People's Forest 7 Mile Trail Race
Saturday, August 2, 2008
2008 People's Forest trail race results
People's State Forest official site
People's State Forest trail map (PDF)
My first race of the 2008 WMAC Grand Tree trail series... and it's not even one I've run before! (Actually, that's my own fault... after all, I actually signed up for Muddy Moose, NIPMUCK, and the Greylock Half Marathon and ended up bagging all three, for various and sundry reasons.)
The drive down to the People's State Forest in Barkhamsted, CT, was fairly easy, other than two places where the Mapquest directions were a little bit wonky. Got there in plenty of time to check in and gear up before the fun started. As we were waiting for things to begin, we had the sound of the Farmington River in the background, but it still all seemed fairly remote. Eventually a small group of runners gathered at the starting line (looked like about 60 of us), the RD said a few words about being careful on the course (I think the phrase "slowing down is better than a broken arm" popped up somewhere in there) and then we got the signal to "GO!"
The first bit was easy - a run down a wide path and then across a playing field, where we crossed the road and took to the real trails. I'd overheard folks saying that the first 2 1/2 miles or so had a lot of climbing, and were they ever right! We climbed for a while, then had some easy level and not so easy steep downhills, and then more climbing. The trail was pretty technical - lots of rocks and rocks to make the footing tough, even on the level sections, so it wasn't very quick going for me. Plus, given my plans to run Indian Ladder tomorrow, I didn't want to fry my legs today.
We passed through all sorts of terrain... pine forest, mountain laurel, but best of all - big rocks! Of course, that slowed me down too - I had to get pictures! Eventually all the climbing paid off and I came out on a ledge overlooking the river valley - what a spectacular view!
From there things got a bit easier, and I made better time, but still nothing to brag about. The trails and woods reminded me a lot of both Northern Nipmuck and of course, NIPMUCK itself - no great surprise, given all three take place in northern CT. Thanks heavens it was cloudy, because the humidity was tough - I was drenched fairly early on, and if it had been sunny I suspect it would have been really difficult.
Followed some great technical trails through two picnic areas (including one with a self-serve water stop) and past lots of rocks, ridges, and streams... had a short stint on a dirt road, which was a nice break from the technical stuff. Then I hit the muddy section... nothing too awful, especially in comparison to some of the races I've done in the past few years, but again enough to slow me down a bit - I'd rather lose a few minutes than blow out a knee or hurt myself in a fall.
Before the race the folks who knew the course seemed to really like the fact that the last parts were mostly downhill. If I had good knees maybe I would have too... the first long downhill stretches were too steep and too technical for me to get any speed going. Some of the later parts were a little easier, but by then it was clear I wouldn't be hitting the 90 minute mark I'd originally hoped for or even the 2 hour mark... all the climbing and the technical stuff just slowed me down too much (and I'm sure my general lack of training didn't help!) But in the end I made it back to the playing fields and then down the path to the picnic area serving at race HQ. As I was coming in two little kids (maybe 4 or 5 years old) came running to the edge of the path and starting cheering, so I deliberately detoured and high-fived one of them... hopefully he got a kick out of that, since he was excited that a runner was finishing. Crossed the finish at 2 hr 3 min... a pretty pathetic time, but along the lines of many of my race times this year.
After that all that was left was to change into some dry clothes, rehydrate a bit, and reverse the drive back toward home. I did make one stop before leaving the park - the Stone Museum, a nature museum in a refurbished CCC building. They had some nice displays of local wildlife (lots of stuffed specimens) and tons of information, and I made a small donation to purchase a trail guide for the park. I also listened to the staff person chatting with another visitor... their conversation about whether or not there are mountain lions in Connecticut was particularly interesting (they both are convinced there are, and the staff person said that the main reason the DEC says there aren't is because admitting the big cats are there will cause too many hassles for them... though all the articles I've read since also point out that there is very little conclusive physical evidence for the presence of mountain lions in New England or the Adirondacks.) All in all it looked like a nice little nature center.
I have to admit, despite my slow times I still enjoyed being out on the trails of this park... it's a great little place tucked away in northeastern CT and I'm looking forward to running this one again someday.
JMH
2008 Event Totals
Run 116.2 mi / 25 hr 49 min
Bike 32.4 mi / 2 hr 19 min
Snowshoe 45.7 mi / 13 hr 19 min
states visited: CT, MA, NH, NY, PA, VT
