Miles 1-3, 7:40 average pace: The start of the race is on a groomed bike/hiking trail that winds to the North edge of the Caloosahatchee River. I was running this with my 16yo son, and we settled into a nice pace, slowly passing the rabbits that had started out too fast. I was planning for 7:45 average, so we were right on our goal. passed through a beautiful section that looked like a scene out of Jurassic Park, Brannnan actually said, when do the dinosaurs come out of the jungle. I was starting to think we could pick up our pace a bit as this was, so far, pretty easy.
Miles 4-7, 7:56 Average: About mile 4 things began to get interesting. We crossed the road to the northern section of the park, and entered a motocross track. It was oddly fun to run on with the bumps, banked turns, and whoops sections. It was also the first time I began to realize that the rain the night before was going to make the footing an issue. The mud was very thick and "sticky as snot" as the race director so perfectly described it. It was really cool to be in an open field, following the track. After a mile of this, we got back on the track, and the hills started. They were not big hills, but steep and treacherous with the mud. Had to brace myself more than once on a tree at the end of a downhill to stop from tumbling into the adjacent swamp. Our pace was dropping, but the effort was there so I was not too worried. At the aid station at mile 7, my son said his hip was bothering him (he has been fighting off IT Band issues) and he made the smart decision to drop (though he ended up running about 10 miles just to get back to the car).
Miles 8-11, 9:50 Average (though it was probably a bit faster). I call this the Holy S#%t section! The Northeastern section of the park is all single track, very muddy, covered by a canopy that I had to duck under much of the time, and loaded with 15-20 foot steep up and down "hils" that required speed, agility, and some luck to get up, as well as constant switchback turns. (Check out the map). My Garmin recorded the final distance as 12.6, but the Race Director and some other runners who have run this before assured me it's a 13.1 length route, but this section cuts back on itself so often, the GPS watches can't give you a very accurate reading at race pace. The mud also slowed me down substantially in this section. With the lower pace, my HR also dropped. Now I know why the front of the pack took off so fast. If I were to do this race again, I would push the pace much harder the first 7 miles, as the trail dictates a much slower pace in this section technically, climbing/descending and the mud. The best part of this section was picking off about 10 runners. It seemed that they were all struggling, and it was fun to move past them and keep right on pulling away.
Miles 12-Finish, 7:55 Average: I emerged from the Holy S#%t section, and it felt good to have nice level ground where I could at least choose to run on the grassy edge of the trail rather than in the muddy track. I saw a runner about 200 yards in front of me and decided, it's go time. I picked up the pace and was steadily closing on him. As I got close, with the river on my right shoulder, I began to worry I used up too much if he had a surge left. I passed him with about 1/4 mile to go, and when he said, "Good Job," I knew I was home free. He quickly dropped back from me as I maintained my pace, turned the corner and jumped over the finish line!
Results: 1:47:34, 27 overall 7/21 Age Division, 8:13 average pace (some fast old men in this race!). http://connect.garmin.com/activity/427120292
Really fun, happy with my time, and look forward to more trail running in the near future!
