Mount Doug Gutbuster Long Course

July 11, 2010

First of all I'd like to hand out a belated congrats to Gary Robbins, who placed an impressive 6th overall in the Western States 100 a couple of weeks back. Western states is the oldest and probably the most prestigious 100 Mile ultra in the world so placing this high puts Gary among some of the best ultra runners in the world. Some 50k and 50 Mile ultras are definitely in my future, but I've yet to convince myself that I want to do a 100 Miler. It just seems really really far - do I really want to run 4 back to back trail marathons? I will never say never though and the challenge does appeal to me.

The Mount Doug Gutbuster was just the 2nd and final Gutbuster that I was able to do this year with the other 3 coming on weekends where I was away or had other races. I didn't worry too much about this race, just resolving just to do what I could. My training has been progressing steadily so I'm feeling pretty confident about my fitness level. I knew Shawn Nelson was yet again racing so an overall victory would be a bit of a long shot even if there we no other top notch guys out, but I hoped to be a little closer to him than I was at Westwood.

Just before the race was about to begin we were informed that there would be a short delay as someone had been sabotaging the course markings. Nick Walker had to run out ahead to re-flag it so he needed a head start. This is not the first time this race has been sabotaged and it is really a shame that some individuals want to hinder other people's enjoyment of this public park. If they have a legitimate concern about the race they should deal with it though proper channels rather than resorting to vandalism. Nick did a good job of resetting the course though and I found it well marked. However, there were a number of racers who took wrong turns although it is unclear if this was due to a lack of flagging or not.


The day was quite hot so I made sure that I was well hydrated before the race began and stripped down to shorts and cap only. There are several exposed sections on the course and it can cook you pretty good when you are fully exerting yourself. Within about 5 min, Shawn and I pulled ourselves a little ahead from the rest of the field. We pushed up the first extended Irvine climb at a steady race pace. Overall, I felt pretty good although my legs felt a touch heavy. I was starting to feel it near the top of the climb and I let Shawn lead for the last 100 meters or so. I dumped a cup of water at the aid station at the top and headed down after Shawn. This decent is quite technical with a lot of loose rock and gravel, but I've done it many times before and knew exactly what to expect. I may no longer be able to match Shawn's overall speed, but I can still descend on the technical terrain a little faster and I was nipping at his heels the whole way down.

Soon enough we were climbing again up to Little Mount Doug. I didn't feel quite as good as I would have liked on this climb and fell a few seconds back. The southern route off this peak is the most technical portion of the whole course and a fall here could be very damaging to your body. I took a few risks that paid off and closed the gap to Shawn again. Unfortunately, as soon as the trail turned upward again, I could no longer match his speed and he bolted ahead and within a couple of minutes he was out of sight.

While the climbs hurt more than I would have liked, I felt pretty strong overall so despite there being no one in sight ahead or behind, I pushed pretty hard. I struggled up the final climb (which only went halfway up to the summit compared to a full climb last year) and was happy to know that there were no more significant uphill segments for the rest of the course. I passed a number of short course racers as I pushed toward the finish. I felt good on the final stretch and crossed the line in 40:44 solidly in 2nd place. I was about 1:30 behind Shawn and 1:15 ahead of the next runner, Nick Sunderland. I was satisfied with my performance although I could have had a bit more power in the legs for the climbs. Once I decide to focus on trails again, I will definitely work on my hill climbing more consistently.

Andrew Pape-Salmon ran an amazing race, placing 4th overall just over 2 min behind me and Care Wakely raced to an amazing 7th overall. In a month Care and Mark Nelson will be racing in the Trans Rockies Run stage race. I expect that they will do well.

Final Results.

VI Spine Relay: North Coast Trail

June 6, 2010

Despite the "Relay" name, this was an event rather than a race. The VI Spine Relay was set up to help promote the concept of building a trail the entire length of Vancouver Island from Victoria to Cape Scott. This is a similar idea to the Trans-Canada trail and is a quite a large undertaking since it involves getting support from regional districts, municipalities, and land owners up and down the island. It is a fantastic idea though and I wanted to do my little bit to support the VI Spine Trail. Additionally, it was a personal opportunity to experience a part of the island that I have never visited and nearly brand new trail (it was opened only 2 years ago in 2008).

