoulder and I would lead on single track and descents. After reaching the top of the first climb we worked to find a pace that was obtainable for the conditions and the course. We were getting passed by other teams and this was frustrating to me. I had to remain calm and patient and understand that due to the elevation I wouldn’t be able to run at the same pace/intensity that I do at sea level. As the miles ticked away I found myself struggling to find my stride and to settle in. Chad remained solid and confident as we continued to work together. As we got closer to the finish we were very exposed on open dirt road. We could see what we thought was the finish so pushed, although within a few minutes we realized that we had sighted a bridge and not the finish area. Mentally I was shot, my Vermont skin was sunburned and my spirits and energy fading. Looking ahead Chad spotted the team of Krissy Moehl and Bryon Dayton in front of us. This was reassuring that we were hanging in there as they are both phenomenal runners. As we increased our intensity they responded and continued to maintain their lead, without warning Krissy pulled over and we took the opportunity to pass and to our surprise we finished the day in 2nd place for the Mixed Open division. After congratulating those competitors around us we darted down to the creek to soak our legs and begin the recovery process.
“I HOPE THIS PASSES”
Stage 2: Vicksburg To Twin Lakes Dam (Hope Pass)
Stats: 13.5 miles/3,617 ft climbing
After our first night of camping we woke up to cooler temperatures and partially cloudy skies. The news of possible severe weather excited Chad and I as we see nasty conditions as an advantage for us. Due to the variable conditions we were required to carry mandatory gear which included jackets, winter hats, gloves, 1st aid kits and emergency blankets. Once again the energy was intense in the start area and when the music stopped and the gun sounded the leaders set a fast pace as we headed up a dirt road for approximately two miles before starting the 3 mile climb up Hope Pass.
Chad and I had planned to speed hike the trail and run little segments as our energy levels permitted. Since Chad had a longer stride and is a faster/stronger hiker we set up a tow line of the back of his hydration pack which I could easily access and clip to the front of my pack. We quickly warmed up and found a pace that was “comfortable”. We noted that we falling behind our competitors as we could keep track of them on the switch backs that had yet to come for us. We both reassured each other that we could make up ground on the downhill as we are both comfortable with descending technical terrain. At the top of the pass I unclipped the tow, hopped in front of Chad and took a quick look around to take in the astonishing views. We had completed the 3,500 ft climb up above tree line to the summit and we were ready to rock the downhill, but wait I found myself very lightheaded. We had planned on me running in front on the down hills and I warned Chad that I had to easy back on the pace to try and regain my equilibrium. As we worked our way down the rocky switch backs my speed and confidence increased. We dropped back into the woods and I felt like we were running down the Long Trail in Vermont. Still no teams in sight, but we continued to push the pace as much as we could. As we reached the bottom of the pass we caught a glimpse of Twin Lakes and knew that we had three miles to the finish.
As our feet struck flat and uphill terrain it felt like we had concrete pillars for legs. The skies had now cleared and the sun was back out in full force. We continued to traverse our way around the lake and then realized that we were about a minute back from Chris Purslow and Brian Tinder. Since we were running on single track I knew we could quietly make up ground on them without them realizing it. We slowly hunted them down and honestly took them by surprise as we passed them about a mile from the finish. After passing them we increased our pace and popped out on a gravel dirt road. We had a small climb up the road before making a sweeping left hand turn downhill to the finish. Chad and I both opened up our stride eager to secure our 4th place finish for the day.
“24 MILES AT 10,000 FEET”
Stage 3: Leadville to Camp Hale
Stats: 24.3 miles/2,930 ft climbing
Before we knew it or before we were willing to accept reality the starting gun fired setting us off down Leadville’s historic Main Street. We headed towards Cooper and the Colorado Trail where we were treated to buffed out single track, alpine meadows and of course climbing.
