Monroe Dunbar Brook 10.5 mile trail run
Sunday, Oct. 9, 2005
2005 Monroe Dunbar Brook race results
Monroe Dunbar Brook trail races info
2005 Monroe Dunbar Brook trail race photo slideshow
Most. Insane. Trail Run. Ever.
(Or at least, one of the most insane. I've been on a couple of runs that only the sanity-challenged would do...)
Two disclaimers up front - it was actually more like 11 miles, and "trail run" is a misnomer... I spent about 5 miles running and the other 6 speed-hiking.
So the day started with me turning on the news at 6 AM and hearing that northern Berkshire County had been hit with the heaviest rain yesterday and was badly flooded, with lots of roads closed and people generally advised to not go out if they didn't have to. Three guesses where I was heading to do this race...
On the way over, came to one road which was closed due to flooding... fortunately, it was the same road that was closed back in August because of bridge work, so I didn't have to look up a detour. Once again my tired old car made its way over the Taconic Range on the road that just goes up and up and up. As an added feature, this time the cloud layer started halfway up the mountains, so visibility dropped to about 10 feet.
After driving up more mountains (and seeing some very nice waterfalls next to the road) I found myself at the Dunbar Brook Picnic Area in Monroe State Forest in NW Mass. Yes, the race was still on (after a 2 hour drive, it darn well better have been!) Did all the usual pre-race stuff and found out we were starting half an hour late to give people time to arrive over the flooded roads. No biggie. 15 minutes before the start we got the briefing, which was another clue that this was going to be an interesting run. Keep in mind that the speaker is Bob Dion, a gifted but psycho trail runner who blasts up and down the Greylock trail half marathon in record time.
BD - "Yesterday we marked the trails in the rain - THAT was scary. They're usually very slick and there's some very tricky sections - those are even worse this year."
(Oh goodie.)
BD - "Today we went out on the course at 7 AM and it's even scarier. Most of the trails are under water - they're streams. Be careful!"
(Great...)
BD - "Now about the stream crossing - we noticed yesterday that the river was getting pretty deep and pretty fast. So we thought about how we could do this and decided to use the bridge instead."
(That's not so bad...)
BD - "So we tried going over the bridge and it's VERY slippery - if anyone falls off into the river they're dead. It's currently chest deep and 50 mph whitewater."
(That doesn't sound good.)
BD - "So this morning we put a strip of indoor/outdoor carpetting across the bridge - the footing is great now, lots of traction."
(Let's back up to that part about if you fall in the river, you're dead...)
BD - "Unfortunately, as we worked on the bridge we found out that some of the beams are cracked and there are boards missing. It's a bit unstable. I'm OK walking across it, and most of you might be, but I'm sure there are some of you who would have problems with the bridge. Thing is, you probably wouldn't realize it until you're halfway across, and then it's too late. And if anyone falls in that river, they're dead. All we could do is watch them get washed away."
(OK, guess I'm crawling across that bridge on my hand and knees. After 9.5 miles of running. Great...)
BD - "So as much as I hate doing this, we've re-routed the course so we don't end up on the other side of the river. We just can't risk someone dying in that crossing."
(Well, I was looking forward to having to cross the knee-deep stream, but I can handle not having to crawl over a rickety bridge over 50 mph whitewater. OK.)
After that he gave us directions for the re-routing and then did his best to get everyone to line up for a head count, "so they could make sure everyone who went in made it back out." And then a little bit later - off we went.
The first mile was along the River of Death (don't slip!) and was mostly runnable. It became clear very quickly that there was no point in trying to go around the water and mud, because 30 seconds later you'd hit a spot where there was no room to go around it. So my feet were wet five minutes in and stayed that way until I got in the car to go home. At the end of the first mile we started up the mountain - literally. The trail was a muddy, wet single track that went right up the mountain. The first stretch of speed hiking, and an ominous preview (thanks to the re-routing, we had to come back down the same trail, after 85 runners had gone up it and most of that number had come back down it.)
Hit on ORV trail which was runnable, and a nice downhill stretch (where I watched some of the people around me take off at full throttle so that they missed the turnoff. Sadly, they passed me later in the race despite the extra they ran.) Then it was back to more steep uphill single track. That was the pattern for the first six miles... run a bit, then speed-hike up a steep and gnarly trail. Ran a bit at the top, then we started the steep downhills, and I slowed to a crawl (bad knees + running steep downhills = POP! *#%#*&**!! OW OW OW!!!) That's when I was passed by a bunch of people who I never saw again (guess they're good at running steep downhills.)
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Anyway, between short stretches (a mile or so) or running and crawling down steep muddy trails, I eventually made it back to the runnable first mile and ran pretty consistently to the finish, at 3 hrs 11 minutes (compared to the 2 1/4 hours it took me to run 11 miles down at Mohonk, popped knee and all.)
photo courtesy of www.runwmac.com
photo courtesy of www.runwmac.com
At various times had people around. One fellow was with me for some long stretches... unfortunately, he mostly complained, until I was almost ready to stop at one of the deeper trail/streams and see if he could complain underwater. Luckily he hit a point where he was sure he knew the way back (I think one reason he was shadowing me was he was afraid he'd get lost) and he disappeared. I clearly wasn't the only one who struggled with this crazy course... I'm curious to see how the "fast" people did on it.
I may or may not have pictures from this one... dropped my disposable camera in one of the "ponds" so the film may be ruined. I know tomorrow after Wal-mart tries to develop it. I hope some of the shots survived... there should be some good ones illustrating the insanity of this run.
After finishing I changed shirts and hiked back to the bridge over the River of Death... if they leave that carpet there someone in the future is going to be wondering why anyone whould carpet an old footbridge out in the woods. Took some pictures with my good camera, so I know those will come out.
So it was an interesting experience. Frustrating because I wasn't able to run more of it, but a good lesson for prepping for Escarpment next summer - I definitely need to get in mountain work (like hill work only worse) so that I can run up some of these steep trails, because I don't have a prayer of running the steep downhills (which is where most people make up the time they lost on the uphill.)
JMH
Next week - no race! (though if I can get my ATB back in working condition, I'm planning to ride the bike course for the duathlon the following week, to see if I need my ATB or if I could do it with my heavier road bike, which would be faster.)
Two weeks - the Black Diamond OffRoad Duathlon! (the name's a misnomer... the running is offroad, but only some of the riding is...)
