Run for the Ages - Run

Best part of the race (other than crossing the finish line) is that because the starts are staggered by 'age groups', there isn't the typical bottlenecking that happens at trail races. Worst part of the race: each group that starts is statistically faster than the one before it, which means if you are kinda pokey like me, you get passed A LOT, especially early in the race, which wears on the psychological aspect of the race.

Course starts downhill on pavement which changes to small stones (driveway) and then turns into the dirt trails of the woods. Tried to just 'do my thing' and not worry about all the people passing me and also to try to stay out of their way. I may have tried too hard to do this, at times actually stopping and moving off the trail to let others pass.

Not long after the course finishes going downhill, it starts going uphill. First incline, OK. 2nd incline, OK. 3rd incline, now I'm thinking, "I don't remember all these hills from last year!" yet I knew it was the same course. How could I possibly have forgotten all these climbs?! Oh well, I kept plugging away, running where I could and walking where I couldn't. On one hill, as a guy was slowly passing me, he said, "My memory must be getting worse with age; I don't remember these hills from last year!" I laughed, good-naturedly smacked him on the arm and said, "I was thinking the same darn thing!" Mostly I was getting passed but periodically I would pass a stray person or so.

As the race continued, I became convinced that I was the last person. I would occassionally see some people in front of me, like the woman in the multi-purpled tank top who I vowed to try to catch, but mostly I felt like I was alone. "Just like I'm going for a training run by myself", I told Self. "Relax and do what you can do". Around the mid-point of the race we have to climb up this crazy rock formation to the top, turn around and come back down. My knees don't particularly like this escapade. Because the course kind of folds on itself a little, it was here that I saw that I wasn't last and I was also near some other people in front of me as well. Cool, let's try to catch them and keep the others behind me!

Renewed, I tried to keep a smart, constant pace which really isn't easy on a course like this. OK, amend that statement to say I tried to keep moving quickly as much as reasonably possible to keep the people behind me from catching me. I would catch glimpses of multi-purple lady, but after a while I didn't see her anymore. Hmm, oh well. At some point, a different purple-colored (lavender) tank-topped woman passed me. Ugh, I didn't want caught now! I kept on doing my thang and eventually passed her. Some time later, she passed me. Later still, I passed her back. Re-pass by her again. On my next time of overtaking her, I said, "We should have a dollar for each time we pass each other!" She replied (sit down, folks, what's coming next is a shocker), "I was using you as a pacer! I kept telling myself to try to keep up with the girl in the orange shirt." WHAA-AAT?!? Me?! Me being used as a carrot?! I'd better record her saying those words! I laughed and we continued on, me ahead of her. I think this was the last time we encountered each other during the race.

Water stop #2, around mile 4.something. (chronologically, this should fall somewhere in the previous paragraph but it doesn't really fit in with the story, so just deal with the anachronism). The area of the trail is called Middle Road, which is a straight part of the trail that runs between these lovely tall pines on either side, a bed of needles underfoot. Simply enjoyable. It is a long, gradual incline and at the top I see heaven! No, wait, it's just the water stop. I make it a goal to move in a running fashion the whole way up the incline until I reach the angels handing out liquid bliss. I recognize the fellow closest to me; he had been directing traffic earlier and my friends and I picked up the fact he had an accent but in the short one or two word phrases he was saying couldn't identify it. I must've looked like I had one foot in the grave because when he saw me coming, he started announcing they had water. I replied, huffing and gasping, "I'm getting there, I'm getting there". He replied, "I'll come to you!" and starts jogging down the trail to me, ha! When he handed me the cup of delicious water, he was saying something else which I don't remember, and congitively on some level my brain was starting to identify the accent when I spied his hat which read 'Scotland'. Aha! Mystery solved! I wanted to make a comment about me being of Scottish heritage, too, but my brain just wasn't having it, so I told him he was wonderful and I plodded on after taking a 2nd water at their suggestion. Not too long to go now!

My knees are in total protest by this point with all the uphills but mainly from the downhills, which I take very cautiously because of my bad knees. A galloping gazelle downhill I am not, at least not in the woods with rocks and roots. Meanwhile, we are nearing 1 mile to go. Suddenly, multi-purple lady passes me. Wait, what? Where did she come from? She was ahead of me but is now passing me? Don't know if she had pulled off somewhere for a 'natural break' as they say in the Tour or what happened that she was behind me and I didn't pass her.

