Tag: Race Reports

Fuego y Agua Race Report

Post author By Keith Laverty
Post date February 27, 2015

Una corrida en las selvas, calles y playas de Isla de Ometepe

Before going into this race, I knew I likely had to throw out all expectations and expect the unexpected. I believe this ultimately helped me. Back in the PNW winter, I simply continued to train as I would any race: long runs, hilly trail runs, cut-down tempos, etc. The humidity? This I knew could be the X-factor. Fortunately, I had four travel days in Nicaragua to get accustomed as part of a 12-day vacation with my roommate and long-time friend, Brian Rakestraw, an avid trail runner and climber himself. If the first four days were any indication, I knew this would be warm, scratch that…hot race with a late start time of 10am. Even by 8am, the sun is in full force and the humidity strong. The Fuego y Agua is hosted appropriately by Fuego y Agua Events but they’re also known for putting on tough endurance events that include a boosted challenge such as the Widowmaker 50k and the Caballo Blanco Ultra in the Copper Canyons as portrayed in Born to Run.

I showed up one hour early to race start with a 2-mile jog from my hotel. I took in the views of Lake Nicaragua, the beach where the race actually begins and the extravagant hubbub of the start line with a giant inflatable Toña beer bottle (Toña and Victoria beers are essentially the equivalent to a Coors Light). My race gear featured the Brooks PureGrit 3, the SRC-Brooks sky blue singlet and my bright Brooks green plaid race short. It was also my first race with a hydration pack – not wanting to take a chance on the heat. Also, if you ever consider competing in this race, keep in mind that the advertised “25k” is actually good for a 33k.

Race goes off, first 10 minutes or so on beach, onto rolling roads and into the jungle set alongside Volcán Maderas. This is where the real fun began: the constant search for the next “flecha” (arrow) or señal (signal/streamer). With so many trails going off any which direction, it became a game of who could spot the next. The front pack consisting of me, two Costa Ricans and two Nicaraguans got lost at least three times. The worst of it being hiking around lost for what felt like 10 minutes with me throwing in my Spanish phrases into the conversation of where to go next. We came upon a ranch home and fortunately a local boy pointed to a nearby rock which contained the chalk arrow. The next few miles had a fun mix of technical and fast running through palm trees, big rocks and fields overlooking the water.

Eventually we made it out of the jungle and into the 3rd aid station in La Palma, the most eastern part of Ometepe. The next 15k or so was going to be rolling hills on dirt and concrete road in direct sunlight. Similar to the previous two aid stations, the other runners barely acknowledged the liquids and food provided and three of them hastily continued running. I took a bit more time and then quickly caught all three just a few minutes later. The two Nicaraguans looked beat at this point and eventually faded pretty hard. This left me and an older, experienced-looking Costa Rican to battle for the remainder of the race. Anytime I made a move, he responded right back. This guy was a fighter. I made another move and carried this lead for another 3-4 miles. It was only getting hotter and a couple buses drove by causing an awful dust storm, attempting to shield my eyes. My legs were slowly suffering and it began to feel like the last 10k of a road marathon. Heading into the final aid station, I took a quick glance behind and realized I still hadn’t shaken him. He looked to be about 15 seconds back. With under 5k to go, the sun seemed to deplete all of my remaining energy in my legs and I was finally overtaken on the final hill. The last two miles finished alongside the beach. I could see the finish way out in the distance and what seemed like the longest finish to a race ever. I ran tough all the way to the end and finished 2nd overall in 2:50:45, and the winning time of 2:49:48 set by Feliciano Davila Rodriguez. It was an unforgettable experience and learned a lot about my fitness and myself. After a clutch massage, a Toña beer, and Aleve gels being handed to me, I was presented with a volcanic rock trophy, a nice souvenir to take home. Not as nice to lug that thing around for the rest of my vacation!

****

Coming back to the Northwest to race the Fragrance Lake Half, hosted by Candice Burt and Bellingham Trail Running Series, was certainly a breath of fresh, cold air compared to the Nicaraguan humidity. Several runners use this race as a course preview for the Chuckanut 50k. It also felt like a shock to my lung and leg systems as I would find out later. The race went out faster than I was hoping, a Canadian runner taking the initial two flat miles out in what looked to be 5:45 pace. Fortunately I felt strong enough to put on a gap on the first, long ascent up the Cleator Road climb. From there, it was all about hanging on. Ten challenging miles later (the half had 3,300 ft. of vert), on the final suicidal downhill to the finish, I did exactly that: hang on. The second place runner made up some ground and got to a single step behind me as we were both bombing the switchbacks. One more gradual uphill was my friend and used it to snag the win by 26 seconds.

Thanks again for the continued support by Seattle Running Club, Brooks Running, Honey Stinger and all of my friends and family. And much thanks to Brian, for coming along to Ometepe, and my work, PopCap, who have supported my running antics.

Tags Aleve, Keith Laverty, Race Reports

Featured Race Reports

Three Random Guys Trying to PR in the Half Marathon: An Oral History

Post author By Joe Creighton
Post date December 10, 2014

After an autumn spent doing Wednesday Night Workouts together, as well as finishing very near each other at a few XC & trail races, an idea was planted to add *one more* race after the XC season ended. Evan Williams (1:18:13 half marathon pr), Derek Reiff (1:18:46), and Joe Creighton (1:18:41) would each try to set a personal record at the Seattle Half Marathon. Calendar proximity defeated course flatness in importance as their three-way date with destiny approached.

PART I – BEFORE THE RACE

Evan Williams
A couple months before the race, I had a feeling that I would be in town for Thanksgiving this year and wanted to go for a half marathon or 5k PR. In 2012, I accomplished PRs in both distances, three days apart. This year, there weren’t enough days after the Club XC Regional 10k to recover for a turkey trot AND the Seattle half. Thus, I picked one.

Joe Creighton
Running XC loops in Lower Woodland Park or in horrendous mud at Lincoln Park can mask yourself from what shape you’re really in. The Seattle Half Marathon was ideal in that it was, conveniently, one week after our last XC race.

Evan Williams
Joe, Derek, and I committed (to each other) to do the half on the Tuesday preceding the race, over pints after a regular Tuesday Fleet Feet jog.

Joe Creighton
I was carded for the first time ever, and I was empty-handed. My bald scalp didn’t convince her. My white chin-hair didn’t convince her. But my “sweet laugh lines” saved the day for me, before I had to pull out the case-closing white back hair.

Evan Williams
We all went home and then balked at the price.

Joe Creighton
The Seattle Marathon was *not* ideal in that it was, inconveniently, $135 fucking dollars for 13.1 miles. Do you realize how many energy drinks I could have bought with that money?

Evan Williams
On Thanksgiving night, Joe and I bit the bullet and then proceeded to enjoy whiskey while bombarding Derek with texts until he also pulled out his credit card.

Joe Creighton
Whiskey and Cointreau, to be precise.

Derek Reiff
I basically signed up under duress. But each of the three XC races I ran this year were run pretty closely with Joe and Evan, so I’d have hated to miss out on a potentially great contest.

Evan Williams
I should have signed up earlier, when the cost was semi-reasonable.

Derek Reiff
Tell me about it. I think all races should start cheap, like they currently do, and ramp up. But the days before, if there are spots left, race entry prices should start dropping, each hour. Fill those spots up.

Joe Creighton
The half marathon is probably my best distance, which I’m at times a little discouraged by. Mostly because of the race distance’s name. Half-marathon. Who cares how good one is at a HALF marathon? If a 5k was simply referred to as “half 10k,” then who knows if I would have wasted six years of my life trying to PR for 3.1 miles, which I did, back in Jun–.

Derek Reiff
The half is definitely my favorite distance. My first half I “trained” for was in Vancouver in 2011. The second half was miserable, but I signed up for another a year and a half later. I liked it because I was ready for it, and it doesn’t require speed if you don’t want it to.

Evan Williams
Half marathons are excellent. You get almost all of the beauty of a long road race with much less than half of the recovery time from a full marathon.

Derek Reiff
When we were discussing doing this race days before it happened, I was _extremely_ confident that I was in good enough shape to PR. Until Joe started talking about all the hills and the weather.

Joe Creighton
Before the race, I was probably 50/50 that I would PR, because I lack conviction of any kind.

::THE RACE EXPO::

Derek Reiff
There was a bathroom in the hotel in which the expo was held. Which was nice, as I needed one.

Evan Williams
I loved the sweet potato chips at the expo, which were almost as good as connecting with teammate Justin Houck at the trail running calendar signing.

Joe Creighton
Heh, “connecting.” Seeing Justin Houck brightens any day. Aside from that, my favorite moment was probably taking a free sample of EAS whey protein powder from what looked to be a 13 year old girl. My least favorite moment was days later when I made the world’s worst Egg Cream.

::TRAINING & PREPARATION::

Derek Reiff
I’ve been putting in consistent miles for a year now, so I’d say I’m in the best post-collegiate shape of my life. And team SRC cross country workouts helped considerably with getting my pace down a bit.

Joe Creighton
I’d dealt with a calf injury in August that kept me out of the (very comfortable Brooks) shoes for two weeks and slowed my preparation for XC. I probably wasn’t ~100% until the last XC race on Nov 23rd. I was only topping out at about 50 miles a week but I was very consistent the past 5 weeks. Still, 50 miles a week ain’t super for half marathons, so I just focused on happy thoughts, like Evan’s ridiculous quadriceps muscles.

Evan Williams
I usually have a pretty careful routine for loading up on energy before long races, but when there’s a holiday involved, the holiday wins. I ate an alarming amount on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. In order to offset food-coma grogginess, I followed up consumption with too much coffee. The one thing I kept consistent with past races was to not get stressed about pre-race plan deviations. The past is the past. Don’t let unchangeable decisions negatively affect your state of mind on race day.

Derek Reiff
My friend Eric says carboloading is dumb but I don’t follow diets of any kind except for no high-fructose corn syrup so I ignored Eric. (Eric did, however, turn me on to wet wipes for the bathroom. Which is necessary if you have a nervous day like I did on Saturday.)

And don’t wet wipes just make sense? I won’t go into details, but they make sense. Right?

Joe Creighton
You are a monster.

Evan Williams
I never felt the need to have a detailed race plan. The three of us are so similar in ability right now that it was going to be impossible to “drop” one another early without dearly paying for it later. Thus, stick together for a while, get faster in the second half if you feel good. Simple.

Derek Reiff
In this group’s recent XC past, I never pulled off a win against these guys, so I figured I’d tuck in behind Joe’s broad shoulders and Evan’s massive quads for wind resistance.

But seriously no, not that. I know that I wanted a PR and that these guys were in great shape and wanted a similar PR, so we should stick together and stay below 6:00/mile pace.

Joe Creighton
I had no concerns about running/racing with Evan and Derek, aside from Evan’s threats to be blowing ass all race and inviting us to “run in his slipstream.” Visually we likely appear to Joe Public as three very different runners, but we actually couldn’t be more alike, ability-wise.

Evan Williams
I went through extensive clothing research the night before, including weighing various shirt options as a joke to Joe/Derek and refreshing weather forecasts constantly. In 2012, I was way too warm in long sleeves and 36F. But, this year was drier and colder. Ultimately, I laid out my trusty pair of green judo shorts, gloves, sunglasses, and a black long sleeve Brooks-SRC shirt.

Derek Reiff
I’d like to solicit Brooks to make a cold-weather racing singlet. I paired two of their jerseys up for a nice little ‘duo-core singlet’ and boy was my upper body (core) warm.
No, it wasn’t at all actually. But it did make me feel more secure out there. Like a thundershirt.

::RACE MORNING::

Joe Creighton
It was really cold that morning. I wore gloves and covered my ears, but I run pretty hot so I figured I’d ditch them by mile 1.5. I never ditched any article of clothing though. And idoit liberal atheists still think global warming isn’t a hoax lmao

Derek Reiff
I assume complete failure will happen each and every morning of my life, so I like to map things out in order, in 15 minute blocks. 6:00-6:45 am was “Sit and wait.”

Joe Creighton
I just eat cereal and try to poop.

Evan Williams
When morning came around, I laid in bed as long as possible, called my mom, my wife, and checked texts to see if Joe and Derek were already at the start (Derek was). I skipped coffee, ate three clementines, and put on old sweatpants and an ugly sweater to bike 4 mi to the Space Needle. I felt barely warmed up and then jogged about 3/4 mi with Joe until my body was a little closer to proper operating temperature. Usually, I eat more before racing for 60+ minutes, but I didn’t have time and trusted my previous feasting to have saturated my glycogen stores.

Joe Creighton
I live out in the middle of nowhere so I had to get up at 5am and wanted to be on the road to lower Queen Anne by 6:30. I was also California-raised, and getting out of bed at 5am when it’s 25 degrees outside is literally the worst thing in the world.

Derek Reiff
After we miscommunicated and jogged to and from Evan’s bike for absolutely no reason, we got ourselves back to the start line with 1.5 minutes to spare. So at 7:29 I was thinking “I can’t believe Joe is just wearing a t-shirt.” Occasionally I’m self-conscious standing next to Rockstar-cap Joe. But so far it’s a 50/50 split between this and another hat. Turns out he wore it to the race.

Joe Creighton
I actually have two Rockstar hats and I’m not comfortable admitting how many minutes I spent deciding between the two.

Evan Williams
After a few last moment strides, I appreciated how easy it was to get to the front of the chute (excellent start layout), and bodied up with Joe and Derek to await the gun.

Joe Creighton
In my mind, the best-case scenario was all three of us running together en route to what we thought at the time was Evan’s PR (1:17:30), and then sprinting the final tenth of a mile on our own and letting the chips fall where they may. Which likely would have led to a finish order of Evan, Derek, and then myself, dry-heaving. :\

Evan Williams
I kept myself distracted from the impending pain by making a series of terrible jokes. And, several “don’t try to beat that guy” pointers in the direction of a handful of really in-shape specimens who had tights or shorts sculpted to their muscles. We would soon find out what kind of internal engines they had. Lastly, I located all the orange Club Northwest jerseys and tried to size up our rival competition.

Joe Creighton
I felt the typical “half marathon anxiety” on the start line. It’s gonna hurt, but I had about 30 minutes of painless running to ease me into it. I do remember around 7:27am Evan letting us know that he found out the night before his PR was actually only 1:18:13, which calmed me more, though I did wonder why he thought it was in the 1:17s to begin with. I probably farted at some point.

PART II – THE RACE

Derek Reiff
The end of mile 1 was about a half mile after I noted “Isn’t this so much easier than cross country?” We were just moving right along and we’re barely at 5:55 pace!

Evan Williams
I missed the first mile marker entirely. After my watch showed 7:45, I got concerned and asked Joe for the first split…5:55 I think, which was perfect.

Derek Reiff
“This is going to be a perfect race,” I thought to myself.

“Why does my left shoe suddenly feel a bit less secure?”

“Don’t look down. Don’t look down.”

(Look down)

“Ah shit.”

“How fast can I tie this shoe?”

“There should be professional shoe tiers on the course at aid stations, especially when it’s only 28° outside.”

“If I take a full 30 seconds to tie my shoes with my gloves off, can I catch up with these bozos? Would they wait for me if I asked nicely?”

Joe Creighton
“Oh geez look, Derek’s shoelace is untied on one of his shoes. What a noob! lol. So, wait…do we have to stop and wait for him if and when he decides to tie his shoe?”

Derek Reiff
“No, no way. Joe would never wait. His whole online persona is dedicated to being shoeless. What a jerk.”

“All right. This is where my expert stubbornness comes into play. No shoe tying. Maybe I’ll even rip it off at the end. Now my pre-race routine will incorporate triple knots.”

Evan Williams
Into the express lanes around mile 3, Joe, Derek, and I took turns leading through the headwind and tucked behind some fellow racers for a moment. These other guys weren’t too pleased about our drafting and dropped off pace.

Joe Creighton
That guy really didn’t want us to be drafting off of him. We were less than 1/4 into this race, on a 20-person wide road, and he’s cutting me off while I followed Derek into the lead of our pack.

Evan Williams
The tunnel mile was warmer (nice!) and as soon as we pulled away from the others in our pack, they charged back to catch us again. We couldn’t figure out what their strategy was, but the three of us kept steady and eventually chatted and jostled our way to isolation, about 20 seconds ahead.

Joe Creighton
Shortly after Mile 4, in the I-90 tunnel, Evan exclaimed “this feels fast!” I tried to ignore him. I figured Evan would feel strongest in this race while Derek and I slaughtered ourselves trying to keep up with him. I didn’t want to hear him suffering so early. Shutup, Evan.

Evan Williams
I had been suggesting a slightly slower pace for a while. Derek agreed, but Joe seemed full of energy and pushed on. Derek yells out, “5:35 pace, if you care!” I cared.

Joe Creighton
I’m self-taught to just go off the mile markers and cross my fingers that they’re accurate. I heard “5:35 pace” but right after Derek said that, we passed the mile 5 marker in 29:40. So I maintained my effort.

Derek Reiff
“Hey look, it’s lifetime members Uli and Trisha Steidl! I didn’t know they had a dog. Why don’t they bring the dog to practices? I love dogs. Not a bad place for a house either. Uli seems too happy to be outside in 28° weather.

Evan Williams
Trisha and Uli Steidl gave us some hollers. I felt like a champ, having been encouraged by our SRC teammates, and VERY accomplished Seattle runners.

Joe Creighton
“38:50” was what I saw on my watch when I crossed the half marker during this interminably-boring stretch of course. “Hmm, that works out to a 1:17:40 finish time, assuming I pull a rabbit out of my ass and even-split this course.” My confidence dropped from 60% to 30% upon doing this math.

Evan Williams
The rolling hills started near here, which caused moments of separation between us three. Ups have been tough for me all season, but I came back on the downs in order to keep everyone together for a few more minutes. The half-way split was a little terrifying when I realized I needed to even split the tough second half in order to PR. I had a little rhythm going, but was almost completely certain that my legs didn’t have enough gas.

Derek Reiff
“I wonder if Uli has any recommendations for my upcoming Germany trip. My god, it’s cold outside.”

Joe Creighton
As expected on the Galer+Madison hill, I felt like ass and I was probably down to about 20% confident I could PR. And I was pulling away from Derek and Evan?! We’re all gonna fail. This sucks. 135 bucks!?!?

Derek Reiff
“Oh my god. Dammit.”

Evan Williams
Joe and Derek put a gap on me up the Madison hill. No choice, I had to let them go in order to save my own race. It was bittersweet, knowing that all three of us were comfortable enough to be okay with the inevitable split. We shifted into our personal mental spaces and end-game strategy.

Derek Reiff
“Mother.”

Evan Williams
I recovered a lot of time on the downhill, post-Madison. Not enough to catch Joe or Derek, but sufficient to keep on PR pace.

Joe Creighton
Shortly after mile 9, the Interlaken hill settled down a bit and I cratered in confidence. Call it 10%. And I was leading us! And I couldn’t even hear Evan or Derek behind me! I really needed to see a cute woman around this point. Or a particularly happy dog.

Derek Reiff
“I’m so tired of seeing Joe’s back get further and further away. I can’t feel my legs. Are my legs actually kicking? Let’s do some high knees.” Nope, high knees are not possible. Too afraid to kick my butt for a few strides in fear of legs snapping.

Evan Williams
I increased my pain tolerance in order to maintain pace, but wasn’t sure it was sustainable. Things were looking dire. To beat 1:18:13, I needed to be at least 30 seconds ahead for the last 0.1 mi. I only had 20 to spare at this point. I had previously caught a guy named Phil, wearing a 7 Hills shirt, but he went into finish-mode and clocked some impressive late-race miles. I decided to refer to him as 7 Phills. He was not catchable, but I had to find some motivation. The thought of Derek and Joe ahead of me, reaching their PRs left me fearing the chance of being the odd-man-out. I could see myself regretting a missed opportunity and resolved right then to redline my aerobic capacity to the finish.

Joe Creighton
Coming out of Interlaken, slightly past mile 10, I knew I had moved well up that relatively hilly section, but I was still wary from prior races of the ~2 mile stretch before the downhills come around mile 12. Then I reminded myself that if anything, I would have a slight tailwind for that stretch, and I would say my confidence rose to about 80%. By the time I made the turn onto Republican (mile 12) and saw all that downhill in front of me, I was up to about 95%.

Derek Reiff
Mile 11.5/12 brought my soon-to-be-last attempt at catching Joe. Little bit of road ice here. Got into my recent habit of doing raspberries in the air to relieve race-stress. (It helps, try it. A bit weird when passing, though.)

But since I was upping my pace to try and catch Joe, I started doing it every breath. Spittle started flying. Started thinking “Is this the mindset those crazy people are in when they cross the finish line with spit all over their faces? I’d better stop.” /wipes mouth off.

I think it helped, though.

Evan Williams
Red lining is paying off! 40 seconds to spare for the final 0.1 and some downhill ahead. Finally felt like I might complete the PR trifecta. My hamstrings had moved from painful to numb. A Club Northwest guy was closing on me fast, but I was flat out already and he told me to hang tough as he passed…a rival, but a gentleman.

Derek Reiff
The final mile-ish is almost entirely downhill. Super hard on the legs at this point. Joe’s really putting me away now.

Evan Williams
The final mile was the toughest mile. There are a few surprisingly hard rises in the last full mile that just about caused me to DNF. It felt like some external being was marching my feet up and down to hold as close to pace as possible. I was fading, but my watch showed 46 seconds in the bank for 0.1 mi.

Derek Reiff
“Is it possible that I could get top 10 at this race? I have no idea how many people are ahead of me, but it can’t be too many now…

“You’re 11 and 12!” says the guy as we enter the stadium. “Shit. Way to go, Joe!”

Joe Creighton
I entered the stadium knowing I wasn’t only going to PR, I was gonna come in under 1:17. For a brief moment I tried to think of a clever way to draw attention to myself as I crossed the finish line in victory. Raising your arms doesn’t really make sense unless you outright won…I can’t do a back flip. At least I don’t think I can. Eh, I’ll settle for a subtle fist pump in my head. I turned around and immediately saw Derek coming in right behind me. We squeezed in a quick photo but I admit I kept glancing at the clock, not knowing if Evan would make it and not feeling particularly confident.

Derek Reiff
One last guy. Passed right before I hit the stadium. Sprinted the grass in. Announcer said “These guys got up very early this morning to be here. Great athletes.”

Joe Creighton
It felt like we dropped Evan really quickly on the Madison hill around mile 8, which is a brutal point in the course to lose contact. I was merely hopeful, doubting he was gonna make it, as I saw the clock tick towards 1:18. If anyone could somehow rally though, I knew he had the stones.

Evan Williams
Made it! Ten seconds to spare and badly needing to descend from the world of suffering experienced in the final 5k. I got a little emotional as Derek and Joe went nuts…they weren’t sure where I was and knew the PR would be really close.

PART III – POST RACE

Joe Creighton
I’m at a loss on how the race could have gone better. I suppose all of us finishing together (me perhaps a second ahead of both of them and with someone handing me a cheeseburger immediately upon finishing, that would have been pretty sweet.) But outside of that scenario…

Derek Reiff
Why didn’t the race director postpone a week? It’s supposed to be 50+ next Sunday!

Evan Williams
With a little more care in preparation, I would have liked to be a bit slimmer and better on hill repeats. But, those are both minor critiques. XC season is a great training plan for nearly ANY distance!

Derek Reiff
I was really expecting to see something hot in the recovery area afterward. Did I miss it?

Evan Williams
I’m sure the post-race spread was tremendous, but I was hurting too much to consume anything more than a bottle of chocolate milk. I remember the days of eating everything in sight post-race. I think I am now better at pushing myself further during the race, such that all my systems need some freak-out time before I can think about digesting solid food.

Joe Creighton
As I now expect from running this race a few times and pacing a few times, the post-race spread was fairly dismal. I did do the full marathoners a solid and (politely) requested the Darigold chocolate milk ladies set aside enough bottles for the 26.2ers, so if any full marathoners want to reach out and thank me, I can be reached at jayaresea69420@skaforever.biz.

Evan Williams
After finishing something like this, I: find family/friends, drink water, walk around, try to jog a little, and then make a plan that gets me to a horizontal resting state as fast as possible.

Joe Creighton
We enjoyed a post-race breakfast at Roxy’s Diner near Derek’s house since he was low on bus money and needed a ride home. My notes state we split about six mimosas and Evan made some joke about diuretics that I don’t remember.

Derek Reiff
I added about 3 pounds after the race, from 11AM to my last 1/2 pizza at 11PM. No joke there.

Joe Creighton
When I got home, I announced my accomplishment to my lovely girlfriend, who then asked me if I got any milk from the grocery store on the way home.

Evan Williams
Succeeding at the Seattle Half has given me confidence that I’m doing something right with training. In some sense, that also means my other job and hobby responsibilities haven’t distracted too much from running. Thus, I can now say that I’ve improved my life across the board in a very busy 2014. That’s pretty cool.

Derek Reiff
These legs aren’t going to massage themselves. Man, I’m going to take it easy for a good month.

Evan Williams
Next up is a month long break of more casual running, with hopefully higher mileage. Then, I’ll race 10 mi at the Bridle Trails Winter Running Festival in January and start thinking about a spring marathon. The Escarpment Trail 30k in NY state is on my summer calendar already. It will be a vacation race to see my running friends from the east coast. Oh! I almost forgot, the Mercer Island Half on March 22nd. I’ve wanted to do it for years, as it’s the perfect warm up distance from my house.

Joe Creighton
Evan is bandying about the idea of doing something at Bridle Trails in mid-January, and as I said earlier, I have no conviction so I’ll probably do whatever he tells me I’m doing that day. Maybe run the 10 mile, maybe form a mediocre relay team, we’ll see.

Derek Reiff
Can I ask again, why does this race cost so much? Can’t top 20 get a partial refund? Frequent racers club?

Joe Creighton
It’s gonna be a bleak Christmas for a few important people in my life.

Evan Williams
My last thought on this experience is that it is extraordinarily refreshing to place in the top percentages of a community race after being a back-of-the-pack regular for the club XC season. When all-out efforts and PRs put you 10 places from last, you know your competition is a formidable subset of Seattle’s running population. 17th place at the Seattle half feels really nice.

Tags oral history, Race Reports, seattle half marathon

Featured Race Reports

Marathoning With Pure Grit

Post author By Evan Williams
Post date August 4, 2014

Evan Williams - Eugene Half Marathon

I set out on a mission to run a “good” marathon six months ago. On Sunday, July 27th, I ended up with a 13 min PR, 2:51:52, at the Eugene Marathon and the feeling of having finally accomplished something close to my capability. A “good” run would be one in which I didn’t fade to walking pace in the final 10k, regardless of the overall time. That’s the story of my two previous attempts. This was different.

As the pre-race week arrived, my day-job schedule got so busy that I didn’t have a choice about tapering. I wrote and turned in a 40 page thesis chapter, helped my brothers with a 12 hour journey from Portland to Seattle (moving our heavy new brewery tanks), ate several pounds of pasta with red sauce, and managed to start driving south to the race at 10 pm on Friday night. I arrived in Portland in the early morning hours, stayed with Meeks Brucker (former SRC XC teammate) and things started looking better after I woke up for a late breakfast and sunny 4 mi jog around the neighborhood.

Meeks and I caught up while running and revisited our usual conversation topics: Why run? Does an exhausting pace justify no kick at the end? When is the best time for a runner to drink beer? How is the knee bone connected to the elbow bone? Eventually, I had to depart for Eugene and pick up my race number before the expo closed. I was in a good mental state after the Portland stop and carried that vibe into the evening while watching Jordan McNamara win a 1500m elite race from waaaaay back in the pack at Hayward Field. To be that smooth and that fast is really special.

Evan Williams - Hawyward Field Mens 1500m

Ate. Listened to some Jon Hopkins. Slept.

I was up before my alarm at 3:55am and made the first shuttle to the start line. I’m never sure how much to warm up before long races, but, since I decided to go shirtless, I had to keep moving a little to fend off the chilliness of 59F air. The bathroom lines were incredibly long, so I gave up and headed to the corrals with 15 minutes to the gun. As planned, I had a sausage, egg, and cheese breakfast sandwich in one hand and 8oz or so of flat Coca-Cola in the other. I’ve always had a strong stomach, so I figured a few extra carbs and real-food protein were good late-race investments. I got some strange looks, deservedly.

The gun went off, the sun rose, and in a sea of surging and fading half-marathoners, I cruised the first 5k one second faster than my goal 6:20 pace (with a 10 second port-o-potty stop). I didn’t feel springy or fresh, but I was steady and relaxed. My three-step strategy worked perfectly, “settle down, dial in the rhythm, and have some fun.” Is there anything else to distance running, really?

Around 5 miles in, I either missed a mile marker or the organizers never put one in the ground. Other runners noticed the same problem later. Signage was sporadic and race clock displays were even rarer. After I saw the 10k clock display 42:50 (6:54 pace) I began to question my pacing ability and accidentally reset my own watch while trying to confirm if my second 5k had really been 7:29 pace (it wasn’t). OK, fine. I decided to restart my clock at 7 miles and put the rest in the past. Mile 7 to 8 was 7:47. I looked around in disbelief, only to hear some complaints about mis-marked distances and some strong language from the adjacent pack. Without being able to trust the clocks or the markers, I was left in a chronographic darkness for the foreseeable future. There was only one solution: listen to my body and keep moving forward.

Evan Williams - Eugene 2014

I caught up to a guy around mile 10 and we had some back and forth challenges for a while before we realized it was much better to work together. We had the same sunglasses, shared a total of ten words over 9 miles, and moved up about a dozen places. I had no idea how fast we were moving, but based on the 20 mile split later, it had to be near 6:10. Our team of two, spontaneously formed and sadly ephemeral, was one of the best running experiences of my life. We had smiles plastered on for an hour straight. Why compete? For moments of Race Magic like this.

Somewhere in that stretch, we crossed the half-marathon mark. Of course, there was no clock display. I asked my new friend if he had the time. Seeing as he had not reset his watch, he did – 1:22:49. Right on target! My confidence was restored.

Twenty miles in 2:06 felt great. Mile 21 (6:05, if the signs were correct) felt great. Then, I stumbled and almost fell over completely as both hamstrings cramped within two steps. I couldn’t believe it. Ideal pacing, great weather, a breakfast sandwich at the start – and now I was about to be derailed by two muscles without enough electrolytes. Walking wasn’t an option. I was determined to save this race and not have it be defined by a miserable final 10k.

I slowed to a crawl at the aid station a couple meters away and treated it like a buffet line. Gatorade, Gatorade, banana, Gu, water, water…go! I eased back into running only to be hammered to a stop again. I took 10 seconds to stretch and reassess. My daily occupation is biomechanical engineering research at UW. I know how every muscle and joint works in the lower body. It was time to throw my preferred mid-foot strike out the window. The (Brooks Pure Grit 2) shoes could handle reasonable heel pounding into the pavement, so I started moving again by contacting the ground with nearly straight legs and then pivoting over my hip in a half-march, half-run motion. It wasn’t quite enough relief to my hamstrings and I cramped again. By the third attempt, I had it figured out. I could manage 7:30 pace by alternating periods of tin-man running with skipping and prancing. The latter techniques allowed me to bounce forward by way of calves and quads and kick out in the air to stretch hams and glutes. Joe Creighton had instructed me to run the final 6.2 miles as if I was listening to Daft Punk Alive 2007. I don’t think he meant I should dance the whole way, but that’s exactly what it looked like.

Evan Williams - Eugene 2014

My semi-official goal of running sub 2:45 disappeared, but I held steady and couldn’t have been happier with 2:51. It took everything I had physically and mentally. I never bonked and I overcame a tremendous obstacle in the last 45 minutes by applying what I’ve learned in engineering textbooks to perform a decidedly un-textbook running style and achieve a very respectable time.

It was the perfect race that couldn’t have been any faster. Well, I guess I did accidentally finish in the half-marathon chute. I’ll have to work on that.

Evan Williams - Eugene Half Marathon

Tags Eugene Marathon, Evan Williams, Race Reports

Race Reports

Oooohhh…On The Cougar Mountain Tip

Post author By Joe Creighton
Post date May 16, 2014

Cougar Mountain Series History

Marathons, 5Ks, 100 milers, Ragnars, 12Ks, whiskey miles. If you run somewhat regularly, you’ve no doubt been quizzed on why you run and what you’re training for and what races you like and what distances you prefer and do you do speedwork have you ever met Jodee Adams-Moore cause I have and have you ever run an ultra and well, why the hell not and wait where are you going? I’d just like to say I’m sorry for bombarding you with those questions at the Fleet Feet group run last month but I’m socially awkward and have no clue what to talk about until I’m certain you’re a Seinfeld or Fraiser fan.

If you had harrassed me with the questions listed above, I’d probably refer to myself as a tried and true *distance* runner BRO who logs hella miles and reads Joe Grant blog posts and would totally be best-suited at gnarly ultras like the Hardrock 100 if I really *wanted* to. You’d look at my bald head and George Costanza physique and have no choice but to believe me, but my training* and list of races run the past couple years suggests otherwise.

*This includes weekly SRC Wednesday track workouts, which only perhaps further confuse my brain as I train with even less distance-inclined guys who somehow manage to lap me during 200m repeats. “It’s only cause I’m a hella milage *distance* bro,” I’ll tell myself while gasping for air.

No matter your preference, there’s something for everyone on the weekend mornings of Cougar Mountain races. One per month from May through August, there’s something for the roadie who’s never set foot on a dirt trail to the grizzled Pigtails veteran who only sometimes leaves the mountains and everyone in between. It’s been around since 2003 and has been the playground for many of the wacky characters many of us have heard about over the years in this occasional hotbed of running talent. Just browse some of the old results. In 2003 we had young unknown phenoms with familiar-sounding names like “Jodi Adams-Moore” coupled with a not-quite-the-Fleet-Feet-owner-nor-can-he-rent-a-car Brian Morrison. The future owner of the Balanced Athlete was only my age! Most of the women are running under maiden names you might not recognize today. It’s a time capsule, and with good reason. For someone like me, who can’t pick a discipline and type of running I want to move forward with, I can always rely on the Cougar Series.

So with the 2014 season opener to the historic series looming last weekend, and my lazy spring, the piddly little 5 mile it was. The 5 mile was my very first foray onto Cougar Mountain back in 2008 and I loved it enough that six years later I’m sitting here on my really expensive futon practically begging you to run it yourself (or any other distance in the series) before you die. Compared to the Fremont 5k, it’s an earth-shatteringly hilly course, but compared to all other races in the series it’s easily the gentlest. You climb for a bit after a mile, a bit before and after the aid station at mile 3, but for the most part you can let it fly. To put it another way, it’s the race at which you’re most likely find a Club Northwest runner. On that note, it’s also the race you’ll finish closest to Joe Gray if he decides to show up. I had run the 5 mile four times before last weekend, with what I think are spectacularly consistent results:

2008: 33:59*
2009: 33:31
2010: 33:41
2012: 32:57

*Interestingly, 2008 was the year I PR’d in the (road) 5k with a 16:40, a round, thousand second number I’ve not been able to touch since. As my track splits seem to also confirm my declining speed compared to then, my Cougar times are still somehow trending downward.

Last weekend I was back for #5, this though my first time as an “#SRC-Brooks” honoree. That wish to impress my new teammate Nick Symmonds, combined with the facts that I hadn’t *really* raced since last December and that short races terrify me, had me sweating bullets the morning of. But I had a good poo and ate well and made sure the hay was in the barn. Thirty three minutes and one second later I was done, two places behind the win, behind two fellow #SRC-Brooks “teammates” that I’m not ashamed to admit would have beaten me 99 times out of 100. Four seconds slower than 2012 but on a much sloppier and slower course. All things being equal, I probably ran my best 5 mile yet.

A few months ago I was still entertaining the idea of running the White River 50 mile in late July, because it’s been 3 years since my last jaunt past 50k and I need to believe I’m still a hella distance bro. But as is often the case, I’ve procrastinated and now I find myself only a couple months away from the race and really zero 50 mile-specific training done. Not even an obligatory Mt. Si ascent. Am I still an “ultra runner”? Does it matter? So far in 2014 I’ve raced a beer mile, a 5.2 mile leg in a relay race and a 5.14 mile trail race. In two days I’m going to race a road 5k and a couple weeks after that I’m going to look like am Oompa Loompa next to Brett in his purple spandex at the Fremont 5k.

TLC once famously said “what about your friends?” Well, at the moment my friends like track workouts and short trail races so I guess that’s what I like too. TLC also famously said “Realize the realism of reality treats” which I fully take to heart with my running. Realistically I’ve only got so many more “fast” miles on these legs. Lastly though, ultramarathons, TLC also famously said “Oh baby, baby, baby, I got so much love in me.” And I do. For you. Someday I’ll return to you and become an honest ultrarunner once again, but probably not before a few more of those historic Cougar Mountain races.

I like TLC 🙂

Brooks Ghost with Mud

Tags Cougar Mountain Series, Race Reports

Featured Race Reports

10th Annual Redmond Watershed 12 Hour

Post author By Arthur Martineau
Post date March 24, 2014

Arthur Martineau Recaps His 10th Running of the Redmond Watershed 12 Hour Race
All images courtesy http://www.runners.photos/

This was to be my 8th and final time running the 12 hour. I think I’m actually going to miss it. This race holds a special place in my running heart. The first year I ran it, I was ramping up to run my 1st 100 miler. I did almost 60 miles, gave it all I had, and couldn’t walk right for days. It was the first time I’d ever run that far or for that long, and after the race was over, I knew I could finish that 100 miler. Well, I was pretty sure I could! I’ve improved my distance nearly every year, which is always one of my goals. Last year I was just shy of 75 miles, and I was in the best shape yet due to my training for Western States. I knew that would be a tough number to beat this year.

Pre Race
As usual with family, work and pets vying for my attention all week, I threw my gear together at the last minute, the night before the race. My needs are pretty simple at most races, even more-so at this one with its 5 mile loops. I use an Ultraspire Proton belt to hold my water bottles because my noodle-like arms could never make 12 hours even with the smaller 16 oz size, and it gives me a place to stash a few small items. Also I feel like I run much smoother without anything in my hands. I wear the Brooks Launch for all my runs of 50 miles or more unless it’s muddy. I’d like to be able to wear a little less shoe but my feet are too sensitive. No race drop bag is complete without a few Little Debbie Nutty Bars and peanut buttercups, they’re a nice break from gels. I also had to make sure I didn’t forget my new SRC-Brooks team singlet. This would be my first race as an official Brooks-Seattle Running Club team member.

I rolled up to the race in the family minivan around 5:45 AM. Normally I like to relax before the start, but today I would be shuttling runners from the park and ride to the start. I’ve been shuttling runners since they outgrew the trailhead a few years ago. As with most trail races, parking at the trailhead is pretty limited. The race directors, Chris Ralph and Tom Ripley, are great people and even better race directors, so I’m glad to help out in any way I can. I think every runner should volunteer at a race each year. It’s actually fun, most of the time.

After I finished shuttling there were barely a few minutes to get ready. I hit the bathroom and then went through my drop bag. I had my Blue Steel lube, extra water bottle, gels, salt, snacks, extra clothes for the forecasted rain, but no duct tape. Damn! No time to fix that now. Hopefully I could get some before my nipples started to bleed. I figured I had 6-7 hours to remember to ask at the aid station.

Redmond Watershed 12 Hour

During the last minute race instructions, Tom announced that he and Chris would not be hosting this event next year. There was a simultaneous groan from about 85 runners. Then he announced that the race would continue on and that I would be the new race director, at which point there was an even louder groan but only from about 80 runners. I could really feel the love in the air as most of the runners I passed during day gave me a big congratulation on my new endeavor.

Race Plan
The 5.375 mile loop makes planning really simple for me. I take one bottle and one gel every loop. I mix in some aid station food once in a while, normally a chip or a pretzel, sometimes a piece of fruit. My realistic goal was 70 miles and to keep moving with a strong effort for the full 12 hours. Since this isn’t an ‘A’ race for me, it was also important to stay injury free.

The Running
I love the start of most ultras. Everyone acts like middle-school kids, all hopped up on sugar, laughing and joking around. We all feel we can run forever. We all think today is surely going to be a PR day. And at this race you never know who’s planning on running for 12 hours and who’s just out for a quick 50k before they go about the rest of their weekend. After a few loops, everybody’s race plan becomes apparent. At the start, I held back the best I could but the first two laps were still a little fast, just like in the previous seven years. Some people don’t like loops or timed races but I love seeing all the runners that you never get to see during a fixed distance or non-loop race. I love giving and receiving so much encouragement. Even if it’s just a grunt later on in the race, it can snap you out of a funk and get you back on track. I was the most inspired this year by Bob Stoyles. At 84 years old, he did over 16 miles. I hope I can do that at 84. Another reason I like the 12 hour is it seems to get harder as the day goes on. I love the extra challenge of not having a fixed finish line. After 6 or 7 times up, that small hill now seems like a mountain, and that short loop can seem like it’s twice as long as it was last time. It takes a lot of focus to continue giving more effort for the same result. Then, out of nowhere, the opposite happens and you can’t believe you’re done with the loop already.

Eventually, around 30 miles, I remembered to ask for duct tape. No bloody nipples today! As the day wore on my fitness ran out, somewhere around 55 miles. I did a good job at pacing and fueling, I just didn’t have the training volume needed to sustain the pace. Every year there’s a loop sometime after number 9 or 10 that I give all the extra effort I can muster to try get a faster lap in because I know I’ve been slowing down, only to finish the lap 30 seconds slower than the previous one. This year the last 3 loops were like that. I stopped a few minutes early so I could watch the timing system in action.

The Finish
I accumulated 70.595 miles in 11:48. I finished 1st in the over 40 year old age group. I’m normally rather critical of my performances, nearly always thinking I could have done better, but this year I’m happy with this result and look forward to building on it for my summer races.

I’m excited for 2014 when I can watch all the crazy runners go around and around and around. The new website for the race is wp12hr.com.

Tags Brooks Team, Race Reports, Redmond Watershed 12 Hour

Club News Cross Country Featured Race Reports

2013 Brooks Team Fall Update

Post author By Marlene Farrell
Post date November 8, 2013

Our Brooks team members are selected based on their strengths not only as runners but as ambassadors for our great sport. Whether it be racing, volunteering at races, doing trail work, or all of the above, giving back to the running community is what makes one qualified for this team. From the roads to the trails to cross country, from one mile to one hundred, one must represent Seattle Running Club and Brooks proudly. Those members were asked to recap what they’ve accomplished and experienced so far in 2013:

Wendy Wheeler Jacobs

My ulta-running season culminated with the Waldo 100K in August and the Wasatch 100M in September. I have filled out the Fall with some wonderful long day or overnight trail adventures including 2 trips around Mt St Helens (pictured above), PCT section J, and across the Olympic National Park.

I once again managed the course marking and sweeping crew for the Cascade Crest 100, and have volunteered at a few other local races. I am wrapping up production of the 2014 Tribute to the Trails wall calendar, which features Glenn Tachiyama’s well-known trail running photography. These will be available at area running stores and all sales proceeds are donated to the Washington Trails Association to help keep our trails open and maintained. You can expect to see nice photos of club members included!

Keith Laverty

This past spring marked my 10th year of competitive, injury-free running. With a new marathon PR (2:35) under my belt and a solid spring season, I was feeling optimistic as usual. However, like all good streaks: they must come to an end. Starting in early August, I suffered my first serious running injury which has put a damper on my fall road-racing and XC season.

Despite the setbacks, I competed in two 12-person team relays over 190 miles, first by winning the Rocky Mountain Relay in course record time. My 3rd leg, a 1,000 foot elevation gain over 7.5 miles, sounds reasonable enough except when you’ve just awoken from a nap on a cement sidewalk, it’s 3:30 in the morning, the weather is brisk and foggy, and the run finishes at an elevation of 10,400 feet. At the next relay, my team took 5th place in the Mixed Open division of Hood to Coast, the world’s largest team relay. I also tried to take advantage of the summer weather by partaking in a few ‘ol dusty (and often muddy) trail races. With a 1st place finish at the inaugural Tehaleh Trail Half, I won the yearly Evergreen Trail Series. Other results include, 1st at Rattlesnake Ridge 5-mile (27:04), 2nd at Cougar Mtn. 8-mile (53:55) and 1st at Cougar 5k (20:28).

Current plans include the FSRC winter series, Bridle Trails 10-mile, preparing for the 2014 Boston Marathon, enjoying the Brooks gear, and most importantly, running injury-free.

Marlene Farrell

Image:Win Van Pelt

My running was focused on medium length trail races this season. It allowed me to train frequently on amazing local trails without the need to get out for really long sessions. I stayed very healthy and enthusiastic about running. I ran the Sunflower Trail Marathon in May, the Red Devil 25k Challenge in June, the Cougar Mountain 20 mile race in July and the Cle Elum Ridge 25k in September. I was pleased to win every race and my highlights were being first overall (men or women) at Sunflower and setting a new course record at Cle Elum by over 26 minutes. Along the way I trained in Brooks Ravenna and Brooks Pure Flow. For the trail races I sometimes wore the Ravenna or else the Racer ST. Now that cross country is underway I am working on speed and wearing the Brooks Mach.

