Race day report

Part I - Pre-race

Looking out of my 11th floor hotel window, I see quiet downtown streets. A stark contrast to the hustle and bustle of yesterday’s activity. I look up to the sky and see nothing but blue. Not a cloud in sight from my viewpoint. Race doesn’t start until 10am. At that time yesterday, it was already pretty warm and a bit humid. Not sure of the temps at current time, but I know it is suppossed to be another hot day here in Philly. Thankfully, the race is in a park, so I am hoping for some heat relief from Mother Nature.

This will not be a race for time. This will simply be an adventure. I have no knowledge of the course. I have not been training all that hard, for various reasons. What I am looking forward to is the experience, a new race in a new city. And a TRAIL RACE! The have only done 2 other trail races; The famed Dipsea Race (3 times) and the Woodminster Cross Country Race 9 miler (once), both in the BAY AREA. Both of those are incredibly demanding and challenging. NOT for the weak of heart or strength or will.
I’m about to chow down a CLIF Bar, grab a taxi and head on out....

Part II - Getting to the Start

Using my printed directions, I reluctantly got into the taxi with the driver who really didn’t seem to know where we were going. I was going to have to help him a lot. What is it with cab drivers. Last week in Chicago, we had trouble there too? I thought cabbies were suppossed to know WHERE places were....
30 minutes and $30 bucks later, I finally get to the race start. Race directions were not the greatest & I had to help cabbie find all the streets.

Part III - The Race

The Wissahickon Trail Race was held in the northwest area of Fairmount Park
An incredibly beautiful, lush park. As mentioned, race didn’t begin until 10am, so after arriving at 9:15, I had plenty of time to register, drink H2O & hit the bathroom. Soon enough, the crowd had grown and it seemed like everyone was excited. It also seemed like there were a lot of younger runners out; early 20’s.
Total # of runners was 499. A good, small, dedicated group.
oh, yeah. The weather. It was pretty hot and very humid at the start.
After a simple, “Get Ready, Set, Go” from the race director, we were off and running. The trail was very wide for the first mile or so. Then, the hills came and the single track adorned with rocks, branches, stumps...any and everything that could possible cause one to trip.
The climbs were significant and by 2 miles, I was sucking wind pretty badly. Too bad there wasn’t any wind to actually suck since it was so damn humid. Yes, I do live in Atlanta where it is also very humid, but we have not yet had this kind of weather. So.
The down hills were significant and tricky and had to be carefully maneuvered. I tried to catch up on my time, but little progress was made. Trail running is so different in that you don’t ever really get into a groove; with the constant terrain changes, your body is alwasys adjusting and such. But, of course, this is part of the fun too.
On every steep uphill, there was just a single file line of us walking, panting, and some cursing beautiful mother nature. My quads were on fire. Heavy. Heavy. Heavy!! UUGGGHHHH. My head also felt like it was gonna burst because I felt so freaking hot. I cannot recall the last time I ever felt so out of breath for such an extended period of time. WOW.
Amidst all of this, I tried to just really take it all in...this was not a race for time or anything for me; I knew that weeks ago. Nevertheless, it’s a much harder thing to accept when in the competition, in the battle. And, I think any true competitor knows that. At 5.5 miles, a course marshall pointed us to the left and said, “downhill from here. you are almost there.”
Yeah! I did my best to scamper down and finish the last .2 miles with a sprint.

Finish time = 1:14
Slowest 10k ever
First Ever 10k trail race.

I thought of a quote while running that I’d like to share at this point.

“The difference between a jogger and a runner is an entry blank.”

George Sheehan

Every time out take courage, not matter who you are, no matter what level of fitness. And I give a shout out to all of those who competed yesterday. It was far from easy.

Here is the only photo I have -- not great, but a small piece of evidence I was there.