Not wanting to miss out on something new, Sonja decided to join in the adventure. The plan was to drive up to the Cape Scott Provincial Park parking lot on Sat (June 5). The trip took about 7 hours aided by the fact that the roads on the northern half of the island are very good and nearly empty. The last hour and a bit were on a gravel surface, however, making things a bit slower. From the parking area we hiked for 4 hours, covering the 15km into Nissen Bight with small packs holding just enough camping gear for one night. At Nissen Bight we met up with the 10 or so other hikers that had also completed this first section of the relay. The next morning, four of us (Sonja and I were joined by the relay organizer Andrew Pape-Salmon and Jenny Taylor) would tackle the 43km North Coast Trail, the remainder of the hikers would return to the parking area with our camping gear. A big thanks goes out to these hikers were had to carry 2 extra tents, 4 sleeping bags, 4 themarests, several day packs and other gear in additional to their own gear.

The start of the trail to Nissen Bight

We departed just after 7am in sunny conditions, estimating a 10 hour run time. We had a time estimate from some Club Fat Ass members who had recently run the trail and Jeff Hunt, who along with Bob Wall, were the first people to run the trail on the day it opened back in 2008. Jeff and Bob ran the trail in the opposite direction as we were going and traversed the full 43km NCT and the 15km Nissen Bight connector in 11 hours. It didn't sound like a particularly blazing time, but as were were to soon find out, this trail was not one that would be run easily.

Ready to go on the NTC! left to right: Jenny Taylor, myself, Sonja Yli-Kahila, Andrew Pape-Salmon

The first kilometer was on beautiful beach, but was officially not part of the NCT. As soon as we filled our water bladders and bottles up we were on the way. We almost immediately got a taste of what we would see for many many hours. The trail was very rough with many roots, little hillocks and twists, and was extremely muddy. It was tough to run for anyone, and it turned out that due to some injuries, Jenny was not able to run very much and was forced to power hike most the the trail. To her credit, she never stopped moving at a consistent rate for the whole day although it did effect our estimated finishing time. It was not a race, however, so the time didn't matter so much except for the fact that a water taxi was meeting us at Shushartie Bay around 6pm. They would wait, but we didn't want to be too far off schedule just in case.

Running on the beach (this was a nice section)

Do the the extreme roughness of the trail, it was slow going. It took us more than a hour and a half to traverse the first 5 km until the trail popped out on the beach near the Laura Creek Campsite. Naively thinking that was some of the worst the trail would offer, I thought we would be able to pick up some time on the beach and future trail sections. The relief of getting off the mucky trail soon faded though as we were treated to huge stretches of beach (the longest being over 10km) that was anything but easy. With just a few blissful exceptions which had packed sand, most of the rest of the beach was loose gravel and cobbles some on a steep angle. Not too bad to walk on, but very draining to run. Every step takes probably twice the normal energy as the stones under your feet sink and slide around.

Cable car crossing at Stranby River

The kilometers slowly ticked by on the beach and soon enough I was hoping to get back off the trail. There were a few trail sections, but for the most part these were not any easier to navigate than the first section. We got to pause for a bit while we crossed a creek via cable car. This was a fun change, but pulling yourself across is an arm burner. We passed the half way point at around 6 hours. This was behind our expected time, but we hoped that the trail would improve and we could make up some time. Despite how technical the first half was, the second half was more challenging yet. We were on the beach then off the beach so many times that they all blend together in my memory. I'm still not sure which was more difficult, but I was always wishing for whichever type we would currently not doing (I think I just had a short memory).

Down we go!