I still write blogs for a local running website out of Wenatchee.

Martin Criminale

In spite of having to recover from a serious injury in early February I achieved two milestones this summer; running my first 50 mile race and my first 100 mile race. My training was a combination of road miles (Brooks Launch) that included several outings with our local Fleet Feet Sports store here in Seattle and trail miles (Brooks Cascadia 8 and PureGrit) by myself, with friends and with the Seattle Running Club at our weekly runs. In both races I wore the Cascadia 8 and loved it! This shoe is comfortable, has reasonable traction and protects the foot extremely well from sharp objects. For both races I also wore the Brooks 5″ Essential Run Short and the Brooks short sleeve EZ T III, both of which were fantastic. Not having to worry about your gear is HUGE when you go long. Thanks for all the support Brooks!

Martin has other updates on his personal website.

Trisha Steidl

In July I ran and won the Lord Hill 10K. My hope was to beat the CR I set from the year before. Unfortunately I missed it by a few seconds. Rather than take direct responsibility for those few seconds, I’ll blame it on the late start (I ended up being really hungry by the time we actually started, which was about 30 minutes after the stated start time, partially due to the gate not being opened to the parking lot by the parks folks until much later than scheduled) and the fact that I basically had to walk for a minute or two behind a lady that would not move out of my way early on in the race. Last year there was a coyote that appeared on the side of one of the trails where I was alone and that certainly prompted me to run faster. No coyote this year = no course record this year. Hopefully I’ll be able to run this one again next year and beat the record, with or without the help of a coyote.

The Cougar “Half” (really over 14 miles) in August was an interesting one. I threw up before the race (6 times) and when the gun went off, my stomach was completely empty. I started out in 5th or 6th place and slowly moved up to 2nd/3rd by the bottom of the Wilderness Peak loop. The 2nd/3rd place dance continued for awhile with another lady. As I continued to consume as many gels as possible to make up for the pre-race happenings, I found I was always in a deficit energy-wise. Somehow I managed to be strong on the uphills, but could gain no momentum on the downs. So every up I would catch 2nd and every down I’d go back to 3rd. The Quarry trail was my savior in that it’s a long uphill near the end of the race. There is one short downhill section on that trail and I took full advantage of it and somehow made a big move into first. I ran scared the rest of the way in, assuming my dance partner was going to come up on me at any moment. I ended up winning the race, but the “fun” wasn’t over. I ended the day similarly to how I started in that it was painful and no fun. I fell down a few minutes into my cool down and skidded across some mean gravel stuff and cut up my left leg and knee pretty badly and painfully. At least I got the win!

September brought the Labor Day not-quite-4-miler (instead of the half I originally intended to race). The race isn’t actually called that, but it definitely wasn’t quite a full 4 miles, so I’ve unofficially renamed the event. I ended up winning by about 7 minutes and winning a free pair of shoes for only 24 minutes of work. It was a good call on a morning where I wasn’t feeling very well.

My most recent outing was the PNTF XC race (pictured above). It was my first time racing XC in two years and I had a fun time out on the course. The weather had certainly improved upon the day before when I was out at the Jefferson Park Golf Course in the ridiculous win as we hosted the WAC XC Championships (women were 2nd, men were 4th!) Having a stressful couple of days leading up due to hosting duties, I wasn’t at full capacity for this race, but I gave it what I had on the day and moved up the field the entire time, leading many to believe I ran really fast for the last loop. I simply ran a very even race that allowed me to move from almost last place at the start to 24th.

I’m now looking forward to racing something around the Thanksgiving time and then it’s on to Club XC Nationals in December!

Travis Boyd

This summer my training was focused for the Chicago Marathon by running 110 miles/week on average for the first time ever. My body stayed healthy and I was able to run a few races along the way. I finished in 3rd place at the Run of the Mill 5k in July in 15:04. I finished in 2nd place at the Snoqualmie Railroad Days 10k in 31:03 in August. I won the Overlake Labor Day Half Marathon in September in a personal best of 1:07:47. And I completed my summer/fall season with the Chicago Marathon in October and finished in 27th place in a time of 2:19:56.

Read a brief blog recap about the Chicago Marathon.

Erik Barkhaus

Training in the post-collegiate world has been an adventure so far. I found myself with a few months of summer training freedom before taking on the challenges of balancing a full time work schedule with the demands of heavy training. It always helps me through the rough patches to know that many others have successfully done this and continue to do so every day. I am currently focusing towards Club XC Nationals with the USA Half Marathon Championships soon after!

Greg Crowther

Greg’s update came in the form of a recent blog entry.

Tags Brooks Team, Race Reports

Cross Country Race Reports

Comfort Zones

Post author By Joe Creighton
Post date November 7, 2013

My favorite moment from last Sunday’s 10k, the “PNTF Cross Country (XC) Championships,” aside from crossing the finish line of course, was courtesy Patrick Niemeyer, moments before the gun went off. We both noticed the dearth of bodies on the start line, and Patrick, closer to 40 years old than almost everybody present, had legitimate concerns about finishing dead last. As everyone bounced around with nervous energy, he looked at me.

“How did I let you talk me into this? I hate you.”

Moments later, myself still laughing, the gun went off. Eighteen seconds later I was in oxygen debt.

Leaving one’s comfort zone can be difficult. Earlier this year, one of the things I was simultaneously looking forward to the most *and* the least was how gosh darn competitive these post-high school autumn XC races were going to be. I was both excited to get my ass kicked, and dreading it. I have not been disappointed. A lot of guys named Chad are beating me.

For myriad reasons, the people who choose to run XC tend to be on the whole a *bit* faster, on average, than those who run, say, the Fremont 5k, or whatever 5k is occurring on Alki Ave this Saturday in West Seattle. This in turn makes “slower” runners less inclined to want to run XC, which in turn makes it more competitive, which in turn makes it even scarier to would-be first timers, etc etc. A vicious circle that carves interest in races like last Sunday’s XC 10k down to a mere 42 runners (+46 in the Open Womens 6k race, and +50 in the combined Masters men/women 6K). Or about the amount of people in a typical Trig classroom at your local public high school. Despite the fact that these races are MUCH MORE cost-effective; I will spend a total of $35 for five races this season…including my hip new race singlet.

The carving down also makes things decidedly more competitive at such a race. The races are broken up into “Masters” (ages 40+) and “Open” races (myself, Uli Steidl, and seemingly every fit 25 year-old in the county). And due to the intimidating reputation XC has to many otherwise possibly-interested runners (despite the word “championships” in the title, anybody can run this race; you don’t need to qualify, you don’t need to be “professional,” or sponsored. It’s frowned upon but you *can* be bald.), most everybody next to me on the starting line had those six-pack abs skinny guys get because they’re emaciated, and I saw some sorry-looking early “Movember” experiments on a few upper lips. Some may have even shaved their legs.

At a local road race like the Fremont 5k’s start line, I’ll also be surrounded by current or past collegiate running bros, with their headbands and Bieber-hair and names like Tyler, but there are also a loooooot of normal people lined up behind me, with varying levels of running interest and speed, some maybe even bald, and I’ll find myself managing to finish 10th out of nearly 600 runners.

I feel certain that today I would easily defeat that guy in 2012 who got top-10 with a 16:59 in Fremont. But Sunday there I was, running a seemingly smart and close-to-ideal pace en route to a 35:34 10k. On Lower Woodland Park’s slow & relentlessly brutal course. A 10k PR. And….I’m rewarded with 30th place. Thirtieth. Out of 42 runners. I distinctly recall wrapping up the 3rd of five 2k loops (or maybe it was the 4th?) and noticing “Wow, it’s kinda sparse back there behind me.” And you notice the fans on the course starting to spread out again, their backs turned to you, having seen the front-pack guys go by and possessing negative interest in your physiological stress or whether you can hang on for top-30.