Running along the stream was so beautiful and I remembered this meant I was nearing the finish, relatively. I saw my friend's husband hanging out waiting to run me in. He said some encouraging words, possibly, "looking good, how do you feel?" and I picked up the pace a little. As he and I wound our way through the slightly boggy, muddy trail, he said, "There are some people close behind you, don't let them catch you!" so I kept motoring. We reached the point where we turn off the creek trail, take a hairpin up to a paved road from which we immediately turn off onto the steep, insane uphill scramble. My lungs are begging for air, my asthma is treatening to shut things down. My legs are also cooked, I just don't have anything left to run, well, 'run' the incline, so I dug in and climbed as fast as I could, huffing and puffing. I heard the others behind me and know I don't want passed here, so I tried to move as fast as possible. Stopping seems like such a good idea, part of my brain is trying to convince me. Hellz no, I tell it, we aren't stopping! Her husband, ahead of me on the incline, yells at me again, "Come on, come on!!" Gasping madly, I reached the paved path which goes to the finish line. My friends who already finished are cheering me on. "I can't get passed here, I can't get passed here!" I keep telling myself over and over and push as hard as I can to run to the finish. I made it without being passed by those behind me, whew!!! Barely able to breathe, I took off my bib tag and went over to a tree to gasp for air and recover. Turns out the people on my tail finished something like 15, 20 and 30 seconds after me, not much gap at all!

Final hill: 26% average grade, parts of it in the 30s.


Today - nothing. I did the best I could with the physical condition I've got.

For the future - Lose weight so I can better run up hills. Perhaps see a respiratory specialist to get a better grip on my asthma.

Oh, you mean after I stopped using a tree to hold me up while I gasped for breath? Ice pops! Water! Raffle prizes! I won my choice from a variety of goodies: a leftover , unclaimed AG award from last year. A local potter hand makes the awards from terra cotta and glazes nature things on them. Last year was a dragonfly, which has special meaning to me. I hope I get the chance to pick one next year, too. This year's little plate/bowl had some sort of bird painted on it, didn't see one close enough to identify the species. Heaven knows this is the only way I'll get my mitts on any of these awards!

Food line was ri-DICULOUSLY long, so I just jumped in to grab an ice pop. That one tasted so good I had another! Eventually, during awards, the line was less and I picked up a banana and some pretzels. All the watermelon was gone. :(


Being old and fat and slow.


Real time results:
Place LAST FIRST GROSS ADJUST NET
199 PAYTON MELANIE 1:50:19 0:20:00 1:30:19

Adjusted:
196 PAYTON MELANIE 1:50:19 0:20:00 1:30:19
(gross is from when the first race group started and net is my actual time. 20 minutes is the time from the start to when I started, the 'age adjusted' allowance)

Improved my time by 8 1/2 minutes from last year.

Course info and details about what an age-graded race is from Pretzel City Sports website:

Come out for the fourth annual running of the only trail race with an age graded start (that we know of) on the east coast. Top age group performers have a legitimate shot at the overall title. Even if you aren’t out to win, the race is run on challenging yet very runnable trails in beautiful Nolde Forest, has great schwag and virtually no bottle necks.

Challenge your families and coworkers to come out and compete on a “level” playing field… Hey ringers: Here’s a chance to show off a little by passing the whole pack! The top 10 in 2012 had 5 men and 5 women spread over 10
different age groups.

What’s an age graded start. Those who have more than a few of grey hairs or have yet to hit puberty will get a head start based on age and gender. Typically the oldest female wave starts first. Then the next wave will start, based on 5 year age groups, working back toward the younger (faster?) folks. Wave starts will bounce back and forth between sexes, as the handicap derived from the World Masters Association dictates. The actual handicap for each division is posted at www.PagodaPacers.com and will be declared final for 2013 a month prior to start. That means you start with your age group (call them your competition if you like). Your handicap division may or may not start with another handicap division. For example, it’s possible that 60-64 year old men might start at the same time as 50-54 year old women. Or maybe not…