Sunday, October 28, 2007

LONG DISTANCE 2007, Race #25
Hairy Gorilla Trail Half Marathon
Sunday, October 28, 2007

It's funny, after not being sure I wanted to run this race in 2005 (due to the course being moved from the Pine Bush to Thacher Park, where I'd run the Indian Ladder trail race many times) and then running it at the last minute in 2006 (after being out of commission for much of the fall due to the Crash of August 2006) - I found myself looking forward to doing it again in 2007. Perhaps part of that came from the fact that I convinced Jim and Loretta, two of my running and martial arts friends from Rochester, to do the race this year (Jim has family in the area.) Or maybe I was just looking forward to finishing faster (hopefully) than last year.

The drive over was an unexpected challenge, between the last-minute stop to buy my bananas (anyone running the hal marathon needed to bring a banana with them) and trying to successfully navigate the new traffic rotaries that have been constructed in Bethlehem... I knew where I was going and still wasn't sure I was making the correct turns to get out of those things! But in the end I found myself once again at the Haile's Cave picnic area at Thacher, with the ARE's customary loud music and costumed volunteers all around.

One change for this year - we didn't have buckets of rain during the week leading up to the race, so I wasn't expecting the course to be a swamp (though with all the rain yesterday afternoon, I did expect some damp spots.) Checked in, waffled back and forth about what to where, met up with the dynamic duo from Rochester (who were very excited to be running today) and then we all gathered together at the start, for a few words from RD Josh. And then - off we went!

The first stretch runs through the woods behind the picnic area, and given that the past two years that trail was underwater - it was a real surprise to find it essentially dry. Both the half marathon and the 6 miler go off at the same time, so it was pretty crowded... this is a race where I can expect to have company on the trail for the first half, but fortunately the trails are pretty wide after the initial bit through the woods. After a brief bit of the escarpment trail, we headed up hill on the trails above the Paint Mine area... lots of climbing, but nothing too awful. Along here I passed Rich Busa, which is always something of a surprise - even at 77, Rich typically kicks my backside, because he's a phenomonal runner with tons of trail experience.

After a long downhill, we headed back along the escarpment and then retraced our initial path through the woods, coming out on the ballfield behind the picnic area. At that point I bid the 6 milers farewell, and headed off into the 2nd half of the race - 7 miles of more technical trails and tougher running.

more to come...

2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 277.9 mi, 64 hr 57 min
Cycling 72.2 mi, 5 hr 15 min
Snowshoe 31.3 mi, 9 hr 11 min
states visited: CT, MA, ME, NH, NY, RI, VT
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