The weather was good for the morning and early afternoon, but the sky opened up soon after that and it rained steadily for an hour or more. It could have made things miserable, but fortunately it was pretty warm so it wasn't a big issue and it eventually cleared up. I was feeling good during the day as the pace was quite relaxed for me. I did spend some extra energy trying to see how much mud I could avoid. I manged to avoid getting my shoes fully submerged for over 10 hours, but had to do a heck of a lot of jumping, side stepping, and even clambering up and over trees.

For most of the day we stayed in the general vicinity of each other, but we often leapfrogged each other, with Jenny moving ahead while the rest took photos or took a break. We would then run for a bit and overtake her before stopping to let her catch up. Andrew had the most to carry with a full day pack loaded with a first aid kit, GPS beacon, and other safety gear, but he snowed no sign of difficulty.

Probably the most crazy portion of the trail was a section where the trail went on and off the beach in a rugged area. Some parts were so steep ropes were required to aid in the decent. One section in particular had a 15 meter climb nearly straight up. Once on top, you stood on a less than 1 meter wide flat space looking down on an equally steep decent and just across the way another such climb and decent was visible. It was kind of fun with a hydrapack, but this would have been work with a full backpack!

More beautiful runnable trail!

Sonja had been doing well, but after about 8 or 9 hours, she wasn't taking in enough energy. She started to fall behind and I didn't realize what the problem was until a bit later when she finally caught up, but was only moving at half the speed she should have been. Even though we were all getting sick of eating energy bars, I had her eat some more and soon enough she was moving well again. It was a good lesson about making sure you are well fueled - anyone can bonk if they are not careful.

After a second cable car, we were finally on the last trail section of the trail. The map stated a distance of 8km. Not too bad, I figured, even though we were mostly just hiking we were holding a decent pace. Despite this, the trail dragged on and on and really seemed endless. We crossed 5 or 6 swamps that had boardwalks that were thankfully runnable, but the rest was just and muddy and rough as the worst we had seen. Plus, there was also some climbing thrown in. Even though I honestly think that it was closer to 12km, I badly misjudged the time remaining, saying there was only 3km left and then hiking for another 2 hours!

Typical trail section

Sonja started to feel the effects of being out there for more than 10 hours and may have been getting low on energy again. To help us keep moving faster, I took her pack and wore it on the front of my body. It wasn't too bad although it did put a bit of strain on my back after a few hours. The trail stretched on and on but we eventually descended into Shushartie Bay where thankfully the water taxi was still waiting. Andrew had run ahead and arrived 30min before the rest of us. The last section ended up taking a greuling 3.5 hours and the whole trail a full 14+ hours. It was a long day although I felt fairly decent due to the low intensity, my feet hurt from being on them for so long. I'm just not used to being upright for so long.

The NCT had some beautiful beaches and it was great to experience. I think it is more of a hiking trail though as its technical nature doesn't lead itself well to being a nicely runnable. While the Juan de Fuca trail boasts much more elevation gain and loss than the NCT, it is much more runnable and in my mind much easier because of that. In the future, I would like to try the West Coast Trail to complete the Vancouver Island coast trails to see how it compares to the other two.

Andrew's photos can be viewed here.

Westwood Lake Gutbuster Half

May 30, 2010

I enjoy these sorts of trail races and it was a nice change of pace from all the road races I have been doing this year. I wasn't sure how my legs would feel on this one as did a workout the day before consisting of 6x1km (1min rest) and 4x45sec (1min rest). While I held back a bit knowing that I would be racing in less than 24 hours, it was still not super easy. It would be a good test to see how I fared in a race on somewhat fatigued legs. Even if I suffered on the course, the fact that it wasn't a goal race meant I didn't have a lot on the line.

The course was new this year although it was fairly similar to the the way it was in past years (except 2009 which had quite a different course). I estimate that there was at least 30% new trail that I had never run on before. The main differences were more gentle climbs, more single track, and less road. I quite enjoyed the course as it had a good about of somewhat technical terrain which was 100% runnable.

I knew that I would not walk away with an easy win on this course. The field was strong with Michael Liedtke, Shelby Drope, Nick Walker, Shaun Stephens-Whale, and Shawn Nelson all in attendance. I race against and train with Nick and Shawn so know what they are capable of. I knew for sure that Shawn would be tough to beat unless I was on and he was off. He is a solid climber, good on the technical terrain and downhills, and very strong on the flats. Shaun would also be stiff competition as he climbs like gravity doesn't exist.

The start was pretty fast with Shaun moving at a brisk pace that seemed a little fast to me although the first km or so is flat so it didn't feel too tough. We made our way around Westwood Lake and started the climb. Shaun was still in the lead and Shelby close behind. I didn't want to overtax myself so early in the race so I tucked into behind Shawn who in turn trailed just behind Michael. The trail was a fairly new one and was somewhat technical with a lot of little humps which necessitated paying close attention to your footing. The climb was much more gradual than in years past and I found it quite runnable and enjoyable.

Michael was going just a little slower than I would have on my own and I was very temped to move ahead especially since Shaun and Shelby had moved out of sight, but I continued to hold myself back a bit knowing that there would be plenty of time to expend any extra energy I might have. Finally though, Swawn decided to make a move and I took the opportunity to go with him. We gradually gained on Shelby on the decent from the highest point on the course and by the time we popped out onto the hydro right of way, the 3 of us were all pretty even.

I managed to power past Shelby at the puddle which was good and wet this year, but Shawn was probably 10 seconds ahead at this point. The course descended down and through the creek as it has in previous years. When I got back to the main double track, I was shocked to find that Shawn had gained a massive amount on me and was at least 30 seconds ahead now. This was a bit demoralizing as it seemed as though I was still moving at a respectable pace. I later learned that that the two leaders (and many others) had inadvertently taken the bridge rather than the actual course though the creek. In the end, it didn't really matter that much since I finished well behind the leaders, but at the time it seemed as though I had somehow come to a standstill.

We soon started our 2nd main ascent into the area known as The Abyss. This is a longish gradual climb that makes you work to maintain good speed, but it not too cruel. I moved along pretty well and managed to gain enough time on Shelby until he was no longer in sight behind me. This area was then followed by a good amount of narrow single track interspersed with a couple road sections and clear cuts. I really quite enjoyed the extra single track and didn't miss the large gravel road sections from previous years. We gradually made our way towards Colliery Dam and the course soon intersected with the short course and I soon found myself passing a large number of the short course mid pack runners. After the dam, we had a bit of a grunt of a climb on the paved roads and paths back up and under the highway before moving back onto trails.

At this point there were only few kilometers left in the course. I was feeling the fatigue in my legs now, although my engine still had good power. There was a one more small climb after which there was was about 1km left. I ran steady, but with no one in sight in front or behind me, there was little incentive to kill myself. I did, howver, surged to the finish line and passed a short course racer who thought I was in his race and tried to match me. "I'm in the long course" I shouted as I passed him as only seemed fair to let him know that he was not losing a position. I finished in 1:45:25 in 3rd place about a minute ahead of Nick and Shelby who came in 4th and 5th respectively. Shawn and Shaun obviously hammered the course though, finishing about 6 and 5 minutes ahead of me. I hadn't expected to beat Shawn, but I had hoped to be closer. He is obviously very fit these days and I expect to see him post some impressive times in upcoming races. Overall, I was satisfied with my performance which I would describe as average.

Since the course was enjoyed by myself and everyone else I talked to, I hope they keep it similar in future years. Most people I talked to had solid races including Andrew Pape-Salmon who placed 8th overall, Garth Campbell who performed well in his first trail race of the year, and Sonja who picked up 2nd in her age category. Thanks to Mark Nelson and Nick Walker at Frontrunners Westshore for hosting another successful event! Long Course Results. Short Course Results.

