We spent last weekend visiting some friends up north of Seattle and squeezed in a little trail race while we were there. The race was small but very well organized and very challenging!
Our friend Tyler and I both ran the 5 miler, and Zach did the 10 miler. There were also 20 miler and 50k options, with about 500 runners total. The race was in Lord Hill Park near Snohomish, WA. Our friends live about 20 minutes away which made for a relaxed race morning. I left Penelope at the house with Tyler’s wife which was a little tough- she’s only been left with a babysitter a few times… which at 7 months I realize is a little ridiculous. It was a little hard on me, but she was fine of course! I did drive separately so I could hurry back right after rather than wait for Zach to finish his longer race.
My race report is pretty brief. The course was HARD. The website says the 5 miler had 750 feet of elevation gain. I haven’t downloaded my garmin data yet, but in usual trail run fashion I remember my splits ranging from 13:00+ for the big climb to 7:40 for the fast finish. There was one massive hill and a couple other smaller ones, and I am NOT in good hill-climbing shape. I haven’t done much trail running at all in the last year and it was painfully obvious as we climbed steep hills and descended technical singletrack. Ouch. It kind of sucked. I have to admit I’m more into flat, boring, easy pavement these days. I know it’s not as sexy but it’s the truth!
I managed to gut it out though, although I was disappointed to not beat Tyler, who is a “novice” (but extremely fit and capable) runner. He beat me by 6 minutes! I wasn’t thrilled with the whole experience to be honest, I just felt out of my element and like it just wasn’t my day. I had fun I guess, and it was a good race. "It’s not you, it’s me” kind of thing. I did come in among the top 10 females and 2nd in my age group, but this no-frills race didn’t acknowledge any of the top finishers (more on that below). Not that I stuck around- I walked up to the car and headed home to rescue my baby, haha.
I SHOULD have stuck around though, because Zach WON the 10 miler! I figured he’d finish near the front but wow. It was a pretty unexciting finish I guess, since the 5 miler runners were streaming through at that point, and the 20 miler and 50k runners were looping through the finish area all morning. As a result, it wasn’t obvious that he was the first 10 mile runner to finish, but they told him as he crossed. He knew it too, since he stuck with the other top two guys the whole time and left them in the dust at the end. The 10 miler was super hard too, with 1700 feet of elevation gain!!
Pretty amazing. Unfortunately, as I mentioned, there were no awards, even for the overall winners. Lame! I think he at least deserved an announcement. I guess this is part of a series though, so the focus is on points and the overall series winners. Zach didn’t mind at all- he was thrilled to have such a good day and especially to win the race!
My Official Results:
49:09 (10:14 average pace- official race distance was 4.8 miles)
2/20 30-39 AG
6/66 Females
20/112 Overall
And because it’s so cool, Zach’s results:
1:22:24 (8:14 average pace, course was accurate at 10 miles)
1/145 Overall
Here are some great photos, from Glenn Tachiyama photography
Zach cresting the first climb, like a boss:
Here I come, la la la, FML:
Here’s that hill… OUCH
Some of the fire road section. Gorgeous!
Hi from Penny:
Thanks for reading!
