Run Thru Hell - 4.8 Mile - Run


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Pinckney, Michigan
United States
Gault Race Management
70F / 21C
Sunny
Total Time = 41m 34s
Overall Rank = 444/1158
Age Group = 30-35
Age Group Rank = 8/66
Pre-race routine:

Woke up at crack of dawn, chowed on oatmeal, and went to Hell. :)
Event warmup:

Walked to registration, picked up horrendously ugly yellow t-shirt (bright yellow with florescent pink and orange lettering on both sides "I ran through Hell" on the back). Awesome. Walked back to car then back to start. Decided not to wait in the enormous potty line because it was almost 8am, of course the race didn't end up starting until 8:30 so I wished I had gone for it... ended up running the entire race w/afull bladder!
Run
  • 41m 34s
  • 4.8 miles
  • 08m 40s  min/mile
Comments:

Well, as advertised, it was hilly!! But actually, the hills weren't as much a problem as the heat and sheer numbers of runners. This is apparently a major draw for the local HS cross country teams and for some reason, they don't like to run at a consistent pace. Major bottlenecks everywhere. Walkers in the middle of it all.

Besides all that, it was a nice run! Up and down and thankfully through a lot of shade, because it was pretty sweaty. There were only two water stops and the volunteers were really struggling to keep up with demand.

I had no real sprint in me, but I kept up my pace and only walked to drink water.
What would you do differently?:

Bring my own fluids, I would have loved something other than water.
Post race
Warm down:

Tried to find some water or gatorade!! They were handing out emergency blow horns *right* at the finish line but there were no drinks or food within eye sight. I headed for the porta john (finally!), where I found Tom who thankfully had spotted the drinks. By the time we got there I had sweat in my eyeballs and was forced to take a birdbath in line for cookies. Post-race refreshmnent was a little scanty: only water, bananas and cookies (woulda been rough after 10 hilly miles!!). Found Fromer at the finish line. Stretched a LOT and chilled with Tom, my mom, and Fromer.

What limited your ability to perform faster:

Heat. Low mileage training.

Event comments:

I guess for the $17 race fee the post race snacks were all right.. but I don't think I've ever been to a race with no gatorade at the finish! I really didn't appreciate waiting 30 minutes for the start since I passed up bathrooms in order to be there on time... they need to put some out in the parking lots or something. They also really need to capitalize on all the CC runners and have the home team volunteer or something, they seemed a bit short staffed!

Fun run, but the bottlenecks and disorganization were kind of drawbacks!




Last updated: 2007-07-31 12:00 AM
Running
00:41:34 | 04.8 miles | 08m 40s  min/mile
Age Group: 8/66
Overall: 66/1158
Performance: Good
Course: Hilly, dirt farm roads around a big circle (I think) back into Hell.
Keeping cool Average Drinking Not enough
Post race
Weight change: %
Overall:
Mental exertion [1-5]
Physical exertion [1-5] 4
Good race? Yes
Evaluation
Course challenge Just right
Organized? Yes
Events on-time? No
Lots of volunteers? No
Plenty of drinks? No
Post race activities: Below average
Race evaluation [1-5] 3