The Recap - From My Perspective
It was an overcast chilly morning in the low to mid 40s and the trails were damp and muddy from rain we had over the past couple of days. There were three distance races: a 13 miler, 8.2 miler and a 3.8 miler. I opted for the 3.8. The 13 and 8.2 mile racers began ten minutes ahead of the 3.8 mile race.
Rather than stand around and be cold before the start. I did some quick sprints forward and backwards through the parking lot. That got me really warmed up. When the bullhorn sounded I was ready to go. I shot off the line down the parking lot and down the paths leading to the single-track when I realized that there were only a few people in front of me. I kept waiting for a few people to breeze by me before entering the single-track but it never happened. Once I got into the single-track, I only saw one runner visibly in front of me. He later vanished ahead of me within the next few minutes.
I sloshed my way through the trails and settled into my usual pace when I noticed that someone was pacing right behind me but not asking to pass. This made me pick up my pace - especially on the hills. Just after the first mile we started encountering the slower runners from the 8.2 and 13 mile races. One female runner had ear buds on and could not hear even when I shouted "PASSING LEFT!" a couple of times. The person pacing behind me turned out to be Amy Fach. She told me to tap on the woman's shoulder so we could pass. I felt like I was about to awaken a sleepwalker. I tapped her shoulder and she politely moved aside.
I ran a bit further with Amy still pacing me and we came to the toughest uphill on the trail. I shifted my legs into overdrive and started blasting up the steep hill. I widened my lead slightly over Amy but once I got to the top and still had a long slow ascent, I slowed up and Amy zoomed by me as I tried getting some wind back and overcome my burning quads. Within a minute she was out of eye shot.
I paced myself from there and relaxed a little more and enjoyed the run. There did not seem to be any pending threats on the horizon. Going forward the biggest challenges were the mud and passing people without stumbling. As the race progressed there were more and more racers from the 8.2 and 13 milers hogging the trails. At one point there was a line of what seemed like 20 people. Passing all them just about finished me off when I got to the fork in the trail where the 3.8 mile race separates from the longer races. That was a relief but no sooner did I breathe a sigh of relief, another runner came up behind me and passed me. There was probably a bit more than a half-mile left in the race. The runner turned out being Lex Irwin. A minute later a young guy, Dan Morgan, passed us both but Lex and I kept pace. For a minute or so it Dan, Lex, and I running in a pack with me in the back and Dan slightly in front of Lex. Dan started to take the lead as we headed for the final hill that led to the parking lot to the finish line. On the hill I made a move to retake my lead over Lex and was successful. Dan was still a few paces in front of me and I knew I would need to turn on the afterburners to catch him. Before I could shift into high gear Dan opened it up sprinting to the finish and I followed with Lex close behind me.
Dan's final sprint bested me by 8 seconds to finish 6th overall and first in the 25-29 male division at 31:19. I took 7th and won the overall male master division (all men 40 and over) at 31:27 while Lex finished just 3 seconds behind me in 8th at 31:30 and took first in the men's 35-39 division. Amy who passed me earlier in the race kept her momentum going and finished 4th overall and took 1st place for the women finishing at 29:51.
The overall winner was 46 year old Derek Kaat who finished in 26:41. The last time I had him in my sight was just before he entered the single-track at the beginning of the race. After that he was gone! He opened a nice lead from the start and never looked back. Second place winner, 14 year old Caleb Breeden was a full 2 minutes and 35 seconds behind him at the finish at 29:16.
Overall it was a fun and well-organized race. The trails were well marked and I have to give kudos to the Charlotte Running Company for putting on the event. Finally, to all the runners who came out on this chilly winter's day - GREAT JOB!
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