Oak Bay Half Ekiden Relay

May 16, 2010

My Aspire training group decided to enter a team into this event for the fun of it. I've never raced this half marathon or the relay so it was something new to do. Our team consisted of myself, Sean Chester, Shawn Nelson, and Kevin Searle. Besides doing something new, our secondary goal was to break the course record of 1:07:34 set in 2005 by Peninsula Runners. It would be fairly challenging to beat that time (3:13 pace), but if things went well it was possible.

The relay consists of 4 segments of 4.2, 4.8, 5.1, and 7.0km respectively. I was given the 2nd 4.8km leg. I did a short warm-up to the transition zone with Ian Perriman (who was racing on another team) then waited just a couple of minutes until Kevin arrived. He was in 5th place overall behind Jim Finlayson, Gilbert Kiptoo, Philip Samoei, and Mark Cryderman (all running the full course). I grabbed the relay sash from Kevin and nearly dumped my sunglasses on the ground trying to get it over my head (I probably should have just held it in my hand as some others did). I went out pretty hard knowing that I had to post a decent time and wanting to catch some of those in front of me. If we were to get the time we wanted we should be not far behind Jim since he is capable of running a 1:07.

I quickly caught up to Mark and we exchanged pleasantries as I passed. I then set my sights upon the 3rd place position held by Philip. Within a km or so I caught up to him, but he would not let me pass him easily and answered with a increase in speed. We ran more or less together until the transition zone. Unfortunately for him, the increased pace may have hurt his 2nd half as he faded quite a bit. During my run, I was feeling only OK. The pace was fairly decent although a bit slower than my Bazan Bay race in March, but much like the Sun Run I just didn't have the power in me like I would like. The course was somewhat rolling as well which took a bit of a bite out of the pace. I finished my 4.8km segment in around 15:54, not a great time, but not terrible either.

Got to love the cape look. If only I had the speed of superman! Photo Credit: Yan Lyesin

I passed the sash on to Shawn Nelson who ran his 5.1km segment strongly in around 16min. Then Sean Chester took the anchor lap and tried to chase down Jim and Gilbert. Perhaps still feeling the effects of racing on the track the night before, Sean was unable to run at his best, doing about a 24min 7k. He crossed the line at 1:09:01, about a min and a half back of our goal, but it was still the 2nd best relay time posted on this course. Jim cruised to victory in 1:07:06 a time that is quite impressive in its own right and humbling to think that the four of us couldn't run one quarter of the distance at that pace. While it was not my best run, it was fun to be involved in a relay event and since I was not racing the whole course, it gave me the opportunity to spectate and cheer on the other racers.

Sun Run 10k

May 9, 2010

First of all, a huge thanks to Marice Wilson of BC Athletics for arranging accommodation for a big contingent of over 30 Vancouver Island high performance athletes who made it over for the race this year. We were treated extremely well and it didn't go unappreciated. Also a big thanks to Bob Reid who yet again helped us out greatly by providing van transportation over to Vancouver. Bob's tireless support of the running community never ceases to amaze me.

This was my seventh road race of the year and I had hoped to have a good performance here to cap off a great season where I have set a PB at every race. I ran very well at the Times Colonist two weeks ago hitting my season target of 33 min right on the nose so I wasn't looking to smash that time, but thought it was possible to better it by a small margin.

As the race approached, I had a bit of a notion in the back of my mind that my race might not be stellar since I had some mediocre training sessions after the TC. I just felt a bit off for those workouts and didn't feel as strong as I normally do, but I shrugged it off a bit and hoped that on race day things would line up better. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out that way.

Perhaps I should have run more by feel on this race and not looked at my watch, but I succumbed to the urge to check my splits. As it is on a gradual downhill the first km is blistering fast and I cleared it in 2:59. I felt a bit lethargic off the start, but I didn't let it worry me right away as sometimes this happens to me. Often, after a few minutes my body kicks into racing mode and I have a respectable race. This time though, the only thing that got kicked was my ass by this course.

