Pachaug Trail Half Marathon

Voluntown, CT

Saturday, October 24, 2020

Wow, this was a fun and challenging race!  What, you've never heard of the nearby Pachaug Trail Races?  That might be because it was brand new just last year and isn't widely publicized.  This year there is a 50K option (it was a 50-miler last year, but it just took too long and purportedly cost too much in required park staffing costs by the hour), a marathon, and a half-marathon.  The marathon is two loops of the half-marathon course, and the 50K two loops of a 17ish mile course, most of which duplicates the half course.  I'd really only consider either the 50K or the half, and not having prepared for a full marathon or longer, it would be the half.

I snagged the penultimate entry before the half-marathon filled, just barely doing better than last year when I was missed out completely.  While I've run in Pachaug State Forest before, I don't know the area really well, so using a Strava route I built of the course from Crutch, I went out for course reconnaissance with Brady two weeks ago.  That was really helpful, and in post-race retrospect, I got 12 out of 13 of the miles exactly correct.  

Here is the pre-race listing of the 79 entrants, sorted by target time.
My "target" of 2:14:17 was some calculation from UltraSignup based upon
previous results and rank percentages.  I didn't have a lot of faith in this,
as despite the course record being 2:02:03, I was pretty certain I would be breaking 2 hours.
---
The guy ahead of me seems legit, as not only does he have 23 Ultra Signup results,
but also when I click through his results, he has many first place finishes at trails out west.
Similarly, I'm thinking the woman listed is first is statistically likely not to be legit.  No,
I'm not a misogynist, and there are plenty of women that can kick my butt, but just
having one result is not a sufficient sample size.

OK, so I've studied the course, studied a little bit of the competition, I'm confident that I'm going to break the course record but I won't be the only one.  I know that my best chances are going to be on the many technical sections of the course, and I'm going to have to push hard on other easier sections.

Race day:  I intentionally arrived race day 1 hours and 15 minutes early, so that I could observe the marathon start and staging one hour before the start of mine.  I saw the RD's e-mail and read about the need to wear mask at start, aid stations, finish, etc.  Sure enough, everyone that was milling about the start, as well as in start itself, was wearing a mask or a buff.  

RD Jimmy McCaffrey (3 o'clock in picture) giving pre-race remarks to marathoners.
Every single person is really wearing a mask or buff.

Socially distanced marathon start, with starting line and starting positions
marked with white chalk in dirt road, and again,
everyone wearing a mask or buff.  OK, good to know.

I caught up with Crutch, who was out most of the day before marking the course, to get any pointers on marking and competition, checked in to get my bib, and headed back to the car to put stuff away before going out on a short warm and check of the finishing section, which I wasn't familiar with.  As it was already warm, I changed right away into my singlet and attached the bib.  There was conveniently an orange buff in the pickup package, so I had planned to use my mask and put it in a zippered back pocket after start, but this seemed easier, so I went with the buff.

Went with the race-provided buff to 
match my orange singlet

Course runs CCW from Start/Finish (Mt Misery Campground)

Start to Mile 3 (Nehantic Trail):  After the RD's pre-race comments, I took a position in the 2nd row (rows of 3) in Wave 1.  Kudos to him for starting so punctually.  He announced 90 seconds to go, and then counted down again at 60 and 30.  

The race started with a cow bell, and we were off, down that same dirt road in above marathon start pic.  Four guys, all much younger than me, barreled out ahead of me on the dirt road.  Hopefully I'll catch a few on the trails, but either way it would be a fool's errand for me to sprint after them.  Fortunately, we were only on the dirt road for less than 1/4 mile, before we turned left onto single-track.  Er, I should say before most of us turned left.  Despite the turn being very clearly marked (chalk arrow, flags, and pink streamer), one of the guys in front of me ran right past the turn.  Seriously?!  How could you miss that?  After seeing no one went with him, he backtracked and pretty much sprinted past me on the trail.  That doesn't seem sustainable, but go for it!

Copied from YouTube overview of race.
Very early on, as in first 1/4 mile.
4 are ahead of me at this point.

Shortly thereafter we start the first of two fairly steep 100' climbs up Mt Misery.  One guy, Stefan, immediately switches to a hike.  Went past him with ease.  Three guys ahead of me now.  On a tight uphill turn ahead the next guy is slipping and sliding a bit and definitely having some traction issues.  I opted for my new Merrell SkyFire shoes and am having no traction issues.  It's the sprinter that missed the turn!  I pass him running uphill, and as I do, I look at his shoes.  Is he wearing road shoes?  Yep!  Oh boy, that's going to be a long day in road shoes on this course with rocks and leaves galore.  At the top of the first hill, I'm able to bomb downhill past the next runner with relative ease, and now just the leader is ahead of me, albeit with a good lead.  I follow him at a distance downhill, then flat, and then starting the final ascent on the mighty Mount Misery.  Just before the top, he switches to a power hike himself!  I'm really surprised.  I catch up to him, as I'm running, not hiking.  It's steep (20%?), but manageable.  I don't really want to pass him and become the hunted, but I'm not about to walk just to stay behind him.  I pass him just before the peak.

