October 10, 2010
It's race day!! I only run one or two races a year, but this will be my first non-ultramarathon. There are three races going on at the same time. The 4 mile race which goes up to one peak, the 8 mile race traverses 5 peaks, and the 12 mile race which covers 8 peaks. I'll be running the 12 mile race. It's much shorter than the 50 kilometer (31 mile) races that I've done in the past but this will be by far the most rugged. Someone who helped set up this race decided to have a little fun with the start time. The date was October 10, 2010 or 10/10/10. The race started at 10:10:10. So the race started the 10th second of the 10th minute of the 10th hour of the 10th day of the 10th month of the 10th year.
All 3 races started together. I neared the starting line.
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Pre-race briefing
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And we are off.
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With over 200 runners it was a crowded start.
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Just a few minutes into the race the crowd thinned right out. Our courses split. The 4 and 8 mile runners headed to the right while the 12 mile runners headed to the left. This thinned out about 3/4ths of the runners.
There was a long, steep climb right after this. Nearly all the runners stopped running and began walking. The uphill is where I do best and the only place I found myself passing people. Up we continued to the top of White Cap which has absolutely stunning views. This mountain is close to home so I'll have to return one day when I can stop to enjoy it. . . but not today. I settled in with a group of 5 runners. We were running pretty close to the same pace and would stay close for most of the race. I would catch and pass them on the uphills and they would pass me on the downhills. We headed over Locke Mountain and Barker Mountain. Then way down and slightly up to hit North Peak. Down we went losing a total of about 700 feet of the hard earned elevation. Just to head back up. All the way up to Spruce Peak with Aurora Peak right behind it. After a short drop we had one more major climb up to Oz. Just after this we hit our last peak, Jordan Bowl.
While I was racing Lynn took some pictures at the bottom.
The gondola can be taken to the top of the mountain if spectators wish to cheer the runners from there.
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Spectators are allowed to bring their dogs to this event and we saw plenty. Lynn took this picture of a Bernese Mountain Dog which is a cousin to the Swiss Mountain Dog which is Madison's breed.
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Lynn enjoyed watching some wood carving.
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Back to the race. After Jordan Bowl it was nearly all downhill. The group of 5 that I was in was starting to spread out. One runner was way ahead and one fell behind. I stayed with the 2 other runners. We reached the last aid station. My lack of running while training for this race was becoming apparent. I try to use the uphills to catch up to people and all that was left was two miles slightly downhill. The two runners I was with soon undistanced me.
There are a couple of obstacles at the end of this race. The first was a mud pit. It was optional. The runners I was with for most of the race along with myself all announced we would not be going through the mud pit. Well, they got there about 2 minutes ahead of me and apparently changed their minds. Lynn got a picture of them. Yuk!
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Lynn caught me coming around the last corner
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Before the race they announced that the mud pit was optional but that if we didn't go through it we would have to live with the shame of not going in. I had already decided that was something I could definitely live with. Although the crowd booed, I went around. The second obstacle (this one very, very minor) was a pile of sand. Lynn caught a picture of me going over it.
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I went through the finish line and got a well needed cup of water.
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All done until next year.
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So how did I do. Well, given the fact that I devout nearly all my activity to hiking and not running, I generally find myself at the bottom of the pack. Today was no different. I finished with a time of 2:45:05 which is a pace of 13:40. I still haven't broken a 12:00 pace on one of these races so given the tough terrain I was happy with my time. I finished 45 out of 55 overall and was 11 out of 15 in my age brackett.
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