The leaders set a strong pace as we headed up a slight paved incline before being treated to a mile of downhill on a quiet open road. Once bending off the road we treated to somewhat shaded paths and 4WD track. We found our groove and caught up to Chris and Brian and we all chatted as we ticked off the miles. After hitting check point 2 I received a major gift from the course Gods. Today we did some climbing, but even more so we did some descending. With a total elevation gain of 2,767 ft and a total elevation lose of 3,662 ft I could relax and enjoy. I really enjoy downhill running whether it is buffed out or technical terrain. As we started to descend to a finishing elevation of 9,203 ft we began putting a gap between us and Chris and Brian.
After we turned off the single track trail we hit an exposed dirt road that would bring us all the way to Nova Guides where the finish was. I found myself eager to be finished and opened up my stride and increased my turnover rate. I guess I have a habit of pushing the end because Chad compared me to an animal headed to the barn at feeding time. I couldn’t be distracted as I only had one thing on my mind and that was to finish. We sprinted across the finish line in a time of 3:47:29 which put us back up on the podium with a third place victory for the stage.
“WE PROMISE NEVER AGAIN”
Stage 4: Camp Hale To Red Cliff
Stats: 13.4 Miles/3,009 ft climbing
Having three days under our belt our energy on the morning of day three had decreased. We awoke in the morning to find ice on our tent and temperatures in the low 30’s. We both struggled to motivate to put on our running shorts and short sleeve tops, although we knew the game continued. The night before we had studied the map and heard returning runners relive the agony of the short but steep stage. The climb was going to be steep and without switch backs. To help assist with our climb Chad gladly traded one of his stage prizes for the usage of a pair of poles. In the starting chute I was nervous and chilled to the bone. I didn’t want to layer knowing that after the two mile gravel road we would go directly into the climb up what our map had labeled “Resolution Hill”. We started to run up the climb, but it quickly became too steep to run efficiently. The fun began and up we went as I clipped the tow line to my pack. Chad made good use of the poles, but either way the climb hurt. Again on this stage we hoped to keep a consistent but modest pace on the uphill so not to overextend ourselves and then try to make up time on the downhill. We emerged out of the trees on top of Hornsilver Mountain and were treated to views of Mt. Elbert, Mt. Massive and Mt. Holy Cross. We worked our way across the ridge and down the single track. Eventually we came to several creek crossings, which we had planned to plow right through. The first crossings were brief enough that I was fine. Eventually we came to a section where we had to run a half of mile in the stream and the cold water settled in my shoes. I slowed and Chad passed me and I felt like I was going to be sick. As we hit dry ground again I sounded like a Clydesdale and Chad asked me what was wrong, what was wrong was the fact that I couldn’t feel my feet which made running difficult. Thankfully my Inov-8’s expelled the water quickly and I was back in business in no time.
As we ran down the road with just over a mile of downhill left I wasn’t too worried as I thought we were running in 3rd place. We increased our pace and were running under six minute miles as we crossed the finish line. As I congratulated Chad I looked up and noticed three teams in our division and I was disappointed in myself. We had finished in a solid time, but I had felt like I had let myself and Chad down.
“UPS & DOWNS”
Stage 5: Red Cliff To Vail
Stats: 22.8 (okay lets be honest it was 23.98 miles)/5,500 ft climbing
Chad and I woke up and chatted about how hard it was becoming to get out of the tent even though the sleeping wasn’t uncomfortable. Another challenging day of running awaited us and our muscles were starting to feel like they were ready for a rest day. The temperatures were again sub-40 so I opted to start in arm warmers and mittens. Our goal today was to keep our competitors in sight during the 10 mile climb up Shrine Pass. We quickly lost sight of the Canadian duo of Mark Nelson and Care Wakely, but had Bryon and Krissy in sight as we climbed the dirt road. As the course veered off the dirt road and onto single track Chad and I were in front of Krissy and Bryon but we allowed them to pass. I was struggling, my stomach wasn’t cooperating and every time I ate I got sharp pains in my abdomen. I continued to do what I could so we wouldn’t lose too much time. We would run and then walk and then run some more. As we began to plateau everything for me began to crumble and become painful. Chad was running in front of me and I threw up. I dropped to all fours while grabbing my stomach and threw up again. Chad finally stopped and looked at me and started walking back towards me. He admittingly didn’t know what to do nor did I. I think telepathically we both knew the options which were to get up and walk or to get up and run. We were in the middle of no mans land with nothing or no one around. I got up while complaining about my frustration and pain. As we walked around the next corner Chad spotted a camera man and told me I should at least run till we passed him, I agreed and we took off running. As we continued to press on we noticed that we weren’t far behind Chris and Brian and this proved as motivation for both Chad and I. My stomach was empty and painful, but I tried to eat one shot block at a time. That plan back fired as it came back up faster then it went down. I kept running while focusing on not losing ground on the team in front of us. As we finally made it to the top of Vail Pass we pulled into the aid station to restock on GU, electrolytes and water. Now for the fun part, 3,000 ft of downhill running on service dirt roads and single track. Despite not feeling well I was in heaven. I opened up my stride and took off eager to catch Chris and Brian. About 2 miles into the decent Chad and I had them in our sights and overtook them. We continued to push the pace and as the miles ticked away I got more and more eager to be done. A few miles from the finish I attempted to eat a GU and thought it was going to stay put but without warning projectile vomited while running. As disgusting as it was I think all I could do was laugh. Chad and I crossed the finish line and were pleased with our 3rd place finish given the trying times that we had encountered during the stage.