The 2nd km felt OK and I recorded a 3:16 which was still good, but by around 3km I was pretty sure it wasn't going to be a great race for me. It wasn't that I had gone out too hard and was hitting the wall, I just felt sluggish and couldn't muster up much speed in the legs. Unfortunately, some other Island runners were also having tough days. Despite the fact that I was slowing down, I passed Mark Nelson around 3.5km so he was really having a tough day, but I got passed by a few other runners around the same time. On the climb up to Burrard Bridge I pushed a bit and managed to pick a few runners off, but I really wasn't feeling that great. My 5k split was 16:33, which was actually only slightly off a 33min pace, but since it also included a fast first kilometer, it was really not a good time. Paul O'Callaghan was there encouraging the members of our little training group and it was great to have him there. I only wished that I had had something left for the second half of the race where I was supposed to pick it up.

Like his brother, Shawn Nelson was also not having a good day, and I passed him at about 5.5km. This would normally mean that I was running really well since Shawn is currently running strong, but not this day. Things did not improve in the ensuing few km and I really had a hard time keeping my pace. I was doing about 3:25 km's which was at least 6 sec slower than I wanted. I was passed by a few people including Sean Chester who was having a reasonable day at least. I would have liked to respond to some of these guys coming by me, but I just didn't have it in me. Mentally it was also tough to keep the pressure on at this point since I knew I was not going to PB, but I didn't give up my any means. I still tried to hang on for a non-embarrassing time. My 8-9k split was embarrassing, however, clocking in at a 3:40, slower than any of my 10k race splits in quite a while.

I did at least muster a decent push to the finish, out kicking a young guy to cross the line in 33:45. This was 45 sec slower than at the TC just two weeks ago, and a even a couple seconds slower than Sun Run last year, where I also raced poorly. I'm not quite sure what went wrong as it was not a pacing, bonking or cramping issue. I just felt flat. Perhaps a fairly heavy spring racing and training schedule has caught up to me. Despite quite a few people not running to their potential, there were a few solid performances by island athletes including Sonja who ran a small PB despite not feeling that great, Michael Lax who ran well considering he has been laid up by injuries for quite some time, and Ian Hallam who ran about the same as in the TC. Results.

It was disappointing, but not a big setback by any means. Regardless of the outcome of this race, I had already planned to take about 2 weeks off of my big training sessions to give my body a bit of a break before refocusing on a new goal. My next goal will be the 5000m Q Track Series race on Aug 21st so I foresee a lot of brutal track sessions in my future.

Splits: 2:59, 3:16, 6:45 (2k - 3k marker was incorrectly placed), 3:33 (5k split 16:33), 3:24, 6:50 (missed 8k marker), 3:40, 3:18

Times Colonist 10 K

April 25, 2010

This was my first real goal race for my new training program that I had started in October. The goal was to run sub 33 min. I knew this was obtainable since I had been having solid races so far this year. However, I knew it wouldn't be easy since that time would equate to my best ever race (bettering my 15:47 performance at Bazan Bay 5k). Paul gave me an easy week before the race with only a single track workout on Tuesday and 4 easy days after so that certainly helped my legs recover. His advice for the race itself was to get into a good comfortable rhythm after the initial rush off the start line and then to hit it hard at the 5-6 km mark to finish strong. He also said to not look at my splits when racing and just go by feel. This would be different for me as I have been checking my watch for years at every km marker and sometimes adjusting my pace based on what I saw.

This year the TC boasted yet another record field with over 13,000 registered. The numbers are getting such that I'm thinking they may have to start adding in wave starts like at the Sun run and other large events. It's great to see so many people being active, but I do find it interesting that those in the mid-pack find it enjoyable to be essentially stuck in a crowd for 10k. If I were a 1 hour 10k runner, I don't think I would enjoy that too much. If I want to be in a crowd, I'll go to a concert or to the Olympics, but that's just me I guess.

As usual, the the field for this race was strong with 6 fast Kenyans and a good number of strong local athletes including Simon Witfield, Scott Simpson, and Steve Osaduik. I figured that there would be several runners going under 30min and perhaps as low as 29min. There was also a strong woman's field with Karolina Jarzynska (Poland), Lisa Harvey, Kristian Rody, and Lucy Smith all expected to do well.

