Doonst Does Durham... 5 Peaks 12.1 K trail race
Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 7:28 pm
It was a funny week leading up to this race. Sunday was a 2 hour bike ride, Monday 18 holes golf, Thursday I subbed in for my old baseball team for the first time this year. Tuesday I had a great run, (fastest pace training run ever I believe). Wednesday night I was exhausted, but I ran anyway, crappy run. Almost but not quite back up to speed today.
It was a beautiful day for a race, cool in the shade but quite warm in the sun.
I probably wouldn't have bothered doing this race if I wasn't in for the whole series. It was 2 weeks after my first marathon, and its the farthest 5 Peaks race from my house, 1 hour 25 minutes. Ran into AlfieFromPickering, then the group of dgrant, Mikkel, and Run4Cardio. Dave seemed pleased to hear that I wasn't at 100%. Must still be smarting from the spanking I gave him at NCM.
Pretty hard to use the "tired" card to a guy on his 5th race in 5 weeks though.
We started out in the 6th wave, they seemed smaller and closer together this time. I stayed behind Dave and Mikkel for most of the first K, which passed for us in 4:40.
I was planning to go out easier this race, oh well. Then it got narrower and hillier, just sand hills with mild roots, nothing technical. First third went okay and then the sport distance peeled off just after 4 K. One more easier split, then we hit the wall. The trails here are named, probably because there primarily mountain bike trails. Here we went from "tight and twisty" to "long climb". Almost immediately, back down twisty singletrack for about a kilometre. The 8th K was called the"Wall of Pain", it took me 6:56. 
The only hill I've done that came to mind is the infamous "Gulch" in Sulphur Springs. Then straight into "Wild Ride", and more snakey downhills. At one point I saw two women walking down a hill. I was walking briskly up the steeper hills, most who passed me were caught at the top. Some got by me for good, but they got by everybody. I felt like I was running a bit off of my full tilt pace, still I passed 2 for every 1 that got by me. Often, in the singletrack,(60% of the course) there was a line of people and you had to really want to if you were going to pass. Finally, the last K was on a flat park gravel road. I didn't feel like I had much left but I passed the two women who I had been leapfrogging with all race, and another guy. It felt good to finish.
My time was 1:05:57, which put me 124/306 overall, 23/54 age group (40-49) and 101/194 gender. I didn't even break into the top half of men! That's a tough crowd. Dave and Mikkel beat me by 5 minutes, that's an amazing time on those hills. My pace was 5:25.
It was a fun day at the races, we swapped a few lies etc. after the race, saw our times posted, then hit the road. It wasn't an "A" race for me for sure, but it didn't hurt for long. The race was well organized, no complaints for once. Swag was Wrightsocks.
It was a beautiful day for a race, cool in the shade but quite warm in the sun.
I probably wouldn't have bothered doing this race if I wasn't in for the whole series. It was 2 weeks after my first marathon, and its the farthest 5 Peaks race from my house, 1 hour 25 minutes. Ran into AlfieFromPickering, then the group of dgrant, Mikkel, and Run4Cardio. Dave seemed pleased to hear that I wasn't at 100%. Must still be smarting from the spanking I gave him at NCM.
Pretty hard to use the "tired" card to a guy on his 5th race in 5 weeks though.
We started out in the 6th wave, they seemed smaller and closer together this time. I stayed behind Dave and Mikkel for most of the first K, which passed for us in 4:40.
I was planning to go out easier this race, oh well. Then it got narrower and hillier, just sand hills with mild roots, nothing technical. First third went okay and then the sport distance peeled off just after 4 K. One more easier split, then we hit the wall. The trails here are named, probably because there primarily mountain bike trails. Here we went from "tight and twisty" to "long climb". Almost immediately, back down twisty singletrack for about a kilometre. The 8th K was called the"Wall of Pain", it took me 6:56. The only hill I've done that came to mind is the infamous "Gulch" in Sulphur Springs. Then straight into "Wild Ride", and more snakey downhills. At one point I saw two women walking down a hill. I was walking briskly up the steeper hills, most who passed me were caught at the top. Some got by me for good, but they got by everybody. I felt like I was running a bit off of my full tilt pace, still I passed 2 for every 1 that got by me. Often, in the singletrack,(60% of the course) there was a line of people and you had to really want to if you were going to pass. Finally, the last K was on a flat park gravel road. I didn't feel like I had much left but I passed the two women who I had been leapfrogging with all race, and another guy. It felt good to finish.
My time was 1:05:57, which put me 124/306 overall, 23/54 age group (40-49) and 101/194 gender. I didn't even break into the top half of men! That's a tough crowd. Dave and Mikkel beat me by 5 minutes, that's an amazing time on those hills. My pace was 5:25.
It was a fun day at the races, we swapped a few lies etc. after the race, saw our times posted, then hit the road. It wasn't an "A" race for me for sure, but it didn't hurt for long. The race was well organized, no complaints for once. Swag was Wrightsocks.