“THE FINAL FINISH”
Stage 6: Vail To Beaver Creek
Stats: 20.6 miles / 4,780 ft climbing
After a rough night of interrupted sleep Chad and I were only motivated by the fact that the day meant the final day of running. I had been telling myself just 16 miles of running and I was going to be done, but then my bubble was burst when I was informed that it was 21 miles of running with significant climbs. I could do it, we could do it, and I told myself that each step we took we would be that much closer to the finish and returning home to our families. Knowing that I was struggling mentally and with stomach issues Chad suggested that I wear my ipod to help me zone out and I agreed. We started the final leg of the race in the village of Vail and were paced out of town by mountain bikers until we reached the single track that marked the start of our first significant climb of the day. Once again the skies were clear and the sun was intense and we worked to not fall far behind the three teams that surged in front of us. Ever so often I would take my headphones off to check in with Chad to see how he was feeling. For the first 10 miles my stomach was touch and go as I felt like I could only push as hard as it would allow me to and luckily Chad was feeling strong. After running 12 plus miles on road, buffed out single track and double track we were treated some tighter, more technical single track which excited me. At this point Chad requested that I ditched the tunes as he felt like we run better when I could communicate more consistently and I agreed as we continued downhill. Like usual my speed increased until I finally almost went flying heard first down the hill. Knowing my tendencies Chad reined me in. Eventually Chad and I caught Chris and Brian and after exchanging encouraging words we pressed on down the trail. About 1.5 miles later the single track abruptly ended and we found ourselves descending down a pavement hill into the center of Avon. As we flew through intersections, over roundabouts and tunnels again without notice I threw up and could only imagine what motorists/pedestrians must have thought. Chad and I both knew just four miles left, but still a killer climb to come so I clipped the tow rope on. As we arrived at the final aid station I grabbed a few GU’s and decided not to fill my hydration pack. We were maintaining our small lead over Chris and Brian, but they were within sight. They were so close that Brian continued to wave to us as we made our way up the switch backs. As we worked our way up we both began to feel the heat. Chad made the call when to walk and when to run. We both knew that we had to run more sections then our bodies really wanted to. We pushed and I went to take a sip of water and discovered I was out. We leveled out and I unclipped and took the lead as we started to go down. Within two minutes we both realized that in actuality we were not done climbing. We could now see the top but still had several sweeping switchbacks to climb before plummeting to the finish. I lead the way and just before cresting the final section I took a sip of Chad’s water. Down we went on dirt road, then single track and then more dirt road. We could hear the cowbell of the women who hiked up a mile everyday to cheer runners in and then we could hear the announcer at the finish. I peered over my shoulder to see if we need to sprint the finish but nothing behind us but open road. We crossed the finish line in 3rd place for the stage and secured a 3rd place finish for the week.
