I've been looking to do more trail races and get back into my cross country roots a bit. The Twilight Trail 8K was perfect as it is run in North Chagrin which is one of my regular stomping grounds and I knew the course well.
Of course Cleveland decided to bust out our first serious rain of the season around 4 PM. Wind was blowing everywhere and I watched as rain droplets floated up instead of down and we got a bit of a shock when we briefly lost power due to a very close lighting bolt. Also got to watch as nickel size hail impaled cars below and water was running over steps like a waterfall. I was swamped at work due to a new mail server sucking up half my day (what fun) and didn't get out of here until 30 minutes after I had wanted to.
Of course traffic was backed up like it normally would be at 5PM and I was worried about making it to the race on time. I called Solar and told her to leave my shirt at the start and I would just start running as soon as I got there. Fortunately for me quite a few other runners were stuck in traffic and they postponed the start. So I managed to arrive in time for a short warm up before we watched the first few waves of runners start.
The race turned out to have a fun format. The race was "age graded" with the older runners starting first, then progressing through age/gender groups that typically would be faster. First one to the finish line wins. Solar and I signed up for the team competition as did Daisy and MT. My friend BB was also out running solo. Still not sure how teams were awarded places whether it was combined time or place but we were (mostly) there to have fun so I just worried about running a good race.
Daisy had made us up some fun shirts to wear. Solar and I were "Two Trail Freaks" and MT and Daisy were "Pimp my Stride." For some reason no other teams were wearing matching outfits. :)
Dr. Louis snapped some pics for us as we lined up to get going. Our tentative plan was to stay together for a few miles then speed up or slow down depending on how we felt. We took off relatively quickly and caught the group who had left 1 minute before us just in time to cross the stream. Many runners were pussyfooting around here but I blasted through. The water was low and I barely got my feet wet. I didn't want to waste time here when I knew there was a huge incline coming up that would cause us to slow way down. And boy did it! Our first mile was over 8 minutes.
After that we settled into a groove. I felt good despite the humidity. MT felt better. I did my best to keep up with here but after 2 miles I let her pull away. I kept her in my sights figuring I would catch her on the down hills by squires. I typically can gain 20 seconds on her in a good downhill section but not that night! I never did close the gap on her. I ran as hard as I could for 8K and with the hills, humidity, and mud I was pretty happy with the results. My watch time was just over 37:05. (Mile splits: 8:16, 7:47, 6:58, 7:08, 6:54 (.9)) So around 7:30 pace. Not blazing fast but I am happy with it.
This race was well stocked and we were delighted to see that in addition to the typical post race fare there was also plenty of cold beers! I decided beer sounded much better than a cool down and grabbed one. MT would have none of it though and wanted to get in a proper cool down. I replied I'd cool down as soon as I finished my beer. And we did. Although we were all so sweaty and hot I don't think it can really be called a cool down.
We got back just in time for awards and were elated to find out that MT and Daisy got first female team and Solar and I got 2nd! Good enough for $25 gift certificates to Second Sole. Added bonus BB came in 3rd overall female! We were so excited they had to ask us to quiet down as you couldn't hear the rest of the awards over us. Ooops!
We hung out and chatted with some other tri/running friends before finally calling it a night. I'll definitely do this event again. Despite the humidity and the slight advantage to fast master runners we had a blast and the post race fare and goody bags were awesome!
Two Trail Freaks Ready to Run
Teams look best in wife beaters!
At least I'm not the only OCD one!
Ready to start
All Done
Happy to be done!
1st and 2nd Female Teams
Excited to get $25 gift certificates
5 comments:
Cool race- and that's some fast trail running!
Come on- tell us the awesome news!!
How did I miss that you'd be at Nike? That's so exciting! Have you read Dori's blog - She Do Run Run? She'll be there too. So cool!
"Pimp My Stride."
I love it! But somehow I don't think MTV is going to pick it up as a reality show anytime soon.
Dude that was such a fun night!!!
simon says, "Point to your wrists!"
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