I joked to others about how I fully intended to finish “2nd to last” at the National Championships in Bend, OR in mid-December. That was and still is my end goal. Just toe that championship line with an SRC singlet covering my hairy chest, and try my darndest to not get last. Humbling, but in a way that’s good for a guy whose mother is usually flabbergasted that her bald son finished before most people in that local small-fry trail race.

Patrick, about 43 minutes after telling me he hated me, got 3rd to last on Sunday. I hope he doesn’t still hate me.

PNTF 2013 Results

Top image: Win Van Pelt

Tags Cross Country, PNTF, Race Reports

Race Reports

One Goal To Go

Post author By Travis Boyd
Post date October 20, 2013

My goal at the Chicago Marathon was to run 5:15 pace and finish under 2:18, in order to qualify for the Olympic Marathon Trials. I was actually right on pace and feeling good through 20 miles, but at mile 22 my calves started cramping up pretty bad, so I ended up hobbling through the last couple miles and finished in 2:19:56. Although I was disappointed that I fell a couple minutes short of the trials standard, I’m happy to run a four minute personal record and I look forward to taking another shot at the Trials standard next spring. I plan to race the USA Half Marathon Championships in Houston in January, and since Baby Boyd #2 is due in mid-April, I’m thinking about doing a March marathon before our second is born. Which marathon, I have not yet decided.

As far as Cross Country, I plan to run the PNTF Championships at Woodland Park on November 3rd, and following that, the USATF Club National Championships in Bend, Oregon, on December 14th.

Happy running!

Ed. Note: Cool heavily-watermarked photos from Travis’ big day in Chicago, with interesting animated watermark effects on top of a beautiful blue SRC singlet, can be found here.

Tags Race Reports, Travis Boyd

Club News Race Reports

SRC Sweep at 2013 Labor Day Run

Post author By Seattle Running Club
Post date September 4, 2013

On Labor Day 2013, many Seattle Running Club runners took part in the very popular and competitive Labor Day Half Marathon in Redmond, Washington. SRC had a great showing, with the top 3 men all wearing the SRC singlet as well as Trisha Steidl taking the womens win in the 4 mile race.

Travis Boyd (pictured above) led the way with a 1:07:47 final time, followed closely by Uli Steidl (1:08:59) and Erik Barkhaus (1:09:53). Trisha’s 24:08 in the 4 mile race led all women by over 7 minutes and was 8th overall.

It was a great early-season showing as many of the club members are gearing up for a fast fall of cross country racing. If you yourself are interested in running XC with us, please feel free to come out to our team workouts on Wednesday evenings and introduce yourself! The more the merrier!

Labor Day Run Full Results
Labor Day Run Photos

Tags Labor Day Half, Race Reports

Club News Featured Race Reports

Cascade Crest 2013 – 100 Miler Lessons

Post author By Joe Creighton
Post date September 4, 2013

I don’t know if I’ll ever run a hundred miler. (Oh yes, I should mention up-front that despite the post title, *I* learned no lessons at Cascade Crest this year. At least not first hand. But bear with me.) I admit the allure of triple digits appeals to me, because unless you’re Yiannis Kouros, it’s pretty much the final frontier. And since the absurd idea of running 100 miles at a time first occurred to me a few years ago, I figured the most likely venue would be the central Cascades of this beautiful state (read: nearby) and the Cascade Crest 100.

That said, I bailed on a wimpy little 50 miler just over a month ago because I felt overwhelmed by the effort it would require, so who really knows how or when I’ll obtain the huevos to double that distance PR.

I do know that if I ever *do* get the courage, I have recently received three very thorough and entertaining guides on what I can expect. SRC members Martin Criminale, Angel Mathis, and Tim Mathis (no relation unless I’m wrong…? Win can you double check this before taking it live? And if they’re not married can you get me Angel’s phone number? Thanks! Also please delete this before taking live that would be embarrassing! ;p) all ran their very first hundred miler on August 24th, all at Cascade Crest, and all published imperative information for anyone wishing to do the same someday.

A lot can and will go wrong when you start talking about running for 20-30 hours in a row (or so I’ve heard). If you yourself are also weighing the risk/reward ratio for this ridiculous endeavor, I advise you to perhaps bookmark these three race reports, if not find a talented tattoo artist and have our SRC friends’ new wisdom permanently secured to your arm.

Martin’s Report (photos)

On Low Points
Everyone I talked to said, “Dude, it’s not if but when…” All that talk kind of scared me. Subsequently at the start I was trying to ’embrace the journey’ as they say and take on whatever was thrown at me. Mile 20 came and went, no low point. Mile 40, still no low point. Mile 54, no low point. Heck, on No Name Ridge at mile 80, STILL NO REAL LOW POINT. Then came the climb up to Thorpe Mountain (mile 83); without realizing it I was suddenly practically on my hands and knees. My power hike had turned into a survival hike and I had to stop twice to literally put my hands on my knees just to conserve strength.

Martin: “Oh man Luke… I am beat down.”
Luke: “You’re doing okay.”
Martin: “Feel. Very. Weak. How long has it been since I have eaten?”
Luke: “Back at the last aid station, about one hour.”
Martin: “Oops…”

That was when I had my first gel. And half a mile later when I got to the Thorpe Mountain aid station I had another. And a cup of Coke. I chased this with the contents of my last wrap and threw the tortilla into the trash. Sometimes you just need to do what works even though I knew it was the beginning of the end for my stomach. I guess I figured that making it through this bad patch and not being able to eat solid food for the remaining 15 miles was better than loosing an hour or more and only maybe getting back on the solid food. I think it was the right call.

Angel’s Report

After Aggie handed me and the tutu off to Alicia, we were on our way for a little bush wack and a treacherous stream crossing that on legs that had run 68 miles at 2:30 a.m. didn’t seem all that dependable. One of the first things Alicia said that I remember is “Check this shit out” as she flashed her brighter-than-the-sun flashlight. This made me laugh the moment she said it, surprised me when I saw how bright it was, and came as a great comfort to me later on the section of the trail known as the “trail from hell.” It has this reputation because it is extremely technical, has log crossings, a lot of rocks and roots to trip on and drops right off the side into a lake so if you trip, your life could be in danger. The race director, Rich white, reassured the runners that the only person who had ever fallen off and swam to safety was a person who littered on the trail. I was sure not to litter! I made a rookie mistake on this section of the trail and forgot to grab the spare set of batteries packed away with my crew. My lights were becoming dim, but with Alicia’s light, we had no worries except for the long shadow that cast from my feet covering the trail directly in front of me.

Tim’s Report

Even with a friend driving us back, the car ride back to Seattle was excruciating, with knee tendinitis bothering me more than at any point during the race, and muscles, realizing that they could relax, locking up and generally taking the opportunity to protest what I’d just subjected them too. We made it home though, and as I was showering Angel came in and announced that she’d finished making her “nest” – a pile of pillows on our bed surrounded by drinks, bags of chips and a lap top. “That’s where I’m going to spend the next day.” From the nest we ordered some Thai food, updated our Facebook statuses, and fell asleep at about 7:30. Today my legs are as sore as they’ve ever been, our house is still trashed with drop bags, and I can’t bring myself to do anything requiring physical exertion. But I’m happy, and pretty darn proud.

Pictured at top: Martin taking care of feet in the middle of the night, which I’ve heard is a popular ritual in hundred milers; Tim successfully finishing…also a popular ritual.

Tags Cascade Crest 100, Race Reports, wisdom