Gunstock Trailfest

Gilford, NH

Saturday, June 24, 2023

New races for me.  And for Brady!  We spent the night before at Bear Brook State Park in Allenstown, and this made for only a 1-hour or so drive to the race start.

Enjoying a campfire (tent in background) on the
eve of our race(s)

Race 1:  Canicross 5K Race - 9:30am

First ever canicross race!  So first, since I get this question often, what is a canicross race?

Equipment:  In reading the equipment requirements on the race website, you can use a traditional leash (what I typically use when Brady is leashed running with me); however, you cannot connect it to a collar as it pulls on the dog's neck.  Instead, you have to use a harness.  I talked to others I know who actually have done this before.  I learned that instead of a traditional leash, most humans in this sport will use a retractable bungee leash that goes around the runner's waist.  Procured one from Kelley's Pace and tried it out at Ninigret Park before heading to New Hampshire.

Prep:  Matthew pointed out that since I'd likely have two different bibs (for the two different events), it would be advantageous to use two singlets so I could swap out between races.  I wish I had brought two different race belts to quickly swap out between races, but those are back home in RI and won't help me now.  I also planned for two different pairs of shoes:  my Salomon UltraGlides should be fine for the non-technical canicross race, but I'll rely on my grippier but short-distance-recommended VJ Sparks for the second race.

Race:  After a mile warm-up with Brady, we headed back to the start and lined up with the 78 other canines and 78 other humans!  Was pretty close to the start, but when the race started, a few others blasted out ahead.  Brady seemed confused at first as to what was going on and he jumped up on me!  After I explained to him this was a 5K race (which I'm sure he understood!), he charged out after the other dogs in the lead and we had no further jumping or other shenanigans.

Just before the start of the 5K Canicross race

Start of the race.  Brady and I in center,
with other dog/human teams all around us

And here's the part (9 o'clock) where Brady for some reason
decided to jump up on me.  Dogs pulling in various directions.

Pretty tight here.
It was nice to have my hands free,
and hopefully Brady also appreciated that the
leash wasn't pulling on his neck in this race.

As one other competitor I know described, the first half-mile was absolute chaos.  Dogs were immediately ahead of us, beside us, and behind us, lurching and pulling in various directions.  At one point, a dog pulled a hard left right in front of Brady, and Brady instinctively went right to give us some room, but in doing so, went under the other dog's leash.  Oh no, now what?  I had fears of several of us going down in entangled leashes, but somehow the other dog's owner got him back and was able to get the leashes free.  Whew!  Crisis averted.

After that, it thinned out quite a bit.  The teams that sprinted out had faded behind and we were in 2nd to 3rd place.  Impressively, the guy that was leading at this point had not one, but two dogs attached to him and pulling the lead!  It was impressive until it turned comedic, when we went out around a corner (probably a mile in now) and there was a very inviting river running alongside the trail.  The guy's two dogs thought that was more interesting and literally pulled him off the trail and towards the river.  I had to yell to Brady in order that he not follow suit (he loves rivers!) and we went past and into the lead.

It wasn't a minute before the same two dogs and their owner went past us again, and we followed for a while it close pursuit.  A longish climb was ultimately the deciding factor, as his dogs tired and slowed more than we did, allowing Brady and I to take the lead for good, about halfway through the race.  On the downside, with dogs ahead of us, Brady was interested in chasing them, but now with no one ahead of us, he slowed to be next to me and sometimes behind me.  I'm sure heat was a factor (70°F and 90% humidity) and I had to keep trying to encourage him, "Come on, Brady!".  Pesky deer flies were also bothering us by now.  I never took a win for granted, and kept trying to keep Brady "in the game".  It's a good thing I did as others also passed the guy with two dogs, and we crossed the finish line 39 seconds ahead of the next competitor, Jim Boule and Lexi, the only other competitors I knew.

Back out of the woods into the field,
with the finish line in sight in the distance

Finish chute!

