Diamond Hill-Birchwold 22.5k Trail Race
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Diamond Hill trail race info
2007 Diamond Hill results
photo slideshow
I first began wondering what I was getting myself into when I took my gear out to the car at 6:15 AM and found a thin layer of ice coating the car! Fortunately the windshield was covered in dew, not ice, and I was able to get on the road fairly quickly, all under the watchful eye of Venus shining brightly in the pre-dawn darkness.
One plus to driving to Cumberland, RI is that most of the trip is on the highway, which makes for easy driving and lots of available rest stops. But the major minus is the total lack of places to stop when I see something cool and would like to take a picture. I drove through some wonderful parts of the mountains where the mist rising up from the valleys caught the light of the rising sun and positively glowed - very beautiful. But the Mass Pike is definitely not the place to stop and take a picture!
Finally pulled into the Diamond Hill Park parking lot and checked in, picking up my race number and a very nice long-sleeved T-shirt. Then I geared up and spent a while wandering around the immediate area, both as a warm-up and to stay warm on a chilly morning. A few minutes before 10 AM the RD had us all gather at the start - about 50 runners altogether - and gave us some useful instructions about how the course was marked, with assurances that every bit was extremely well-marked exept for a stretch along a road which apparently passes through a residential area where someone routinely takes down any ribbons or flags that they post. So his instructions were "just keep running down that road until you get to the trailhead into the woods"! Once he'd completed his instructions, he gave us the signal to start, and off we went into the wilds of Diamond Hill Park.
The first bit took us up an old ski slope (ie. steep uphill) and then into the woods on singletrack, and it quickly became apparent that this was going to be an interesting run - the trail was fairly technical, with lots of loose rock. We circled along the base of Diamond Hill, then turned and made our way up to the summit, with the trail getting rockier and more technical all the way! After cresting the summit, we had a long downhill stretch - parts quite steep, all loose rock. Within the first 15 minutes or so, everyone had disappeared from view, though I did run into one gal who was having trouble with her quads and was trying to find her way back to the start. I walked with her until we came out just above the old ski slope, where a volunteer offered to help her get down and I headed off onto the rest of the course.
Had a fairly nice run through the woods for a bit, then came out on a paved road through a residential neighborhood bordering the park. A little ways down that road, the path headed into the woods again, going down and down and down until it ran along the shore of the Diamond Hill Reservoir.
The trail along the reservoir showed clear signs of being a multi-abuse trail (ie. one that sees fairly regular ATV traffic.) For the most part it was runnable, though the hills tended to be fairly eroded, and obvious detours had been cut around the muddier sections. Had some nice views of the reservoir before the path took me back up through the woods and across a road to the first water stop, at about 4 1/4 miles. Refilled my water bottle and added some Gatorade mix, then headed back off into the woods.
Had some good running through the woods, though I almost took a wrong turn when the path came out on a powerline right-of-way and headed off to the left... it took me a minute or two of searching to discover that the course ribbons went straight ahead, along a narrow path stomped through the weeds and bushes! From there I spent a little more time in the woods before coming out on a path that circled an overgrown field. On the far side I caught a glimpse of two other runners (the last ones I'd see for the rest of the race!) Followed the perimeter of the field and ended up back in the woods, at a rather tall wooden bridge with steep slippery ramps on either side - ended up getting down the other side by sitting down and sliding!
From there, I hit one of the most technical parts of the course as the path went up and down ridges and rock outcroppings, winding back and forth through the woods and seemingly taking me around in circles. Mentally that was very draining... I'd run for a few minutes then have to slow to a walk for a tricky stretch. Finally ended up on another relatively wide multi-abuse trail, where I dodged my first ATV of the day... actually, he was extremely polite and pulled off to the side to let me go by, and even wished me a good run as I did so. I saw two more riders zipping around as I came out into a large field which I looped through before a damp stream crossing and a short run through more woods.
After that came another mentally challenging section - the second stretch of paved road. At first it was fine, and in some ways a nice break from technical trails... but then I followed the markers and turned onto a road with no course markers whatsoever. Initially I went back to make sure I hadn't missed a side trail, but then I had no choice but to run down the road, hoping I was on course and wouldn't have to go back. As I ran further and further with no markers, I began to wonder if I should head back the way I'd come... but finally after a mile or so, I heard someone holler "up here!" and saw a volunteer manning a water stop just off the roads up in the woods. Phew!
Refilled my bottle and was told I had about 3 1/2 miles to go... that didn't sound so bad! So I headed off down the trail, and fairly quickly hit yet another steep, technical downhill, this one taking the course down to the shore of the reservior again. The trail wound its way through the woods above the shoreline, up and down hills and eventually inland where I was able to make a fairly dry stream crossing. Not too long after that the trails started to look familiar as I backtracked on paths we'd taken on the way out... as on the way out, parts were very runnable and other parts were less so. The worst thing about it was all the nice downhills that had been a pleasure to run on the way out were now uphills!
Finally I made my way up the long uphill stretch back to the paved road I'd run on a good 2 1/2 hours previously, and made my way down the road and past the point where we'd come out of the woods earlier. Apparently the final stretch of the run back would take me along some new trails!
The last stretch of trail was slow going mostly because I had to keep stopping to figure out where to go next! At first the trail was fairly clear, but as it wound down through the trees to the shore of a small pond it basically disappeared and the only way to proceed was to follow the ribbons. Toward the end that got a bit frustrating as it wound back and forth seemingly at random... but then I heard folks hollering that I was almost there and with a quick charge up a short, steep bank, I came out at a paved path and crossed the makeshift finish line (really, the space between two folding chairs) after 3 hr 17 min. Shook the hand of the RD and a couple of volunteers, thanked them for having a race on such a tough course, and then headed over to my car to put on some warm, dry clothes. And then it was time for the long, long drive back to Albany...
Even though this was a tough run and very slow going in spots, I'm definitely glad I did it. I got ton run someplace I'd never been before and chatted with a few more crazy folk I hadn't met before. As I was plodding my way through the last few miles, I also thought about my options at Mendon in early November... if 14 miles was this tough, just how much past 20k do I think I'd be able to do... there's no easy answer to that, but I suspect I would end up stopping after 30k. There was also a minor coolness factor to this race, in that I actually ran in two states - part of the park crosses the border into Massachusetts!
I don't know that this one will become a yearly draw for me... but I think I would like to do it again sometime and see if I can improve my fairly pathetic time...
Next up: the Mohawk Towpath Byway Duathlon, right near home up in Clifton Park. Should be a fun du!
JMH
2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 242.4 mi, 57 hr 01 min
Cycling 46.2 mi, 3 hr 18 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT
