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Race Reports - 2007 - Allison?s Run For The Toad Report

2007 - Allison?s Run For The Toad Report
Saturday morning I awoke around 5:30, revved and ready for the big run. After a shower, coffee, and a bowl of Vector (I’d accumulated lots of samples in the last few months!) we headed off. The air was crisp and misty, perfect for running. It wasn’t too hot yet which was pleasing indeed.

Upon arrival, we picked up our bags (very nice this year!), pinned on our bibs, and got ready. Everything was very well organized, and Phoenix even got a place in the opening ceremonies parade! We were all decked out in our stylin’ Phoenix garb – what a team! Anyhoo, so fast forward to the start. Considering the width of the trail and the number of runners, the start was amazingly un-squishy. I wasn’t nervous for the start with the idea in mind that this wasn’t really a race, but more like just another training run on the road to Philly. My strategy was simple – start slow. Last year I made the terrible mistake of starting off at a blistering pace and I definitely paid for it in the second lap.

The gun blasted and we were off. The start was uneventful. Much of the men’s contingent blasted off quickly, but Mikey and I held back. It always makes me nervous to start so far behind, feeling like I’ll never be able to catch back up, but I tried to remind myself that this was a good thing to do. By around 3k I had already come to the realization that this was NOTHING like St. Bruno. Many more steep ups and downs, turns, and simply a different terrain. By about 4k I saw Jason in the distance and eventually passed him in another Km or two. Then Mikey and I set our sights on the rest of the Phoenix men ahead of us. By about 7k we saw Bill and Paul ahead, and we were catching up. We kept it steady and caught up within another km. After catching Bill and Paul, we set our sight on Steve, who we caught up to at around 10k-ish, at the last aid station on the first loop. He let us know that there was a new strategy and that the race was starting in the second loop. I was kinda feeling the same – this race was rougher than I’d remembered it! By this time I was still running comfortably but could feel that the fatigue would soon come on.

At the start of the second loop (after a humongous hill) Mikey and I downed some green beans (hehehe, it’s ALL in the green beans). About 2-3 k into the second loop, Bill caught us and that was the last we saw of him for the rest of the race. He sure has the mind and the legs for trail running! By this time I was tiring but mentally I was still focused and not ready to give up. Soon we saw a girl in the distance – turns out this was the one who beat us by a long shot last year. Just seeing her so close…it was unbearable…Mikey and I were ready for a little sweet revenge. We soon passed her, and battled with her for the next 6 or 7 kms, until she finally passed us for good around 10k into the second loop. Somewhere in the middle of all of that Steve blew by us looking strong as usual.

With about 3k to go Paul caught up to us and he looked good. I knew he was in for a strong finish. By this time I was really tiring and the sight of every next hill was just dreadful. They seemed to never end. The only thing keeping me going was those green beans…hehehe, a few every kms, it was so good. Finally, after some tiring kms, and a few near tumbles, we hauled our burning quads up the final huge hill. And what do you know – all of a sudden we could once again see our “competitor” in the distance. By this time I really didn’t care anymore – I just wanted to get this thing done. But Mikey went for her so I followed. With about 100m to go she was about 10 m ahead of me and Mikey had passed her. I figured what the heck, life is grand, I don’t care now…but then all of a sudden I thought, “hey, wait a minute, she’s so close, and can’t let this happen!”…hehe, did I mention I’m competitive? So anyway, I blasted it in and passed her in the last 10 m. Our “revenge” was oh so sweet. Paul, Mikey, and I ended up finishing within only a few seconds of each other – a real team ‘til the end!

Overall, the race was fantastic. Superbly organized…I could write an entire race report just on the apple crisp but I’ll spare y’all the boredom, haha. The Phoenix contingent did excellently – Bill was once again the King of the Woods, with all of his trainees not far behind. I was very pleased with my time – some 10 minutes faster than last year I believe! We were definitely well trained up thanks to all of our long runs on St. Bruno. I predict Philly shall be quite a show-down after this! Overall a fantastic race, congrats to everyone who did so well, and I can’t wait until next year…’cause we’re all going back, right?!

Allison Gates