Apparently I Never Wrote May or June Race Reports: Laurel Highlands
So my May races sucked, but then I went to Pennsylvania and had a good time running the Laurel Highlands Ultra. I got a ride up with a member of the early-morning-type-A runners and his pacers/crew, and it was fun to talk to them and not have to get up stupid early to ride the bus to the start.
The race is a point-point that is 100% singletrack along the Laurel Highlands trail, with the exception of the first mile or so to get out of a State Park and its parking lot and such. The park has a nice small waterfall at the start.
There are nice views.
The ferns are really big, and there are a lot of them. Seriously though, it's really cool. I would love to go get some spores or a small sample and try and grow them in my backyard.
The trail was runable for the most part. I kept telling myself to run every runable step, and for the most part I did. I stopped at one aid station after about 40 miles and changed my shoes and socks and felt refreshed. I dropped a friend from my run group with whom I had been playing cat and mouse all day with about 12 miles to go.
It got dark, and I kept feeling good and passing people, and then the final 4 miles is all downhill. Really downhill. A consistent, beautiful 6% grade. So then I was really passing people. And then I heard footsteps behind me and saw a light actually catching up to me. WTF? No. You cannot be middle of the pack all day and then pass me on a downhill to the finish. This is my thing. (Feel free to be in the lead and crush it all day and do the downhill faster than me; people do it all the time.) Was it one of the Floridians who had passed me much earlier in the day, disappointed that I caught up with them? No time to find out, I had to motor. Every time I let off the gas even a little bit, this person would breathe down my neck. One of these time the person spoke, and she taunted me: "C'mon, you're not going to let me pass you, are you?" Hell no, bring it!
So we kept burning, momentum carrying you downhill like you're skiing moguls with just enough time to think one wrong step would snap a femur like a twig, until the trail popped out on a road and which way do we go and wait is that the finish line it's not marked very obviously I guess it is and oh shit she's making a move and speed up again and almost run some spectators over and slam into a parked SUV and shit did she pass me at the last second? Yes she did.
Great run to the finish by the anchor of the only women's relay team. In reality it was only 9-minute miles, but that's good enough for 7th all time on the Strava segment, and I had a great day, so I'll take it. I finished in 25th place in 16:45.
Did I mention the weather was lovely? There was a cooling breeze most of the day, there wasn't much humidity, and with the exception of one exposed climb I can remember, it was nice all day. This is apparently unusual for this race (and June in Pennsylvania generally). I kept saying "if you could promise me weather like this I'd run this every year" and people replied "we can't." Once was sure fun, though.
The race is a point-point that is 100% singletrack along the Laurel Highlands trail, with the exception of the first mile or so to get out of a State Park and its parking lot and such. The park has a nice small waterfall at the start.
The trail was runable for the most part. I kept telling myself to run every runable step, and for the most part I did. I stopped at one aid station after about 40 miles and changed my shoes and socks and felt refreshed. I dropped a friend from my run group with whom I had been playing cat and mouse all day with about 12 miles to go.
It got dark, and I kept feeling good and passing people, and then the final 4 miles is all downhill. Really downhill. A consistent, beautiful 6% grade. So then I was really passing people. And then I heard footsteps behind me and saw a light actually catching up to me. WTF? No. You cannot be middle of the pack all day and then pass me on a downhill to the finish. This is my thing. (Feel free to be in the lead and crush it all day and do the downhill faster than me; people do it all the time.) Was it one of the Floridians who had passed me much earlier in the day, disappointed that I caught up with them? No time to find out, I had to motor. Every time I let off the gas even a little bit, this person would breathe down my neck. One of these time the person spoke, and she taunted me: "C'mon, you're not going to let me pass you, are you?" Hell no, bring it!
So we kept burning, momentum carrying you downhill like you're skiing moguls with just enough time to think one wrong step would snap a femur like a twig, until the trail popped out on a road and which way do we go and wait is that the finish line it's not marked very obviously I guess it is and oh shit she's making a move and speed up again and almost run some spectators over and slam into a parked SUV and shit did she pass me at the last second? Yes she did.
Great run to the finish by the anchor of the only women's relay team. In reality it was only 9-minute miles, but that's good enough for 7th all time on the Strava segment, and I had a great day, so I'll take it. I finished in 25th place in 16:45.
Did I mention the weather was lovely? There was a cooling breeze most of the day, there wasn't much humidity, and with the exception of one exposed climb I can remember, it was nice all day. This is apparently unusual for this race (and June in Pennsylvania generally). I kept saying "if you could promise me weather like this I'd run this every year" and people replied "we can't." Once was sure fun, though.
Comments
Post a Comment