There was bit of commotion right off the start as a photographer who was standing directly in front of the runners failed to get out of the way in time and ended up colliding with as least one runner. I suspect that he learned his lesson - you may as well be in front of a heard of charging buffalo!

The first km is on a slight uphill grade which luckily feels much better coming at that point than it would at 9km. It felt fast, but I knew it would have to feel fast if I were to get my goal time. I was soon running in the vicinity of Shawn Nelson, Nick Walker, Mark Nelson (names you have undoubtedly seen me write many time recently since they seem to race about everything and are right around my speed). Ian Hallam was also running near me as were a couple other guys. We continued to move quite quickly in the first few km and while I was not labouring too much, nor did it feel entirely comfortable. I was hoping that I was not going to "overcook it" too early as Paul had cautioned me against. I did ease off just a bit and Nick and Shawn moved ahead slightly, but I continued to run hard.

Mark had fallen back somewhat after about 2km and Ian fell off at around 4km so I found myself running on my own and would remain so for the remainder of the race. I hadn't get looked at my watch, but decided to seek a peak at the midway point just to see where I was. I was a bit shocked to see it show 16:17 (a 32:34 pace) quite a bit ahead of my goal. At this point, I figured that I was either going to have an amazing race and shatter my best time or I was soon going to suffer. In the end it I ended up doing a bit of both.

I pushed well up the hills from 4.5-6km and later found out that I had done these about 10 sec faster than I had last year. There is a long downhill section from 6-7 km where I picked up some time and ended up passing a guy who was fading. I was still feeling reasonable at this point and felt in control, but around the 8km mark I really started to feel the effects of my brisk pace. It also didn't help that I developed a mild side stitch as well. I didn't hit the wall, but was definitely struggling to maintain my pace. Up ahead I noticed that Shawn was also suffering and fell behind Nick - if I had anything left I'm sure I could have overtaken him, but the well was empty (I had indeed overcooked it). As I approached the finish line I saw the clock count up towards 33 min and did my best to sprint the last 100 meter hoping to get just under, but instead hitting it exactly. Unlike last year when I was able power through the last km in 3:15, this year I puttered through 8 sec slower.

While I was officially 1 sec off my goal time, overall I am quite happy with the time if not the race itself. I am pleased with my fitness level and think if I had a really good race in terms of pacing and how I felt I might be capable of taking off close to 30 sec.

Kip Kangogo ended up winning in 29:35 and Scott Simpson running a very strong race to finish as the top Canadian in 30:00 even edging out Simon Witfield by a few seconds. Karolina Jarzynska crushed the woman's field finishing in an amazing 33:25 just steps behind me. Congrats to all others club members and friends who finished the run - there were some solid performances. Thanks too to all who called my name while I was running - I appreciate it even if I don't always acknowlege the support when I am focused on the job at hand. Results.

Splits:
3:13, 6:26 (missed 2k marker), 3:17 (16:17 5k), 3:21, 3:21, 3:21, 3:15, 3:25, 3:23

Merville 15k

April 4, 2010

Merville is an interesting distance as there are not too many other 15k races out there. Everyone thinks about distance races in terms of 5k, 10k, Half Marathon, Marathon, etc. Without a race calculator it is difficult to know what a 50min 15k really means so no one ever asks about your 15k time. Never the less, Merville is a pretty fast course and I opted to do it rather than Sooke River 10k which would be too many 10k's in a short time (I'm doing the Times Colonist and the Sun Run).

We took the Harriers club van up to Merville (just north of Courtney). Besides myself, the van carried Sonja, Willy Langat, Nixon Kiprotich, Gary Duncan, Fawn Whiting, and Julie Van Veelen. The weather was decent on the way up, but as we approached the race area, a light rain began to fall. As the 11am race time approached, the rain intensified and with 20min to go, it was pounding down. It looked as though it was going to be a pretty soggy one, but fortunately it let up just before the race started and only fell lightly for the duration. Still, my shoes were completely soaked just getting to the start line 1km away and by the end of the race, everything was drenched.

