Race Report - Stu's 30K - Clinton, MA (Read 1034 times)

A while back, I posted that I had several false starts in my running. I decided to walk for a year, and see if that helped prepare me for running. As an interim phase, I started trotting up and down a set of 200 stone steps from the foot of the Wachusett Reservoir Dam. I mentioned this in an RA thread, and got a reply mentioning that there is a great 30K race that runs around the very same reservoir. This poster (who shall remain nameless) mentioned that locals use it as a tuneup before running Boston*. Who could resist? I now live just outside of Boston, and hadn't been to Clinton in probably four years. It was nice to be back in the town where I started running, for me it was sort of a homecoming. I saw Jessica and Ken from the Good Times series, and Jessica took the opportunity to remind me what a killer the last hill is. What she neglected to mention was it's just one of many hills. It was sunny and cold, and the wind was blowing in gusts. I was going to run in two tech shirts, but opted for a tech shirt under an oversized fleece at the last moment. Signing up for the race doesn't count, so we'll call this Mistake #1. I've recently eliminated walk breaks on runs of about an hour or less, but I still use them for my long runs. For my marathon I ran six minutes and walked one minute, for Stu's I was running four minutes and walking for thirty seconds. It may not seem to be very different, but it's an 8:1 ratio rather than 6:1. It's a very low key race, it has the feel of a 340 person fun run with police cruisers. The police blocked the road, there were a few announcements (of which I couldn't hear a single word) and we were off. The first mile was flat and I was cruising along on the left side of the road. The surface was canted pretty significantly, and about ten minutes in I rolled my left ankle. I thought "that wasn't good" and continued on. At about the two mile mark, there was a photographer and for once I actually smiled. After the race, I realized they take the pictures here because this is the last significant level stretch on the course. From here on out, you're on a rollercoaster ride running uphill or downhill. At about twenty minutes, I stepped on the edge of a pothole and rolled my left ankle again. I thought "you IDIOT" and continued on. Right on schedule, I rolled it for the third time at about thirty minutes, and thought "you f***ing MORON" and continued on. I've only rolled an ankle on a run once, and that was the result of stepping on a stone. On the one hand it's pretty unlucky to roll your ankle three times in a race. On the other hand, I felt pretty lucky that I really suffered no ill effects. At around mile seven the wind had died down, and it was about noon. After five miles of hill work, I was starting to feel pretty warm and decided I had to peel off the fleece top. This is when I discovered Mistake #2. When I pulled the top over my head, I found that one of the safety pins for the number had gone through my shirt. I'm running down the road, trying to find the damned safety pin which is now on the inside of the inside-out top. After getting the pin off, I tried tying it around my waist but that sucked. I wound up tying it around my neck which sucked a little less. I crossed the half-marathon marker at 1:45 and some change, which would be a PR by a couple of minutes. I was still feeling pretty good, but by mile fifteen I was starting to struggle at the end of my run segments. The real fun begins at about mile sixteen, with a (relatively) gradual uphill for about a mile. After cresting that, you plunge into the depths for about a mile, then hit a steep uphill to make sure you're easy prey for the last hill. A nice downhill through downtown brought me to the killer hill that Jessica had warned me about. It's got to be close to a half mile, and it seems like you are running up the side of a building. I really had nothing left at this point, a finish line never looked so good. My time was 2:32:42, with an average pace of 8:12. And that nameless RA poster that mentioned Stu's way back when? He's an honorary Kenyan from the 2000+ Swamp who REALLY owes a race report, he was 17th across the line in 2:02:05 at an average pace of 6:33. ( * MTA: mikeymike and others were running it as a Boston tuneup, I was only running it to rub elbows with such greatness )

Now that I see your pic I recognize you from right before the start as we were all shivering as we walked up that little hill to the street from the shelter of the high school entryway. I wish I'd known it was you so I could have said hi. Belated hi!

I wish I had seen your RunningAHEAD shirt, I definitely would have said hello. I was kinda laughing to myself as I picked up my number in the gym, I was on the lookout for anybody sticking Baby Bjorn jump shots from the three point line as part of his warmup. That would have been a dead giveaway, RA shirt or not. Before the race, I heard a bunch of questions and comments from people about their gear. Nothing would be perfect, but I think shorts and doubled-up shirts would have been perfect for 80% of the race. A fleece vest with a full zipper over a tech shirt probably would have worked well too. I was glad I didn't ditch the top because I actually had to pull it back on at about the sixteen mile mark when we came back toward the edge of the reservoir and the wind picked up again. There were about ten unknown runners in the results, I doubt they were bandits I bet they just ditched the layer with the number pinned on. It was a good time, and I would do it again. Thanks again for your original post, I wouldn't have found Stu's without it. I gotta order up an RA shirt while I'm thinking of it...

Nice race, Ed, and great pics too You are one of the best run/walkers I've come across. You must have been doing well down into the 7's on your run segments. Well done