Mendon Trail Runs
Saturday, November 11, 2006
2006 Mendon Trail Runs results
2006 Mendon Trail Run photo slideshow
What a great race! Finished in 1 hr 14 minutes, for just under 12 min/mile - the fastest I've run in a race since The Crash 10 weeks ago!
Back when this was the Year of Long Distance, I had hoped to run the Mendon Trail 50K and officially become an ultrarunner (though there are some who would say you aren't truly an ultrarunner until you've run 50 miles.) The Crash, of course, threw a serious monkey wrench into all of my distance-running plans. Still, I wanted to get a feel for the course (the 50K is 5 times around a 10K loop... a very challenging 10K loop, with approximately 1100 ft of climbing per loop!) So I headed over to Mendon Ponds park to do the 10K. (I might have attempted the 20K, but I didn't want to spend that much time away from Ann - we haven't had much time together recently.)
The weather didn't seem encouraging - Friday night was rainy and there was supposed to be a cold front moving in carrying a substantial amount of rain. I even drove through a shower on the way to the park. But once I got there, the weather was great - relatively warm (for November!) and no rain for the whole time I was there. I ended up leaving my rainjacket and fleece vest in the car, and even wished I'd worn a short-sleeved shirt once I got going and really warmed up.
The 50K runners started 90 minutes before the rest of us, and I got to see two of them come through the loop transition as I was waiting for the shorter races to start. There was actually a good-sized crowd there when I arrived, and it grew as we got closer to race time. The interest in trail running really seems to be growing, which sometimes I think is a good thing (more interest means more events I can go to!) and sometimes a not-so-good thing (too many people! too many people!) It also leads me to an observation regarding silly human behavior - why is it that people who are going to be running 3, 6, and 12 miles in the near future feel compelled to park as close to race registration as possible, in an effort to save a little extra walking to check in?
Anyway, after the usual gearing up and hanging around waiting - off we went! The first half mile or so was along the park road, on a relatively gentle uphill. That was nice because it gave the group a chance to spread out. Then we hit the trails - and the fun began! I'd run these trails twice before - once during Yellowjacket Racing's Powerbar Trail Race in June, and once on an afternoon run in July - and while they are in great shape and very runable, there are many hills, some of them quite steep!
I knew I was having a good day when I hit the first mile marker in 9:40 - and I also knew I was in trouble if I tried to maintain that pace up and down the hills. So I slowed down a bit, and started speed-hiking the hills (especially the long ones!) Hit the 2nd mile marker at about 22 minutes - a bit more reasonable for my conditioning and the terrain. Left the woods and ran through the field between miles 2 and 3 - had another big hill to contend with there, but also saw a deer running through the fields. After that was a nice downhill stretch through the pines into "Carol's Diner", the aid station set up just over halfway through the course. After a quick sip of water, I headed off into the last stretch. I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to push it a bit and picked up the pace - even ran the shorter hills. Managed to pass half a dozen other runners, motivated by the glances at the watch that told me a 12 minute average pace was possible if I hammered out the last couple of miles. It wasn't easy, but I pushed the pace all the way to the end, all the while being passed by some of the runners in the longer races and having my picture taken by the race photographer (hopefully I'll be able to get a copy of the photo!) And made it across the finish line in 1:14:13, 65th out of the 87 runners in the 10K.
Overall, I'm very glad I did this race. It was a nice morning, weather wise (sunny would have been even better but I'm not complaining!) Mendon is a gorgeous place to run, and these particular trails provide a lot of variety and challenge. And I found out that I'm gradually regaining my former conditioning and I still have some kick (well, for me!) and some stride in my legs, despite the effects of The Crash.
And, as with every race I've done since The Crash, I was also just darn happy to be there!
Next up: another race at Mendon, this one mostly on the roads (with a 1 mile stretch on trail) - the RT Turkey Run 5 Miler on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
JMH
2006 event totals
snowshoe - 3 miles, 59.5 min
running - 124.4 miles, 30 hr 45 min
riding - 52.4 miles, 4 hr 8 min