So now just a mile in, I'm leading the race outright.  Game over?  Hardly!  Just as I feared, he stays right on my tail, as does the guy just behind him.  Now my concern is they will both stay on me until a flat road section and then blow by, or even worse, stay on me until the finish is in sight and then go by.

Over the next mile, there is a 200' drop, with most of this on a fire road.  This is my fastest mile at 6:36 split (Mile 2) and the previous leader stays right on me.  By the end of the 2nd mile, we turn off the fire road, and based upon footsteps I sense the third guy is no longer with us.

The next mile is fairly technical (pic below) and uphill, but the first 3/4 of the mile is gradual, and then a steeper 130' climb in the last 1/4 mile.  The 2nd guy stays right with me through the technical sections.  Damn!  That seemed to separate me from the rest of the lead guys, but not with this guy.  As we get into the steeper climb, this is not my forte, but nonetheless, half-way up this climb, I no longer hear his footsteps!  

It was in this uphill technical terrain
that finally my competitor backed off and I was able to
go ahead

Mile 4 to 6 (aid station on Breakneck Hill Rd):  We take a sharp right onto the Pachaug Trail, and are on that for a short time to the Nehantic.  The next mile plus is mostly double-track, with some rocks, but not super technical.  I have to remind myself to push hard here, and I think I'm successful.  A 120' climb brings out very briefly onto the dirt road running past the abandoned house (Lee Road).

As we quickly turn off the road back onto trail, I take a sweeping glance and am relieved not to see anyone behind me.  Don't get cocky.  It's 1/2 mile and 120' drop to the next dirt road.  A short grass section of trail quickly changes to a steep drop littered with small rocks, and this plays to my advantage.

Onto the next dirt road now (Breakneck Hill Road), we have a 100+ foot climb up to the first aid station.  My buff around my neck is really itchy now, but the rules said face coverings required at aid stations, so I leave it on and pull it up over my nose once the aid station is in sight..  I'm afraid of someone easily catching me here.  I get to the aid station and get an 8 oz bottle of water only but keep running.  One of aid station volunteers shouts out that he thinks I'm in the lead.  The guy handing me the water is NOT wearing a mask or buff!  Not that I care, as we're outdoors with only a second or two within 6', but why do I have to wear it?  As soon as I pull away, I pull the buff over my head and put it in my back zippered pocket.  It's soaking wet!  Gross.

Miles 7 to 9 (Hell Hollow Pond and aid station):  Shortly after the first aid station, we turn off the dirt road (none too soon) and onto the Quinnebaug Trail.  Besides flags and a streamer, the turn is marked with two skeletons!  I thought this was really neat, and was surprised to hear from Crutch later that a runner completely missed the turn, continued down the dirt road for a long ways and Crutch picked him up.

Skeletons at Quinnebaug Trail turnoff
(from race recap video)

The first section of Quinnebaug is rough.  We have a 200+' drop of which most is on loose rocky double-track.  I feel like I'm on the ragged edge of control, but I remind myself others are behind me, and I just going for it, bombing sub-7 pace and doing my best to pick my footing, realizing an ankle roll is a good possibility here.  The last part of the downhill section before the road levels out a bit and changes to this awesome pine-needle covered single-track trail!

As I come out onto the dirt road (Trail 1 Road), prepared to be on the dirt road for a mile, I'm treated to a bonus!  I'm begrudgingly ready for a mile of dirt roads, as that's what I ran for my prep thinking that was the course, but NO, the course continues on a single-track trail that parallels and runs close to the road, hence why I thought it was on the road.

See how the single-track here hugs just to the
right of the road?  That was my mistake during
the preview run as I thought we were running ON the road.
Whew.

Indeed it was a nice surprise, Eddie.

About a mile later, I catch and start passing the back-of-the-pack marathoners.  One at first, and then three in a row, and then another.  Some are walking or at a slow jog, so I yell ahead "On Your Left!", and they are all polite and give me way.  It is at this point that I notice I am starting to tire a bit.  I continue on the trail until we come to a paved road.  It is exactly as the RD described:  signs showing half and full marathon take a right onto the road, and 50K continues across the road.  It is about 0.4 miles on an asphalt road down into Hell Hollow, and the good news is it's all downhill.  At Hell Hollow, at the second and final aid station, I take a water, and continue on briskly back onto single-track.

Miles 10 to Finish:  I tell myself four miles to go, and count down each mile.  I come up on several more marathoners and pass them quickly.  Despite my oft repeated "On My Left" shout out, one marathoner inadvertently cuts left directly in front of me, but it was just a mistake and no issue.  Deep in the woods at a 3-way trail intersection, I am surprised to see a marathoner ahead of me having taken a left when I see the blue Pachaug Trail blazes indicating to the right AND a streamer on the trail on the right.  I question myself for a just a second or two, but no, it has to be to the right, so I take the right and just yell out to the marathoner that he's going the wrong way.  He is muttering something and seems to want to talk to me, but sorry, I'm gone.  

