25th Applefest Half Marathon - Saturday 10/6 (Read 902 times)

I’d already run it twice, so I knew the Applefest HM is an HTFU sanctioned course. There are few level stretches, most of the course is “New England rollers” that serve as warm-ups for the ridonculous killer hills lurking just beyond mile nine. I met trentman359 and we headed North for Hollis, NH. The forecast called for unseasonably warm temps and it was certainly accurate. At the 10:00am start it was 72 degrees with 76% humidity and nary a cloud to be seen. About 1000 individual runners and 100 relay teams headed down the high school driveway and turned onto the roads of Hollis. Aerial shot of ½ mile mark taken during 2005 race I felt pretty good, and thought I had gone out at a good pace. I was pretty horrified to find that I walked past the first mile marker at 7:00. Knowing that this was too fast under the best of conditions, it was way too fast for this course on a hot and humid day. Warning! Warning! I knew I needed to slow my pace, but it remained too fast. My recent races have all been 5K, and it seems my cruise control was stuck on 5K pace. I knew I was in deep trouble when my watch showed just over 49 minutes at the seven mile mark. To make matters worse, the temperature had climbed to 76 degrees. To describe the second half of the race as a fade wouldn’t do it justice. In keeping with the weather it was more of a meltdown. It took me 60 minutes to slog through the last six miles, stumbling up the dreaded hills as best I could. By the time I wobbled across the line at 1:50:45 the temperature was up to 79 degrees and I was completely wiped out. But what of trentman359? Glad you asked. It seems I was not the only one holding onto 5K habits. We run a 5K series in Lowell, MA and head for seats on the host bar’s patio after finishing. Finding that there is no patio at Applefest’s three mile mark, Trenton took the only seat he could find. He entered the porta potty as mild-mannered Trentman359, but it was HTFU Man that flung the door open and rejoined the race. Rejuvenated, revitalized, (and relieved) he ran a disciplined steady pace and reduced his PR by 7:16 when he crossed the line at 1:55:08. In the official results I finished ahead of him, but Trent definitely won the day’s bragging rights with a truly impressive PR. And just as importantly, the secret of his success gave me a great post-race laugh when I really needed one.

Very nice Dawg and Trent. We have an Applefest race too but it's a 5k.

Nice job you guys! Thanks for the report with the pictures - you always get bonus points for that.

Good job, boys! How did Trentman do so well even after a potty stop? I've never had to go to the john mid-race. I live in fear of that...I know it would slow me down and likely make my legs lock-up. k

Great job guys!! Great report!!

How did Trentman do so well even after a potty stop?

He cheats. Actually, his legs are only 22 years old which means they are still covered under the manufacturer's warranty.

The law of averages says that I will beat Ed one of these days.

I'm sure Grasshopper never let the old blind guy forget it when he finally snatched the pebble from his hand, and I have no doubt that you will be IMPOSSIBLE to deal with. Someday soon you'll kick my ass and you'll know you've earned it, cuz I aint givin' up without a fight.

HTFU. May not be safe for work without earphones.

Got it!