Notes
Another year at the Governor's, and probably the most competition yet with Nick Bowerman from 2 years ago and then 2 Pleasant Valley alums (both former D1 guys and top 5 at state high school xc), but I still had Drew at my side (team tactics baby), more knowledge of the course than them, and the most confidence in my fitness in a few years. Still, I had already accepted we might not go 1-2 this year.
The race started without the usual high school sprint (usually by high schoolers) and I was easily in 3rd around the 1st turn, partly also because Drew and a few of the other guys lined up behind me. I hadn't planned on it but quickly decided to just take the lead by the 1st haybail jump and then just made sure no one passed me before the woods. The woods involved 2 decent creek crossings, some logs to awkwardly jump over, and plenty of slick muddy singletrack, so without much effort I had focused us down to a group of 6 in the 1st 1/2 mile (Drew, myself, the 3 guys I mentioned, and Falco, who would stick with us for another mile or so).
Our little pack gathered slightly in the prairie when Drew remembered the route would turn right into the woods again, I heard him but didn't figure it out fast enough as I missed the turn and ended up in the back of our pack as we hit some of the harder trails (plenty of creek crossings and logs to jump over or duck under). The pack stuck together so I didn't need to worry about having to pass anyone, it was just annoying to follow people who weren't as trail-experienced; I know I can trust Drew when following him but not these greenhorns. And of course there was the accordion effect when coming to obstacles as we spread out and then I had the most ground to make up.
The 5 of us made it to the doublewide walking path in tact and we bunched up before Devin made a move into the lead and picked up the pace. I had been behind Charlie and passed him as he looked somewhat winded. This mile of faster running was probably the most I was concerned about getting dropped, thankfully it was mostly downhill (I'm saying flat would have been the worst, not uphill).
We'd been on the path for awhile when Bowerman took the lead from Devin. I was started to actually feel better and casually passed Drew as I was getting anxious to get back to the nitty gritty. The entrance back to the woods was something I don't remember, it was a steep dropoff with a huge log obstacle. Bowerman somewhat went around it, but Devin made the mistake of trying to slide under it, I realized he was a bit stuck so I just leaped onto and over the log (hopefully that didn't affect Devin) and I heard Drew do the same.
Now we were back in the stream crossings and I was just trying to hold onto Bowerman. However, he wasn't having the best time following the flags and eventually he made a wrong turn, I wasn't trying to pass him and we both hesitated as he returned, but I absentmindedly took the lead. Now I wasn't trying to make a move yet, but as I got comfortable leading and took advantage of my better agility, I realized I had a gap and decided I wasn't going to just let them catch up.
I wasn't up by much though when I heard Drew apologizing for passing Bowerman (with Bowerman verbally accepting defeat it seemed). I heard Drew catch up to me and then I just went for broke. I didn't look back and didn't let up as we flew through the woods and eventually to the actual groomed singletrack (here was a solid uphill, but there wasn't really 1 defining uphill like past years).
Once on the cornfields, I asked Drew how we were doing. He said we were crushing it but we still had a mile to go. Eventually we spotted Devin behind us but unless he had a lot in reserve and was just tripped up by the course, we should be fine (not that I wasn't scared the entire last mile). There was also thankfully 2 more trips into the woods that were quite difficult to maneuver and probably benefited me the most as there were some tighter squeezes for Drew. But we both knew the race was almost over as we pushed through 1 last big creek crossing (and apparently missing the rope bridge). With the shelter in view, we knew we had another victory in the bag and cruised home as I happily conceded the victory to Drew this year.
Devin came in 3rd and Falco was actually in 4th as both Charlie and Bowerman conceded at some point and grabbed prizes (Charlie a small metal sled, and Bowerman a Cubs-fan skeleton with a sandbag for a body, wow). Hazard even cruised in for 6th I believe.
This is certainly the most accomplished field we've beaten and probably the most I've pushed Drew in years as well. Things are looking pretty good and confident for LHF. Props to Falco and Hazard for bleeding through their 1st time (boos to Retro for not wanting to do it again), and hopes to all reading that this entry will inspire more people to come to the race next year.