"AFTER THOUGHTS"
It was a new experience camping with hundreds of other athletes, although I blended right in with my outdoor wardrobe consisting of all my favorite OR clothing, 2XU compression and recovery garments and of course my Inov-8 shoes and sliders.
It was obvious from the moment that we started living in "tent city" that there was a lack of personal space as we all lived together in a small tent with our teammates for 6 days. To give you an idea the tent was so small that Chad was too tall for it lying down. To help alleviate this problem we slept with the door open and this also aided in not having to hear our tent zipper every few hours for bathroom breaks (PCPO - "Pee Clear, Pee Often).
Throughout the week Chad and I received numerous comments on how well we worked together during the stages. As many teams struggled to find their compatibility Chad and I communicated constantly so to manage things before they escalated. We are still speaking and this is an added bonus. We also noticed that many competitors were having foot problems, whether having massive blisters or banged up toes. Chad and I had no such issues and we were proud of it. Our Inov-8’s dried everyday; they provided protection and traction on all the terrain we encountered.
So now we are both back in New England enjoying the air and catching up on life. My most present thoughts are that I am tired, very tired. I am not sore; I do not have blisters or scrapes and cuts, but just don’t have a jump in my step. The nature of the race we completed didn't allow our bodies enough time for soreness to set in or for us to fully recover. After we finished each stage I asked if we could just do all the mileage at once, a one shot deal. Motivating day after day to will ourselves to the start line and then to the finish line became daunting yet exciting at the same time. It was fun talking to all abilities of runners about Inov-8 shoes while sharing my passion for running and the outdoors with them.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
This Weekend's Starting Line
The US Mountain Running Team will be heading to Kamnik, Slovenia to compete at the 26th World Mountain Running Championships this Sunday. Representing Team USA and Team Inov-8 will be Joe Gray. You can follow the progress of Joe and the team on the US Mountain Running Team twitter feed at http://twitter.com/usmrtThis year the 12k course for the senior men is an uphill one and so is the 8k course for the senior females. (odd numbered years the course is up/down)
Also what would a weekend be without Jim Johnson toeing the line somewhere? This time he is racing the Wapack Trail Race (17.5 miles)The race is a series of climbs up to and down from several peaks along the Wapack Trail in Southern New Hampshire and North Central Massachusetts. Likewise another athlete we see racing somewhere almost every weekend is Dwight Shuler. Even though he has won the series, Dwight will be competing in the last race in the 2010 Xterra North Carolina Trail Run Series. This is a 10 mile course on the Fisher Farms Park Trails in Davidson, NC this Sunday.
IAU 50k World Trophy Final - Race Report by Ben Nephew
IAU 50k World Trophy Final 2010
Galway, Ireland
8/29/10
Back in March, I ran the USATF 50k Championship in Long Island with the hopes of qualifying for the IAU Trophy race this summer in Ireland. The USATF race was very fast, and I didn’t have a great day. I managed to run a 3:18, which is under the qualifying time for the IAU race, but I was 5th. They typically only take the first two runners, and I knew that Mike Wardian and Malcolm Campbell were planning on going. I forgot about the race, and went back to focusing on the trails.
In late July, the IAU asked me if I was interested in attending the 50k in Galway, as they had a number of spots left due to athletes not being able to attend the race. Although the timing was pretty bad due to Gavin starting school and Steph starting her first principal position, we figured that a quick trip would be OK. I quickly made travel plans, and then realized I had very little time to train. While this would not be much of problem for most people, or for me if it was trail race, I don’t do well running road races off of training that is almost 100% on trails. I had to figure out how to get some road miles in, but not kill my legs prior to the race. I already had a couple race commitments with Escarpment and the Dam, so my time was even more limited. My road training consisted of a hilly 19 miler at 6:15 pace the week after Escarpment, a rolling and hot 20 miler at 6:15 pace the day after the dam, and a 10 miler at 6:02 pace the weekend before the race. I also threw in a few 8-10 mile runs on the roads with Gavin, but the rest of my mileage was on the trails to save my legs for the race.
