The race went pretty well. Not the most elite of fields, I figured I had a chance to place pretty high. Starting gun went off and two guys flew away from the rest of us, but I figured they'd both come back.
Being an out of towner definitely had it's drawbacks for this race. I thought the road up Tenderfoot Hill was a lot steeper, so instead of chasing the two leaders I kinda held back. Kept chugging up the hill, slowly moving into second place and holding off another guy who was trying to move up. The top of the hill came very quickly, I was tied for second with the next guy just two or three seconds behind.
The guy in first was pretty much gone, but had I known the hill wasn't that tough I coulda kept a lot closer. As we began the descent, the two guys near me took off, and I figured I'd just hold on to fourth place. I've gotten much better at downhill running since I moved to Colorado, but I'm still not a great bomber. But don't worry, I'll change that before the Barr Mountain Trail Race comes around!
About a mile down the hill, I notice that while second place has jumped way ahead of me, the guy in third hasn't put a whole lot of distance on me and is running horrible tangents. So I tear off after him. Lots of curves, and I use an old high school cross country trick where I wait 'till he can't see me and then I surge. So each time he looks back I've gained significant ground on him.
I'm not known for my ferocious kick, but with about 100 meters to go I let loose and pass the guy to move into third place. He tries to counter, but somehow I'm able to hold him off. I haven't seen his time, but he's probably one second behind me in the standings. Had he just run a smarter race and hugged the corners a little more, I'd have had no chance to catch him.
The big effort at the end really paid off, as the top three finishers each received a really sweet coffee mug. One of the best things about coffee mugs is that they also hold beer!Congrats to Tits on the Ritz who made the trip and ran really well. She ran 42:58, and quite honestly I thought she woulda been slower. Good job for her first hill climb.
After a few post race beers at the awards ceremony it was of course off to Amicas for some pizza and some yummy Big S brown ale!
Start time: 10AM
Distance: 4 miles
Time: 26:40
Pace: 6:40 minutes per mile
Weather: high 50s, sunny
1 comment:
Good job a-hole. I'm proud of you!
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