Wahaneeta Preserve
Westerly, RI
Saturday, September 2, 2016
Race planning:
The newest addition to our WTAC races. The impetus was to have a Fall Trail Race Series. Unlike the new Run for the Pumpkins Trail Race, this race exclusively utilized existing trails and was contained to a single property, so the setup and permitting would be easier. The Wahaneeta Preserve is one of the newest properties of the Westerly Land Trust, of which I'm a proud member and occasional volunteer. The WLT president is a trail runner herself, and was completely behind our idea for a fall trail run, and by April, we had both WLT and WTAC board approval.
The challenge was to put together a 5K course on a smaller 72-acre property without having multiple loops. After considering a number of options, I settled on a 1.5 loop course with a different return for the second loop versus first. This brought me to about 2.8 miles, and tacked on a short out-and-back on the orange trail. The course has 11 bridge crossings, although by race day all the river beds were bone dry.
Trail maintenance:
Really, the trails were already in good shape. We had a WTAC trail clean-up the weekend before to spruce things up, and we got a great WTAC member response. Beth mowed the field start and area in front of the cabin. Jonny forged a trail loop turn-around on orange trail to avoid a cone turnaround. Muddy and I played with weedwhackers to clean up a few spots. Eric used a chainsaw to take out few blowdowns and stumps. Ready to go.
Race day:
Again, we had a good WTAC member volunteer response. Thanks especially to Beth, Crutch, WLT pres Sheilia, Jonathan, Muddy, Jeff Vuono, Mike B, and Tommy 5K (did I miss anyone?) for everything from registration to course marking to parking and course marshals. It all went swimmingly thanks to a great crew.
Mile 1:
As I gave a few pre-race remarks and was getting a number of questions about different loops and where they ended up, I had this sinking field that many people were going to go off-course and get lost. I tried my best to answer, and it was race time. Muddy lead out the small race with Jonathan Short and I right behind him. There was quick separation at least in the lead pack. Late in the first mile, I caught up to Muddy right after the technical rock and bridge section, but as we passed Beth for the first time, Muddy opened up a gap again as we started out on the perimeter trail. Mile 1: 7-flat.
Mile 2:
Mile 2 brings you the rest of the perimeter trail along the edges of the property, a fun downhill, and then the blue trail with a few rocks back to the field where the start/finish is. Leaving the field to start my second loop, I could see Muddy ahead of me, but with quite a gap. Mile 2: 7:13
Mile 3:
Early in this mile we encounter the first of two two-way sections. When more than one runner going the opposite direction of me asked if they were going the right way, I realized I erred by not mentioning the two-way short sections in my pre-race instructions. Oops! Assured them they were running the right way, and trekked on. This time after going through the technical bridge/rock section at the intersection with Beth, she directed us left for a short return to the start/finish field. This section has a short but precipitous drop to an awkward bridge crossing. Back to the field and a short trip out-and-back on orange and we'll be done. I tried to pick up the pace here, but Muddy was already on his way back as I was headed out. Mile 3: 7:30.
Final results: 21:14. 2nd of 31. Full results here.
Pros:
Westerly, RI
Saturday, September 2, 2016
Race planning:
The newest addition to our WTAC races. The impetus was to have a Fall Trail Race Series. Unlike the new Run for the Pumpkins Trail Race, this race exclusively utilized existing trails and was contained to a single property, so the setup and permitting would be easier. The Wahaneeta Preserve is one of the newest properties of the Westerly Land Trust, of which I'm a proud member and occasional volunteer. The WLT president is a trail runner herself, and was completely behind our idea for a fall trail run, and by April, we had both WLT and WTAC board approval.
The challenge was to put together a 5K course on a smaller 72-acre property without having multiple loops. After considering a number of options, I settled on a 1.5 loop course with a different return for the second loop versus first. This brought me to about 2.8 miles, and tacked on a short out-and-back on the orange trail. The course has 11 bridge crossings, although by race day all the river beds were bone dry.
Trail maintenance:
Really, the trails were already in good shape. We had a WTAC trail clean-up the weekend before to spruce things up, and we got a great WTAC member response. Beth mowed the field start and area in front of the cabin. Jonny forged a trail loop turn-around on orange trail to avoid a cone turnaround. Muddy and I played with weedwhackers to clean up a few spots. Eric used a chainsaw to take out few blowdowns and stumps. Ready to go.
Race day:
Again, we had a good WTAC member volunteer response. Thanks especially to Beth, Crutch, WLT pres Sheilia, Jonathan, Muddy, Jeff Vuono, Mike B, and Tommy 5K (did I miss anyone?) for everything from registration to course marking to parking and course marshals. It all went swimmingly thanks to a great crew.
Mile 1:
As I gave a few pre-race remarks and was getting a number of questions about different loops and where they ended up, I had this sinking field that many people were going to go off-course and get lost. I tried my best to answer, and it was race time. Muddy lead out the small race with Jonathan Short and I right behind him. There was quick separation at least in the lead pack. Late in the first mile, I caught up to Muddy right after the technical rock and bridge section, but as we passed Beth for the first time, Muddy opened up a gap again as we started out on the perimeter trail. Mile 1: 7-flat.
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| Muddy taking it out at the start, with Jonathan Short and I behind him. (All pics by Jana, unless otherwise noted) |
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| Runners passing the cabin in 1st loop. |
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| Prominently displaying the WTAC! |
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| Finishing up loop 1. |
Mile 2:
Mile 2 brings you the rest of the perimeter trail along the edges of the property, a fun downhill, and then the blue trail with a few rocks back to the field where the start/finish is. Leaving the field to start my second loop, I could see Muddy ahead of me, but with quite a gap. Mile 2: 7:13
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| Dicey, but fun, bridge-crossing near end of loop 2. |
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| End of second loop. |
Mile 3:
Early in this mile we encounter the first of two two-way sections. When more than one runner going the opposite direction of me asked if they were going the right way, I realized I erred by not mentioning the two-way short sections in my pre-race instructions. Oops! Assured them they were running the right way, and trekked on. This time after going through the technical bridge/rock section at the intersection with Beth, she directed us left for a short return to the start/finish field. This section has a short but precipitous drop to an awkward bridge crossing. Back to the field and a short trip out-and-back on orange and we'll be done. I tried to pick up the pace here, but Muddy was already on his way back as I was headed out. Mile 3: 7:30.
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| It must be the fancy footwork on this guy that got him the win. (Pic by BLS) |
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| A fun day on the trails. (Pic by Mike B) |
Pros:
- New race.
- Race series.
- Volunteers were awesome and runners were all upbeat.
- Remote, contained location.
- Use of wooden cabin for registration was great.
- NOBODY got lost!!
- Low number of entrants. Keeping it relatively small is fun, but 31 is not sustainable. Let's hope the numbers pick up a bit in future years.
- Some runners confused with the two-way sections. We'll get that fixed with announcements and signs for next year.
Well done race! Ummmm I took the fancy foot work pic of Muddy :) Hopefully next year there will be more entrants! You are very welcome! I learned something (well a few things!) volunteering and that is always a bonus!!
ReplyDeleteSo sorry on pic credit, Beth! I fixed it. Several people sent me pics and I get confused easily in my advanced age.
DeleteAlways good to learn new things, indeed.