Gail's Trail Run 10k
Sunday, December 2, 2007
2007 Gail's Trail Run results (times are off)
photo slideshow
I was first introduced to the Leatherman's Loop 10k trail race by a fellow runner who basically said the course was full of water and mud and all the runners come out looking like hell. I ran it for the first time in 1999 and absolutely loved it. Two frigid stream crossings (including one nearly to my waist), mud, hills, and some beautiful woods... I had an absolute blast. In many ways, the Leatherman's Loop was responsible for my resuming serious running and riding... in February 2005 I discovered the race website and the pictures reminded me of how much fun the race had been... so I decided to get into shape to run it again, and did, in April. While the course was still as fun as it had been in 1999, the number of runners had grown to close to 800, which is really more than those trails can comfortably accomodate (I was almost 3 miles into the race before the field finally spread out enough that I could run consistently at my own pace.) So despite loving the course, I resigned myself to probably never running it again...
... at least until I found out about Gail's Trail Run in early December! Organized by Team Mossman in Connecticut, the event is in memory of former team member Gail Jacobsen and serves as a fundraiser for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. And best of all - it's run on the Leatherman's Loop course! I ran it in 2006 and had a fun time... while the mud is a bit more frozen, and the stream crossings are a bit colder, and the trails are harder to see under all the fallen leaves... it's still the same course I loved when I first ran it in 1999. And not only wasn't it crowded, after the first ten minutes or so I might as well have been out there alone... no other runners in sight.
The drive down to Cross River always brings back memories; I drove much of that section of the Taconic State Parkway and I84 many, many times when I was in college and grad school. There was very little traffic for much of the drive, initially probably because of the early hour and then further along most likely due to the light snowstorm that was moving through the area. By the time I reached the Ward Pound Ridge Reservation there was about an inch of snow on the ground, which made for slightly slippery driving and promised an interesting run!
The start was delayed by about 10 minutes due to the weather, so I spent part of the time sitting in the car and part of the time outside in the snow. It was chilly, but not as bad as last weekend. I also managed to snag a T-shirt from the 2007 Leatherman's Loop when RD Tony Godino showed up and announced that he had boxes of leftover shirts in the back of his truck if anyone wanted one... a cool bonus! A few minutes before the start the RD said a few words thanking us for supporting the fundraiser, then turned it over to Tony who had marked the course and had a few words of caution for us, mainly about the first stream crossing and a stretch of singletrack through buckthorn further on. It was tough to hear what he was saying over the incessant chatter of the folks in the back... that never fails to aggravate me, but so it goes. And then it was time to run!
This year there was a small group of about 4 or 5 of us who were near the back , and a few just ahead of me who were still in sight even halfway in... I think that's more a sign that there were some other slow runners this year, rather than any real increase in speed on my part! It became clear early on that the snow would be both a help and an additional challenge... it was typically easy to make out where the course went due to the tracks in the snow, but combined with the leaves the snow made the footing even more slippery and even tougher to see. The first stretch took us along Cross River (really more of a wide stream) and up and down the hills through the woods. Wading across the stream was cold, but at this point I've done it enough that it wasn't the shock that it was the first time. Getting out was tough - there's a large, slippery rock under the water at the far bank, and it took me a bit to get across that without falling in. I paused for a moment to help the folks behind me make their way out of the water, and then headed up the trail as quick as I could to try and generate some heat in my feet!
The next stretch took us through the woods and partially frozen mud along the bank of the stream... challenging, but nothing too tough. Up and down a couple of hills, and then going through a swampy field brought us out at a brief stretch of pavement and then into the long swampy stretch. Other than a bit of mud right at the trailhead, everything was frozen... which presented its own challenges, since the path had been pretty heavily churned up before it froze. At the end of the swamp was crossed the stream again (on a bridge, this time) and found ourselves in an old quarry, at the base of what is referred to as the Wall - a steep, sandy hill that we had to climb. With the ground partially frozen, it was actually a bit easier to get to the top than some of the other times I've done it... and after some of the hills I've climbed during races this fall, it was definitely short and sweet!
After that we followed fairly wide trails through the woods, up and down hills... good running surface during the spring race, a bit trickier today due to the snow and leaves and my not wanting to end up on the ground with a blown knee. Eventually the course took us back down to the stream not far from where we'd first seen it shortly after the start, then headed back up into the woods. At one point I stopped to sip some Gatorade from my water bottle and was surprised to find myself surrounded by birds flittering back and forth - apparently they liked the berries in the bushes that lined the trail in that spot. A final downhill dropped us into a field and the approach to the dreaded final stream crossing.
The water was cold but not as deep as it had been during both the Leatherman's Loop runs I did... I was briefly tempted to stop and take a picture from the middle of the crossing, but decided the fellow standing on the bank would think that just a little too weird. So instead I made my way up the bank out of the water, and ran the last cold, windy stretch through the fields to the finish. Crossed the finish line in 1:24:50... a few minutes faster than last year, and not as fast as I was hoping for, but not bad considering the conditions.
After that I changed into dry clothes and grabbed a bite to eat before heading to another part of the park for part 2 of the day's adventures - a hike to the Leatherman's cave!
All in all, a race well worth doing, despite the long drive... a fun course to run, good people to run with, and a worthy cause to support. I can definitely think of worse ways to spend an early December morning.
Next up (and last up for 2007): the Last Chance Trail Run at Highland Forest in Fabius... run as much of the 9 mile course as I want and then - eat as many pancakes as I want! Woo hoo! And after that - it's snowshoe season!!!!
JMH
2007 EVENT TOTALS
Running 299.1 mi, 69 hr 23 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