And now in Mile 12, we hit the most technical section of the course.  Twisty following along a meandering riverbed, with jagged rocks in the middle of the trail.  In my blog write-up from my preview run with Brady two weeks prior, I wrote "It'll be interesting to see how the old and by then tired legs will do navigating this towards end of race."  Well, I must have jinxed myself, as I bashed my right knee firmly into one of the jagged rocks.  Ouch.  I didn't fall, and I didn't stop, but after that I'm pretty sure I slowed down more than I needed to.  This is by far my slowest mile in 9:26.  Yes, it was technical, but didn't need to be THAT slow.

Here's the technical section in Mile 12
where I bashed the leg...

... and the leg.  Not terrible, for sure,
but it hurt, and in retrospect, I think I slowed down because of it.

At the end of Mile 12, we leave the technical section and come out briefly onto a dirt road.  I'm just on the dirt road when I hear someone running behind me.  I turn to look back and am very alarmed by what I see.  It's a runner alright, but he's just probably about 100' behind me, and at the pace he's running, he's most certainly NOT one of the back-of-the-pack marathoners.  In fact, I am pretty sure that he is the leader for the first mile or so, whom I passed at the the top of Mt Misery.  OMG.  I can't believe this, and my immediate thought is it won't be bad to finish in 2nd place.  WRONG ATTITUDE!  I left my guard down and paid for it, but there is still a mile of race left and I need to give it all I have.  

Sign in final mile of race!
If I hadn't run it before, I might be scared of this.

We quickly turn off the road and onto the final mile of single-track.  I am truly running scared here.  It's not terribly technical, but my legs are tired, and there are plenty of sharp turns, tight trail sections, and roots.  Nearing the end of the trail section, there are two more marathoners walking/jogging, but they are both blocking the trail and they're in their own world talking to each other.  Ugh.  I am panting, exhausted, and don't have it in me anymore for another "On Your Left!" shout.  Instead I run through the scrub bushes to the woman's right, completely startling her, and then jump over a rock and cut back in on the trail just ahead of the man she is with.  The woman yells out, "Excuse Me!" in a sarcastic tone.  Sorry, but you're talking while you're walking/running and might not have heard me anyway, and meanwhile, I'm competing to win in a contest that is now neck and neck.  I can next hear them shouting out something to my competitor behind me, and based on the time lapse and that I don't hear his footsteps, I gauge correctly that I have put some distance on him.  I can't take any chances, though, and as I leave the trail into a field, I sprint for the final 1/10 mile to the finish.  Crossing the finish line, the RD says, "Here is your Half Marathon winner, right here."  Whew!  Elated and exhausted, as I stop, turn, and watch my competitor finish.

Final results:  1:42:54.  1st out of 67 finishers.  Full results here.

I stayed around for about 45 minutes watching more competitors come in, as well as marathoners and 50K'ers looking tired already and going out for their second lap.  I talked with the top five or so finishers and it was good to catch up with their thoughts and takes on the course and race.  I told the 2nd finisher I was truly running scared the last mile, but he said there was no way he was catching me in that final mile.  

On the other hand, there was one finisher who came in just before I left and apparently he added four miles by continuing on the wrong course (50K) because apparently he saw flags of the same color ahead on the 50K course after the half/50K split.  He let the RD know about this in no uncertain terms.  The RD rightly explained that he advised in both e-mail and pre-race instructions that when you come out to a paved road, you're at the split, and half-marathons need to take a right on the road (as opposed to continue straight ahead for 50K).  Beyond that, there were signs with arrows at that site explaining the same.  If you didn't read the e-mail AND didn't pay attention to pre-race instructions AND didn't read the signs, then it's your fault, not the RD's.  But he wouldn't give up and kept borderline harassing the RD about this, so I had had enough and went up to the RD discreetly just to tell him that the course intersection was very well marked, and he had indeed explained all of this clearly pre-race.

I'm not usually a "medal" fan,
but this wooden custom award was pretty neat!
Definitely a keeper!

Really psyched with the overall win!  Taking a page from my friend Tommy 5K, here's what went well and what did not:

Pros:

• I took it out conservative and didn't sprint to keep up with the leaders.
• I played the climbs up Mt Misery well.  I was huffing and puffing, but no power hikes, just a steady upward run.
• After I passed the leaders, I kept pushing hard (for the first half of the race anyway), despite running as an island.
• I ran most of the technical sections hard, a few on the ragged edge of control.

Room for improvement:

• Somewhere around Mile 8, I wasn't pushing as hard.  I could feel it, but didn't alter course.  I'm not sure if it was because I was getting tired, or the syndrome I have when passing back-of-the-packers of another race and feeling like I'm running fast by contrast.
• Late in the race, I took the win for granted and ended up fighting really hard and scared at the end to hold the lead.  I went back and compared my mile splits against Ryan Williams, runner-up.   At the end of Mile 7, I was ahead by almost two minutes!  And by the end of Mile 12, my lead was down to about 10 seconds.  I really squandered that, and need to work on my mental game.

I'll get a picture of the overall top performances
before this landscape changes.  Unlike Strava CRs,
I know I'll hold this course record for at least one year!