I could write pages on the overall experience in Galway, as the trip was fantastic, but I’ll keep things relatively under control and focus on the race. The course consisted of two half marathon loops followed by 4 small loops through the center of Galway. While I had initially thought the course would be almost totally flat, the bus tour of the course revealed that much of it was rolling. With Galway being on the ocean, wind was another factor to consider. Then there all the other invited runners. Most of them had seed times much faster than my 3:18, with a half dozen under 3 hours. I lined up with the American contingent of Mike, Malcolm, Dan Verrington, and Mary Coordt, and we were off.
There was a half marathon, marathon relay, and a regular marathon all starting at the same time, so the start was pretty packed. My main goal was to run an even race, and not have to resort to the death shuffle through the center of town over the last few miles. I ran behind Dan and several women for about a half mile, and then started to move up through the field. I pulled up to a pack that seemed to be going at a good pace, almost passed them, but then decided to join. As I passed the mile in 5:48, I realized that there was no need to press the pace. My PR from 6 yrs ago is 6:09 pace. Our group was a mix of half and full marathoners, and a couple of British 50k guys. In general, the pace was very steady around 6 minutes, which was perfect. Dan came out of nowhere to join us somewhere around 3-4 miles, and the two of us just hung out in the back and tried to relax through the early miles.
The small rolling hills started around 1.5 miles, and our pack tended to run relatively slow uphill, and fast on the downhill. The uphills seemed too easy, and I was a bit worried about abusing my legs on the downhills. Dan and I let some of the guys go on a few downhills, and then caught back up on the flats or uphills. I was definitely dropped as we went through the 10k aid station. I slowed to get my bottle of Coke and Gatorade (which Malcolm calls Devil Juice), and suddenly was about 10 seconds back. I was annoyed at myself for letting this happen, but tried to stay relaxed and slowly work my way back up to the pack. There was a sizable gap behind us, so I was relieved when I pulled back up with Dan.
We spent the rest of the first half marathon clicking off low 6 minute miles, until we got to 12 miles. At this point, the marathon went out on a walkway over the ocean, turned at 12 miles, and then headed back into the center of Galway for the end of the half marathon loop. The wind shifted towards us, and I suddenly moved through the pack. I didn’t feel like I was increasing the pace, but Dan said it seemed that way at the time. I passed through the half in just under 1:20, as the weather was taking a turn for the worse. Within minutes, it went from sunny and calm to raining and very windy. I thought that the pack would reform soon, but was surprised to see that the nearest runner was about 15 seconds back, and everyone else was strung out behind. I was really hoping to get to 20 miles or so with at least one other person to run with, and I was wishing for someone to run with to help fight the wind. I kept looking back to see if anyone was close, and thought about slowing to run with the closest British 50k runner. I wasn’t pushing, so my decision was to wait and see if he catches up.
My legs felt good through the miles of 13-20, and I was able to keep running close to 6:00 pace without much effort. My legs usually start to tire about 15 miles into a road 50k from all the pounding, so I was a bit surprised. The first 30 minutes or so of the second half marathon were rainy and windy, but storm eventually passed. The final hill on the big loop was from 21-21.5 miles, and as I caught a marathoner, Julian Rendall, the top British 50k runner, came flying by. I thought about going with him, but I had a good race going, and didn’t want to risk pushing too hard with so many miles left to run. He seemed to put 15-20 seconds a mile on me until 25 miles, and then stayed about a minute ahead.
As we returned to the promenade along the ocean at 23 miles, the wind had changed from a tailwind on the first loop, to a gusty headwind. My legs were starting to get a bit tight, but I was motivated by two tiring 50k runners that Julian had just passed. I caught and passed them just past 25 miles, and pushed on through the marathon in 2:40. In terms of energy, I was ready to push the last 4.9 miles around the city loops, but my hamstring started to cramp right as I was going through the marathon finish. I was frustrated and concerned at the same time, but knew that I need to relax and let the cramp subside. In addition to the cramp, we had to deal with a gradual hill on the city loop that seemed to face into the wind. I knew I was going to be close to a PR if I could avoid cramping, which is easier said than done.