Willy and Nixon sped off as soon as the race began which I expected as they were the fastest in the field and were gunning for a 48-49min finish time. For a short time, Chris Barth also moved out ahead, but soon dropped back. Nick Walker, Shawn Nelson, Mark Nelson, Hugh Trenchard and myself moved together for the first couple of km. It seemed like we were doing about a 3:20 effort, but our splits were close to 3:30 and this was a bit concerning to me since I was hoping for something in the 3:24-3:29 pace range. Although it isn't that obvious, the first 2km are a slight uphill grade so the times were correspondingly slower. Soon enough though, we got some slight downhills and flats that erased any earlier slowness and we posted some faster splits. I was feeling good at this point and the pace seemed quick, but comfortable. I was pretty sure that I was going to have a better race than I had at Comox.

Nick started to pull ahead well before the 5km maker and Mark fell back somewhat leaving Hugh, Shawn and myself and to run together until 5km. At this point Hugh started to drop off the pace although his overall performance is very commendable considering that he ran over 200km last week. I'm not sure that I will ever run that much in a week. Prior to my new training program, 200km was my monthly mileage!

Shawn tucked in behind me as we continued and I pushed a quick pace, never letting off. Since I was feeling strong, I was hoping that I would be able to put the pressure on him, and a couple times he did back off slightly, but he always battled back. We started a long gradual climb around 9km and I really dug in to keep as close to goal pace as possible. The plan worked pretty well and we only slowed to 3:40 on a kilometer that was entirely uphill. I was hoping that wasn't pushing too hard as it seemed as though I might have been running this race more like a 12k than a 15k. I did know that the last 5km was primarily downhill, however, so figured that I could still mov decently though there even if I was suffering.

Around 10km Mark caught up to us showing that he must have been having a tremendous race. I guess Shawn decided to put the pressure on his brother as he took off right after Mark caught up. I took chase and Marked dropped back a bit. I was still feeling quite strong and Shawn and I moved together for the next couple of km. Once we started the decent back to the finish area, Shawn decided to put the hammer down and encouraged me to go with him. Even though I still felt good, I just didn't seem to have the speed in my legs to keep up. This is still likely my weakest link in road running - gradual downhills. Although I still move OK, I just don't seem to go quite as fast those around me. Something I need to work on. Soon after Mark passed me and while I ran with him for a bit, I still had a tough time trying to match him.

We rounded the final corner before the finish line and Mark had 10-15 second on me. It was about 700m to the finish and I decided it was now or never and put a massive surge on. I rapidly gained on Mark who heard me coming and responded with a sprint of his own. For a moment, I thought that I was going to be able to catch him, but with about 200m to go I hit the wall and just couldn't continue the sprint. I loped into the finish and stopped a the beginning of the chute. Unbeknown-est to me, the actual finish line was actually 3 meters further along and I burned up 4 seconds getting there. It was not a big deal, but kind of annoying anyway.

My official time was 51:20, quite close to my optimum goal of around 51 min. Despite losing two positions late in the race and only coming in 6th overall, I was very pleased with my race and especially in how I felt. It was one of the better races I have ever had and the best one I have so far this year. I also placed 1st in my age category and set a 12k PB along the way. Willy won overall by a narrow margin over his training partner in 48:57. Tina Connelly convincingly won the woman's division with a 55:24 clocking which was good for 14th overall. Results.

Congrats go to all the Harriers crew who I came up with. The colours were all gold and silver with age category wins by Willy, Nixon, Sonja, and myself, and second place performances by Fawn, Gary, and Julie.

My splits:
3:30, 3:29, 3:23, 3:16, 3:21 (16:59 5k), 3:23, 3:25, 3:30, 3:32, 3:40 (34:29 10k), 3:29, 3:29, 3:22, 3:25, 3:06