A new 3.2 mile pr (?) RR (Read 449 times)

I probably woudn't normally post this but there haven't been many race reports lately and I do enjoy a good race report so it's only fair to do my share. I decided at the last minute to do a race on Valentines day. A 4 mile race of 2 loops around the beautiful lagoon on the UC Santa Barbara campus on the Pacific Ocean. I was tempted into it because it is part of a three race series and I was`planning to do the other two races ( a 5 mile and then a 10k). Turns out they are having series awards for the three races as well, in divisions for 'students', 'alumni',' open' and 'faculty/staff. Alright, all the fast guys can fight over the other categories but I think I might stand a chance at the faculty/staff category so I thought I'd turn up, get a good fast training run in and stake my claim to some faculty points. Valentines day morning dawns and it is freezing. Literally. I know I won't get any sympathy, but this is California, we're not used to this. Actually I'm just not used to getting up this early. I drag myself onto campus and it is suspiciously quiet. The organization looks good but race time comes around and the only thing missing is the runners. I guess they were expecting more runners because they have a 5 minute lag between the start of the mens and the womens races. So 11 guys line up at 8am and start out clockwise around the lagoon starting at a point nearest the bottom of the picture. Despite only being 11 strong we have a biker to lead us around and stencilled arrows on the route, although there is nobody stationed to direct runners. Three runners take off at speeds I'm not going to try and match and a few hundred yards later another person passes me but I'm happy with my pace so I let them go and settle into 5th place. Now I work here, I live about 3 miles away as the crow flies and can run here along the bluff or beach to campus so I know the campus and trails well. I'd also looked at the route ahead of time so I knew where the course went. Once the race gets to the far side of the lagoon it hugs the lagoon which involves making a sharp right turn and following a single track trail around the lagoon edge whereas the main path, skips across between those two beaches you can see on the picture. However on the first loop the cyclist neglects to take the single track and the lead runners follow him. The arrow on the road sure doesn't seem to be pointing down the single track either. I have a moments pause and then head down the single track. After a few meters I look back and the next runner, who was fairly close behind me has not taken the single track either. I yell something like 'I think its this way' but he shouts something like 'They went this way'. Which is technically correct, I think the runners ahead of us all did go that way. Hmm. What to do? I could go the right way, but it seems likely I might be the only one since the rest of the runners will either follow the guy behind me or the arrow. WWJD? That doesn't help much. WWCND? Ahh, much better, Chuck Norris would kick some ass. So I tear back to the main path and now have a goal for the race which is to reclaim my lost position. Although I'm only about 10 or 20m behind it takes me the rest of the first lap and part of the second to catch back up and reclaim 5th place. I now have a second goal, since the race is shorter than expected and that is to negative split the two laps. The course is actually rather fun with concrete, trail, sand, a sharp climb, and even some hay bales for the true cross country touch. I finish in 20:25 with laps of about 10:30 and 9:55. Even with the detour on the first lap that cost me maybe 20 or 30 seconds I think I just managed to negative split. It looks like everyone in both the mens and womens race went the wrong way so I'm kind of glad I wasn't the jerk that did it right. What would I do? Insist on being awarded first place? The consensus seems to be that the course ended up around 3.2 miles. So I guess that's a pr..... I finished 5th out of 11 and first (out of 1 !) in the faculty/staff category. Fun race despite the snafu. Pity the turnout wasn't better.

Wow, beautiful location to run in! So since you were the only one to show up for the first race, I'd think that means you've got your division series win locked up!