Wahaneeta Trail Race 2021

Westerly, RI

Sunday, October 3, 2021

This was the 6th annual running of the Wahaneeta 5K.  Two weeks prior to race day, I was getting a little nervous as the registrant count was only about 20.  I knew to expect much less than last year, when we had to cap races and sold out being "the only game in town" during COVID when we stepped up to meet the strict requirements at the time and put on a safe race.  Now, one year later, not only are races back in full force, but on top of that, there are a number of spring races that were deferred to the fall.

Fortunately, registrations trickled in and we had 55 signed up on race day.  My next area of nervousness was around timing.  With SNERRO downsizing and no longer timing in RI, we had to look for a new timing company and found prices for a small low cost race like Wahaneeta to be cost prohibitive, so we went on our own, bought a timing clock and portable power station, solicited our own volunteers for app-based timing with backup timing on a second device, I wrote some formulas in Excel to allow quick entry of bib only to bring up runner info and calculate age group results, and brought my laptop and printer.  We actually had an issue with the clock itself today, as the remote was not working, but we're working through that.  

I learned my lesson one year when we had two of us mark the course and finished with about ten minutes before race start.  Now we have three course markers and start two hours before start.  Gives us plenty of time to relax, unwind, and even go for a warmup.  Arrived just after sunrise, and who was waiting for us?  Mosquitos.  Not as nasty as deerflies, but still miserable creatures.  Fortunately, by race time they had really dispersed.

After some short (hopefully?) remarks from me and a Westerly Land Trust intern, we were ready to go.  There were only six no-shows, thus 49 of us toed the line.

Am I lost? 
Am I half the height of the women checking in?

Running my mouth prior to the start.

Loop 1:  [1 3/4 miles]  Mass start!  Yay!  Nick blasted out of the starting gate, and the chase was on.  I could barely get out of my own way and as we ran past the cabin for the first time, I made a mental note that I was in about 6th place.  Continuing on the double-track past the composting toilets, I came up on a guy I didn't recognize and Tommy just a hair ahead of him.  I knew we would soon run out of double-track and get into some twisty single-track for a bit, and I didn't want to be behind him going into that.  So I pushed to get around him and in the process was surprised that I went around Tommy as well.

On the "middle bridge" I came on to an awkward and precarious situation.  A young woman, not part of the race, was standing on the narrow bridge with her two small dogs also standing on the bridge, one in front of her and one just to her right, completely blocking my path.  Both the woman and her dogs were facing in the same direction that I was, apparently oblivious of my approach, despite a race going on.  Before you criticize me for my next move, realize I didn't time to plan any of this and it all happened in seconds.  Also, there are high railings on both sides of this bridge, so there was no option for me to jump off the bridge.  I yelled, "HEADS UP!", jumped lengthwise over her dog blocking my path, and then yelled back, "There are 50 runners behind me coming your way."

It was fortunate that her dogs were not on leashes.  Not only are leashes not required in any WLT properties (as long as the dogs under owner's voice control), but had they been on leashes, I would have had a high probability of tripping and maybe injuring me and/or the dog.  She said something back to me to the effect (I think) that she was trying to get off the bridge.  OK.  Clearly she didn't intentionally do this, but yes, she needed to get off that narrow bridge tout de suite!  As I went past, I pondered both the next runner encounter with the dogs, as well as unless she walking for miles from the next closest trailhead (which of course is possible), she would've had to have entered through Wahaneeta Preserve and thus known the race was going on.  Bizarre.

I ran by myself for only a little while longer, and about 3/4 mile in, I came up on Dave and one person just behind him.  With almost everyone in orange and many in hats, it was hard for me to differentiate.  Or at least that's my excuse.  Dave's gait was easy to pick out, but who was the other guy with him?  The "other guy" made his move around Dave just as I caught up.  It's Chris!  So where is Nick?  In the lead still, I presume?  Soon Chris was out of sight.  I was able to keep up with Dave for the remainder of the loop, but felt I was pushing just to do so.

Halfway through the first loop.
The first of two streams that I had runners going
through.  Sure, there's a bridge nearby, but why
take a bridge when there's a perfectly good 
stream crossing?!

Finishing up the first,
and incidentally the longest,
loop.  4th place here.

Loop 1 time:  12:19.  2nd fastest out of my six years racing Wahaneeta, and only three seconds off (inaugural year 2016).

Loop 2:  [1 mile]  I came through the start/finish area just seconds behind Dave, to start my second loop.  Back on the "road" (dirt double-track) up to the cabin for a second time, Dave motioned for me to come up.  That was all the encouragement I needed, as I caught up beside him and then went past, and he in is typically good graces said "Good job!" as I went past.  I tried to keep up my increased pace to lessen the chance of him passing me back, and I also didn't know where Tommy was in the mix.

I tried to move quickly through the short twisty start of the single-track and then the "Wahaneeta climb", where this time there were runners coming towards me as they were finishing up their first loop.  One female runner coming down the hill even pulled off the trail for me, but really there was plenty of room and I tried to wave her back on to the trail.

Running back down now to the "middle bridge", I noticed the same woman with the same two dogs, except fortunately this time the three of them were just off to the side of the trail before the bridge and she was holding her two dogs close to her.  Unless she had now wanted to watch the race, the other explanation was that unfortunately she may be temporarily trapped in the middle of the race.  

As I went over the "middle bridge" for the second time, I spied Nick ahead of me!  Let the hunt begin!  When I am hunting someone in a road race, I'll count telephone pole distance between us several times to gauge whether I am gaining or losing ground, but I have no way to measure here.  I pushed it and kept Nick in sight for most of the rest of the way on the second loop.

Loop 2 time:  7:14.  My fastest showing in 6 years, by a full 11 seconds!  How did that happen?

Final OAB: [1/4 mile]  I ran through the streamers in the field and entered the orange trail just as Chris was coming back out to finish (and win!) his race.  The near sprint to the river crossing went by super quick, and I was splashing through the stream, I saw Nick now rounding the corner to head back to the finish.  I pushed hard, and kept him in my sight, but could never quite catch him.

The streamers were relatively inexpensive, and were a good
investment for corralling off running lanes.

Final OAB time:   1:31.  My fastest running of this segment in 6 races, by a mere second.

Final results:  21:04.  3rd overall (of 49 finishers), 1st in age group.  Final results.

So how did my race go?  Pretty good!  I gave it my all, and finished nine seconds by Nick.  But in the process, I also found out I had run a course PR!  Of course, little weight does that carry, but I'm still psyched that despite having raced this course 5 times before, and 5K not being my optimal distance, that I PR'd this course today.  A full 13 seconds faster than my next closest time, in the inaugural race in 2016.

Probably time for a new WTAC banner.
It looks a little dated, and I think we have at least four more
events now than depicted on it.

Team WTAC.  Really good team turnout today!

And after all my fretting, we succeeded and
printed out our first ever self-timed results!