Wasn't really targeting this race - scheduled it just to be sure to get in a good tempo run. Good thing, too, cause when I woke up it looked like rain and there's no way I would have run. Still, once you toe the line, you're there to race!

Since it is a pretty small event, I thought I would have a pretty good chance of a podium spot, but wasn't sure what to expect for a time as the 10k course was billed as a "challenging" up and down trail run. I definitely didn't think it would be easy.

I decided not to wear Newtons. I haven't been training in them lately and I didn't want to risk blisters with Clearwater two weeks out. I opted for comfort and wore Asics Cumulus trainers.

It was raining when I got to the site and I sat in the car and put on my D-chip and pinned my bib. There were plenty of porta-potties (and not many racers). I stuck with the plan of running 2 easy miles to warm up. I sat in the truck with the heat on until a little bit before the race and went out and did some more light jogging and pickups. I saw someone wearing a Noble Canyon t-shirt. Acknowledged him just before the start.

I started at the front of the pack and got off to a good start. My friend Adam was racing and we started off running a bit under 6-minute pace. A tall Marine (wearing Newtons) took the lead right away. I pulled away from Adam after about a 1/2 mile and was running 3rd, right behind Noble Canyon t-shirt. The leader was putting time on us and even though I was running a bit faster than planned, it didn't feel too bad and I thought I might be able to keep up. I made a move to take over second place and tried to focus on reeling in the leader. It was raining pretty hard and we were running into a stiff wind. I didn't know it at the time, but the first mile and a half had a gradual downhill, so it was still pretty fast. We clicked off the first two miles under 6-minute pace.

After the 5k turnaround, the course snakes downhill and then back up and over a steep hill in the third mile before turning off road and down around the fish pond. At the turnaround, it looked like the leader had about 20 seconds on me and the pace was starting to feel pretty uncomfortable. The 3rd place runner (Noble) was close behind. I knew we still had two nasty climbs left and some steady inclines so it was going to hurt.

When we got back to the pavement I could hear the third place runner behind me. I tried to keep my pace steady on the hills, but I couldn't help but slow down. Back up on the 5k course, the incline was noticeable. I could see the leader about 100 yards ahead and was confused as to how he got through to the parking lot. I said something about it to the runner behind me (he was very close), jumped a curb and headed towards the leader. There was a marked turn ahead and I was worried that I cut the course, so I started to serpentine and slow down a bit to let him catch up. We ran together for a little while and I said that I wasn't looking forward to racing that last mile. I was checking my Garmin and trying to throw in some surges, but I couldn't shake the other runner. By now, I had completely given up on trying to catch the leader and it was pretty clear that I was going to finish no worse than 3rd.

I kicked with what I thought was a half mile to go and opened up a bit of a gap, but the finish wasn't coming into view when I thought it should. I know Garmin race distance isn't necessarily accurate, but for 10k, I thought it would be pretty close. At 6.2 miles, I could make out what I thought was the finish, but it was still murky out and while the rain had lessened, it was hard to see very far in the distance. The other runner caught me and kicked and I had no answer. It was now or never and it turned out to be never. I didn't have another gear and he finished 7 seconds ahead of me. I suffered on in in 3rd. As it turned out, they gave out separate awards for Military and Civilian and we were racing for the men's civilian title. Oh well. Would have been nice to know, but not sure it would have made any difference.

Wait to kick until I see the finish. Wear Newtons?

Walk around. Original plan was to jog 2 miles, but with the weather being so miserable, I just went to get my jacket. Chatted with Noble Canyon (Zach - nice guy, ended up sending me a message through Athlinks afterwards).


Rain and wind. Not tapering. Perhaps too much warmup? Not wearing racing shoes. Hills.


It would have been nice to have someone escort the 10k runners (or at least have someone at every turn). It was pretty cold, windy and rainy, so I can understand why they weren't overly abundant. I feel sorry for the race organization as they had miserable conditions for an upstart event.