I decided that I would back off on the first two loops to ensure that my hamstring didn’t get any worse. Right at the start of the city loops, we took a hard left up the gradual hill for about a quarter mile or so. The rest of the loop was downhill or flat as it wound down through the cobbled pedestrian shopping area and back to the finish. We actually got bike escorts to ensure that no one walked in front of us, which was nice. The bike did tempt me to pick up the pace, but 4 miles is a long way to run with your hamstring tied up in a ball. As I focused on relaxing my legs, they began to feel a bit better on the second loop. I spotted Mike Wardian finishing towards the end of the loop. By the third loop, I tried to pick up the pace. My right calf got a bit tight, but then loosened. The wind hit me right in the face as I went up the hill at the start, and I replied with some choice words that seemed to startle my pacer on the bike. I really wasn’t in the mood to run into the wind while going uphill at this point. As we started downhill, a young intoxicated lad told me to lift my knees, so I did. It was a good idea, and I rolled down the hill. My pace was slightly interrupted by an ambulance that almost ran me off the road trying to get to a collapsed runner in the finish area, but the siren stimulated a good shot of adrenaline. By this point, Mike and Malcolm were in the finish area to yell at me as I started by final 2k, and I passed Dan right at this point as well. I threw him a thumbs up, as that was all I could manage. I struggled up the last hill, and emptied the tank in the last mile. On the final straight, I was reeling in the 11th place runner like he was an unconscious swordfish, but I ran out of room.
The U.S. runners did great, Mary was second in the women’s race with a 3:28 after coming in as the 6th seed, Mike’s 2:54 was third like last year, but in a much deeper field, Malcolm ran a 6 minute PR and just missed the top 5 with his 6th place 2:58, I beat my old PR by about a minute with a 3:10:18 in 12th, and Dan just missed qualifying for next year’s race with his 3:21. I ended up running the first half marathon at 6:05 pace, the second half marathon at 6:08 pace, and then ran 6:07 for the last 4.9. Considering the hills, the rain, and the lack of anyone to run with over the last 19 miles, I’m completely satisfied with my race. Of course, I was just about to start bragging about my even splits after the race when Malcolm commented that he ran negative splits! For all the master’s runners out there, have fun racing Malcolm next year! I’m not sure of Mike’s splits, but I know he moved up from 6th or so at 20k.
For my shoes, I ran in 220 PK’s that were on their last legs, partially due to the fact I do my long runs in my race shoes. This a pretty light shoe for a 50k or marathon, but I was able to fit an extra insole in to provide a bit of extra cushioning. While I thought that the clear rubber sole had poor traction on the wet roads after the storm, everyone else was complaining that their shoes were slipping as well. I’m excited to try out the new road shoes that Inov-8 will be selling next year, but I’m very happy with the performance of my 220’s in Galway. I did get a bit of blister on a toe, but it was minor, and was caused by a combination of loose lacing and the rain in the second half. The 220’s like to be cinched up a bit after they get warm.
I have to thank my wife most of all for manning the homestead during one of the most stressful times in her professional life. I’m a lucky man. The IAU and the Galway Marathon race organization were incredible, especially for a first time event. Their generosity was overwhelming, the race itself was fantastic, and they even answered all of Mike Wardian’s questions! One personal highlight of the weekend was getting to hear Sonia O’Sullivan, Marcus O’Sullivan, and Frank O’Mara speak the night before the race. I also roomed with Malcolm, who has some pretty fast PR’s himself. He told me that he ran 28:50 as a junior for Scotland, and I replied that I broke 27 minutes for 8k in college. He then informed he was talking about a 10k!? I enjoyed his European racing stories, and I had fun with the entire American contingent over the weekend, which included Dan’s wife Martha, Mary’s husband Michael, and the entire Wardian family. Dan and Martha gave me a ride back to Dublin on Monday morning, which was probably the reason I made my flight. Michael was a great mascot; he was cheering for us all over the course, and could be heard about a quarter mile away, at least. In case you haven’t guessed, most of my teammates made a vacation out of the trip, and everyone loved Galway and the surrounding area. I thoroughly enjoyed my three days, especially three hours on Sunday, and I’m hoping to go back next summer and get on some of the fantastic trails in the region.
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