And we're done.  1st place!!

Final result:  23:04, 1st overall of 79.  Full results here.

Award mailed out post-race

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Race 2:  Peak-to-Peak 10K Challenge - 10:00am

No sooner had I crossed the canicross finish line than I heard the announcer call all 10K participants to the start line.  Oh, no.  I quickly handed off Brady to Jana and then ran over to the picnic table where my stuff was.  Switched out of my wet singlet with Canicross bib into a dry singlet with the 10K bib pinned to it, and conscious of the time, I skipped swapping out shoes.  I didn't know it at the time, but this turned out to be the mistake of the day.

We had a few minutes to spare, but I didn't realize that when I opted to keep the same shoes on.  And I'm writing this in retrospect obviously.

I lined up in about the second row, had a quick chat with Matthew, and we were off.  Other than the first 1/10 mile and final 1/2 mile, this course would not have anything in common with the canicross 5K course.  The Canicross course had 300' of gain whereas this one had 1,500'.  At 1/10 mile, we made a hard turn left and started the dirt service road climb.  700' of elevation in this mile.  I actually ran about 500' of this, and then the elevation got too much for me.  Even before I changed from run to hike, people were passing me left and right.  I could see Matthew (eventual winner) for a ways, but then not again until the finish.

At the top of climb, the service road ended, we went past a couple of volunteers at a water stop, and onto trails.  Pretty much immediately I was on a long slab of wet rock and had a horrendous slip and fall.  My legs came out from underneath me, and I landed hard on my left hip and forearm, and then slid down the rock on my bare legs and shoulder.  Ouch!  That really hurt, but it was time to get up and get going.

Jogged and limped for a bit until I got my stride back.  Then about another mile in I slid and rolled my ankle, and fell again.  This fall was not nearly as bad, but cemented that I had very poor grip on the wet surfaces.  We had a mile or two of dirt twisty trails, and I was able to pass a few people here.

The final straw for me came when we were back out on a wet rock section, I had someone right on my tail, and as the trail on the rock slab went ever so slightly left, I slid, fell, and landed in the bushes scraping myself up yet again.  The guy right behind me asked if I was OK, and I said yes, I was fine and urged him to keep going, but in reality I was hurting physically and was pretty dejected.

Of course, I got up and got going again, but now each time I came up on a wet rock section I almost tippy-toed way across it.  This just wasn't fun anymore, and with a 50K coming up in seven days, I didn't want to injure myself any further.  Every time a runner came up on me, I made sure to give way and just let them go past.  

So glad to finish

Eventually, with just over a mile to go, the trail leveled off and became non-technical, and only then did I consciously pick it up again.  Crossed the finish line a little bloodied and beaten up.

Bruised, bloodied, and muddied

After the 10K (second race),
with the other two race winners

Final result:  1:07:51, 11th overall of 184, 1st (barely) in my age group.  Full results here.

What went well for me today:

• Canicross race went well and the win was a nice surprise!
• Deferral option from last year was fantastic
• While I could have used some more "confidence flags", the courses overall were sufficiently marked
• Organization from parking to registration to check-in to results were all top notch
• Fun trailfest vibes
• Post-race cookout was nice.  Not amazing, but nice to have food right afterwards.

What could've gone better:

• Wish we could've used the indoor facilities like we do at other races at ski resorts 
• Didn't really have enough time between races (this was on me clearly, but just mentioning)
• My Salomon Ultra-glide shoes were fine for the non-technical Canicross race, but clearly the wrong shoe for the 10K (again, this was on me, as I had the grippier shoes ready to go, but just didn't have much time.  In retrospect, I would have worn my VJs on both races.  This was a wake-up call for the 50K coming up the following week.
• I wish they had an awards ceremony, as I hoping to parade Brady up on stage for his overall win.  Clearly, I couldn't have done this one without him!

We all had a nice cool-down
post-race in a nearby lake