It takes place almost entirely on the NCR Trail, once for trains, and now converted into a running path. It is made of crushed stone/gravel, has very shallow turns, and nets a 2% downgrade in the Southbound direction. It runs from Papermill Road in Cockeysville, MD and goes nearly 20 miles North to the PA boarder.
This race is designed as a point-to-point race. Everyone meets up at a shopping center on Papermill Road and we all get bused nearly 20 miles north to the start line. From there, the only way back is to run! This was to be my third time doing this race, and the first time I planned to truly race the whole thing from start to finish. Here are my last two results:
2008, 93rd Overall, 2:59:12, 8:58/mile
2010, 19th Overall, 2:14:31, 6:44/mile
I wasn't always so fast! Neither were some of the guys I ran with in this race as we discussed a bit early on. A lot of local front runners were just average mid-packers who one day decided they wanted more and went for it. That is certainly what happened to me.
The race was to start at 8AM, with overcast skies, 70 degree temperatures, and nearly 100% humidity. I knew right away that the conditions were going to be tough. Regardless, my plan remained the same: go out with the lead pack and make a decision by Mile 7-9 whether I had a shot at winning, then take it from there. Based on who showed up, I knew I had at least a fighting chance. There were no ringers at this one, just three of the stronger runners the area has to offer.
Due to the nature of the trail with its sparse road crossings, only 7 water stops were offered. I carried some sports beans with me as well, but fluid replacement was going to be an issue. I barely take anything as it is, and that humidity was just going to make it worse.
Regardless, the horn sounded and we were off, immediately in a pack of 4. We had all agreed to try and keep it to around 6 minute pace. Unfortunately, the humidity was making the pace more difficult to hold. I was drenched in sweat by mile 3.
Miles 1-3: 6:06, 6:13, 6:04.
One of the runners in our group wasn't happy with the slow start and he picked up the pace. I already had a decision to make, stay with him or hold back. I opted to stay with him as per my strategy. Miles 4-6 were a bit of a strain on me. I could tell I was going a hair too fast but with first place on the line, I didn't mind sticking around and testing myself:
Mile 4: 5:58
Mile 5 and 6 were off, but averaged to 2 miles, the average split was ~5:56
We started to distance ourselves from the 3rd and 4th place runners. I was neck and neck with my current running partner but two things were becoming quite clear: he was stronger than me, and I was really starting to feel it. I knew that sooner or later, something was going to have to change. Regardless, I pushed on as we really dropped the pace down for the next two miles:
Mile 7: 5:50
Mile 8: 5:48
And look at this, a picture! I'm on the left, slightly blurry since the person taking it was running the other way. You can almost see the moisture in the air. The surface depicted here is pretty typical of the entire race. It can be real taxing on the feet and legs if you are not used to it. However, being that I do the majority of my long runs on this trail, the surface is just as good as asphalt to me. This was somewhere before mile 8. The whole trail looks roughly the same so it can be hard to tell!
The nice thing about a 20 miler as oppose to a marathon is you can take chances with slightly faster paces without too much worry of a death march at the end. However, this pace was definitely way too quick for me. Physically, I could probably have held on for about 2 or 3 more miles before fading with very little left in the tank. The only problem was that there would still have been 9 miles to go at that point! With the other runner showing no signs of fading, and the pace approaching my 10K pace, I made the decision to back off and let him go. There was once a time where I would not have done this, but I've been at this long enough to know when I'm beat (usually anyway). If I stayed up on him, I certainly would have fallen out of the top-3 all together before the finish. Now, if I caught myself soon enough, hopefully I could hold on to 2nd.
Of course, whether I caught myself with enough energy to finish was a big mystery. There were other issues I was dealing with besides sweat that would not evaporate. Besides the fact that I looked like I just went for a swim, my stomach was not 100% pleased with me, and not all of the water stations were manned. Ultimately, only 3 of the 7 stops had volunteers handing out water. With absolutely no intention of stopping since I would never hit my pace again, I just passed by the unmanned stops, and forced myself after the first one to never expect water at the next one. Mind games, always mind games. Despite "backing off" I still had a bit of the surge from mile 7 and 8 going for a little while longer:
Mile 9: 5:55
Mile 10: 5:58
The runner ahead of me had begun to fade out of sight. You can see pretty far ahead on the trail, so I knew that the battle for first was most likely over. I had no idea where 3rd place was and had no intention of finding out. I couldn't hear anyone's footsteps, but every time I passed other people just out on the trail, I could hear clapping for runners behind me slowly getting closer and closer. I started fading at this point but just kept telling myself to keep the pace under my current marathon PR pace (6:18). I tried to just take it a mile at a time.
