Greylock Trail Half Marathon
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Greylock Trail Races info
2007 Greylock Trail Races results
2007 Greylock Half Marathon photo slideshow
I have to admit, my attitude wasn't the best when I crawled out of bed this morning... seems my new neighbors upstairs decided to have another drinking party, so I didn't get nearly as much sleep as I would have liked. I briefly considered skipping the race today, but then decided I'd be really aggravated with myself later on if I did... and it's not like it's the first time I went off to do a race on little sleep!
Drive over was uneventful, I find it amusing that at this point I've been to Greylock Glen enough times that I no longer need directions to get there. Parked in almost exactly the same spot as last year, about a quarter mile from the gazebo in the Glen where the race is staged out of. Checked in, then headed back to the car to gear up, taking care to get all my gear together since I didn't feel like making any more trips back and forth. While I was waiting for the race to begin, I checked out the modified course. (The roads to the summit of Greylock are being torn up and resurfaced over the next two years, so the old course, which took us to the summit and then looped around the mountain back to the Glen, had to be modified - there was no feasible way to get aid stations set up.) Looked like a 10 mile out-and-back in one direction, and then the 5k course in the other. Of particular interest were the notes on the course map that read "STEEP HILL"...
After a bit of a wait, we found out that the two races would be starting at separate times (hurray! not as much of a traffic jam at the singletrack out of the Glen!) and that the race was indeed an out-and-back for the first 10 miles, with water stops approximately every 2.5 miles. And then, after a few well-deserved thank you's to folks who had helped with the course marking and aid stations - off we went!
As usual, we had a massive traffic jam at the single track out of the Glen, but that passed fairly quickly because we headed off on a wider path than the usual one up the mountain - in fact, it was the same path we ran on during the snowshoe race back in January! (A harbinger of things to come...) Rolling terrain, a bit of mud, but fairly easy running to start out... then after about half a mile, we headed up the mountain. Up and up and up, it seemed, following steep singletrack along the edge of a ravine with a stream running down it. We had a short break from climbing (ie. something I could actually run rather than power-hike) but then the climb resumed on the Bellows Pipe trail, a wide, rocky, steep biking path. There were several of us marching up the hill, including Rich Busa in a bright orange Nipmuck T-shirt (it was easy to keep him in sight!) At about 2.5 miles we hit a self-serve water stop, and shortly after that we hit the highest point on the trail and started a long downhill run through some beautiful forest... some of the trail was very runnable, other sections were wet and slippery - at one point both my feet slid out from under me and fortunately landed in a spot where I had traction, or I would have probably ended up smacking the back of my head on the rocks.
As I ran down the path toward the turnaround, first individual runners passed me heading back (the front of the pack) and then larger and larger groups went by. Made it into the turnaround at about an hour and a quarter (not bad for five miles with about 2 miles of uphill hiking) where I refilled my water bottles, chatted briefly with the nice ladies manning the aid station, and then hustled back out for the 2.5 mile uphill hike back the way I'd come.
The hike back up the hill wasn't as bad as I expected - I kept a pretty good pace and was feeling fairly strong when I made it to the top of the hill. The run down the other side was tough... some parts were steep, some parts were rocky, and the non-stop downhill really beat up my quads, especially after all the uphill hiking I'd done. Still, I made reasonably good time, and no one passed me. Reached the bottom of the hills and ran as best I could to the 4th aid station at the 10 mile mark... and the start of the last 5k loop.
My legs were definitely feeling it as I headed out across the road onto the 5k course... I had no juice left for running uphill, even though most of these weren't nearly as steep as those in the first part of the race. Had another unpleasant surprise, too - where the previous 5k course had meandered back and forth across the stream and generally headed uphill for the 1st half, the new course basically followed the stream up toward Old Adams Rd... emphasis on the up. I didn't think the climb would ever end! On the plus side, it's a beautiful spot, with the path going through a pine forest overlooking a rocky stream bed. Eventually I reached the top of the hill (or at least, the highest point on the course) and then had a long mostly downhill run back to the road and the Glen. Had a brief scary moment when three dirt-bikers roared by (wish I'd known at the time that those trails are off-limits to ORVs, I'd have snapped a photo of the last guy's license plate and sent it to the Massachusetts DEC) but mostly it was just a matter of enduring tyring to run on my somewhat thrashed legs. Came out in the Glen and managed a decent run to the finish, with lots of folks clapping and cheering... crossed the finish at 3:19:52, roughly an hour faster than last year. (Some of that is because I'm in better shape this year, but a lot of it was the modified course... the hiking sections were split up more, giving my legs a break, and there were a lot more parts of this course that I could run without worrying that I'd blow out a knee.)
After that it was time to snag a quick bite to eat, chat briefly with a few folks, and change out of my soaking wet clothes. While I was doing the latter, two older folks on mountain bikes returned from their ride, and we had a nice chat about riding (they saw my bike racked on the back of the car), the Greylock trails and what a mess the ATVs have made of so many of the parks in the Berkshires.
And then it was time to head south for the trailhead to the rail trail so I could torture my legs further with some riding!
Despite my cranky mood when I got up, I'm glad I ran today. It went better than I expected it to, and it was a nice day to be out in the woods. I finished this one tired and sore, but I don't think Greylock kicked my butt, as it has the last two times I was here!
Next up - one of my favorite races, the Summer Solstice 14k at Minnewaska State Park, one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I can think of no better way to celebrate the solstice than by running along the cliffs and through the blooming mountain laurel at Minnewaska!
JMH
2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 112.4 mi, 28 hr 06 min
Cycling 26.2 mi, 1 hr 55 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, VT