Mile 11: 6:06
Mile 12: 6:07
Mile 13: 6:04
Over these 3 miles I settled into a groove and just tried to stay at 6:05-6:10 pace. I would learn after the race that the 3rd place runner had been closing the gap over this time and came within less than a minute of me around mile 13. Thankfully, right before 12 I got a big, loud cheer from someone I knew (mainly out there for his girlfriend, but I'll take all the support I can get!). It kind of awoke me from a daze I had been in. Afterwards, I actually took a handful of sports beans, and the sugar/caffeine made me feel a little better. I probably should have taken them sooner, but was very worried about getting sick.
Though I mentally felt refreshed, my legs were getting heavier and it was becoming a real struggle to maintain pace. I kept thinking to myself how regretful and disappointed I would be if I let myself give up 2nd place after fighting for so long. I decided that regret and disappointment was not going to catch me. From this point, I told myself "just get to Phoenix alive." This refers to the 17 mile mark in the race, which is the location where I start and end many of my long runs. I know every step of the trail in this area since I'm on it so often. I figure, just get to 17, then worry about the rest later.
Mile 14: 6:09
Mile 15: 6:10
Mile 16: 6:08
Mile 17: 6:08
You can see an ever so slight fade of just a couple seconds per mile compared to my last report for 11-13. I knew it was happening, and I just kept trying to hold on. Phoenix would be the last manned water stop, the two after that had no volunteers so that ended up being my last bit of water. In total, I took water from 3 stops, got down at best 1-2 sips per stop, and ate about 1/3 of a packet of sports beans. Not exactly ideal, but it beats getting sick and puking. I was now on the last 3, hoping beyond hope that I could hold on.
Mile 18: 6:12
After running southbound on largely flat or slightly downhill trail we had to do something truly grueling...turnaround. Turnarounds are painful in any race, but after being so locked in like a freight train traveling largely in one direction, a turnaround really kills any kind of groove you may have been in. The turnaround did give me some intel on my current position. The leader was comfortably ahead, though not quite as far as I expected. 3rd place was surprisingly far back at that point. I would find out afterwards, he was close to me at 15 but just faded after that. I knew I had 2nd locked up if I could just finish the race without collapsing.
After the turnaround, we left the crushed stone of the trail to run the last mile back on a winding, hilly, narrow road. After nearly 19 miles of the NCR trail, the last mile proved to be absolutely grueling. I knew it was coming though, since the course hasn't changed in the years I've done it. I pretty much just completely ignored that it was there the whole race, opting just to deal with it when I arrived. I could barely pick up my legs and wanted to walk so badly (the leader and 3rd place runner shared the same desire), but kept pushing forward. Mile 19 was a bit off, so the average pace for my last 2 miles:
Mile 19-20: 6:37
I slowed on 19 no doubt, and 20 was just hell on earth. Regardless, I finished 2nd overall in 2:02:03, less than two minutes behind the leader, and a couple minutes ahead of 3rd place. My legs were done and I clearly used up every ounce of energy I had. Overall, I was very happy with my pacing, decisions, and tactics. I am rather certain that I ran the best race I could have given the conditions and competition.
Pictures of me on the final stretch, not looking too happy:
For my efforts, I pocketed $75 in cash, which more than pays for the $56 race entry and a free pair of running shoes. That's certainly a pretty good deal! This is actually the 2nd race where I have earned a straight up cash prize (instead of gift certificates..though running store certificates are as good as cash), but the first where I actually made a profit instead of just breaking even.
As far as what this means for the future, well that is quite interesting. My pace, 6:08 overall is almost dead on for the pace required to break 2:40 in a marathon. Of course, the only issue is that there was no way I was running another 6.2 at that pace. However, I probably could have squeezed an extra couple of miles before fading if my race was more even (as it would be in a marathon), or if the weather was better. Therefore, I think I'm quite close to where I need to be, and about at the level that I would expect. A handful of 75+ mile weeks and some progressive long runs in the 20-22 mile range ending at marathon pace or faster should give me the last little bit I need to hold this pace the rest of the way come Philadelphia in November.
Overall, a glorious day!
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