Tour De Ashland Race Report

PRE-RACE

I decided to run Tour De Ashland as a training run because I wanted to practice racing on a hilly course. I wasn't worried about how fast I was going to run or my finishing time. This was going to be strictly a training run. That all changed three days before the race when I made the mistake of looking at last year's race results. If last year was any indication, then I had a pretty decent chance of winning my age group.

Suddenly, I had to worry more about carb-loading, hydration, and sleep. Carb-loading and hydration were no problem. Sleep turned out to be the variable that wouldn't cooperate. My wife and our three year old were both battling colds, which meant our three year old was waking up throughout the night, which meant that I was waking up throughout the night. This happened both Thursday and Friday nights.

I'm usually pretty fired up on my way to a race but for this one I found myself fighting just to stay awake. It was about an 80 minute drive and even a Guns N Roses CD couldn't get the adrenaline flowing. I actually considered turning around and driving home and forgetting all about the race. But then I realized that if I went home I would still have to go out and run a 13 miler anyway, so I might as well go race.

I finally reached the highway exit and wandered into backwoods Ohio. I was hoping to pass a restaurant or somewhere with indoor plumbing but believe it or not, I was so far out in the sticks that I couldn't even find a McDonald's (which I would only ever consider using as a restroom option, never, never, never as a place to eat). I crested a hill and suddenly there was a hunter walking down the middle of the road, wearing an orange vest and carrying a rifle over his shoulder. The theme from Deliverance started playing in my head as I drove past him in my foreign car with the Obama bumper sticker prominently displayed. Fortunately, he didn't shoot.

Again, I wondered what possessed me to drive out here for this race. I kept driving and I was looking for a road called CR995. I was sure that I would never find it but just when I thought for sure I was lost, I stumbled upon it and cruised right to the high school stadium and the starting point for the race.

They were using the concession stand for registration. The line was about 10 deep as I quickly felt the 5 degree wind chill ripping across the field. As I reached the front of the line I noticed that they had boxes of Gu sitting there. I had enough with me to get through the race but I wasn't satisfied with the flavors that I had (Vanilla Bean and Plain) so I considered buying an Expresso Love flavored Gu for pre-race consumption. When I reached the front of the line the girl handed me my registration packet and then said, "you can take a Gu if you've tried them before." I thought that was kind of funny and smart at the same time. You certainly don't want to find out the hard way that your stomach and/or digestive system can't handle a gel "during" a race. Anyway, I grabbed a Gu and then they handed me my timing chip, with a twist tie to secure it to my shoe. Yes, a twist tie, think trash bags, loaves of bread. That kind of twist tie. I wasn't confident that a twist tie would survive for 13.1 miles but it wasn't a goal race so if my chip fell off then it fell off, no big deal.

I walked back to the car where I attached the chip and my race bib and then sat around trying to stay warm. It turned out I parked literally 30 feet from the starting line, which was literally an orange line spray painted on the street. Not exactly a marquee event. I waited as long as I could and then joined the rest of the runners at the starting line. I decided to keep my throwaway sweatshirt ($1.99 at Goodwill, thank you very much) on for the first couple of miles because as I may have mentioned, it was freezing and the wind was whipping and I was once again questioning my sanity.

A guy with a bullhorn was trying to communicate with us from about 50 yards away. I heard maybe one out of every ten words he said. Finally, it was time for the race to begin. But first, a word from the Mayor. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. We're standing out here freezing, waiting to race, and the Mayor of Ashland wants to say a few words. I think the collective groan from the crowd was enough to convince the Mayor to keep it very short and he kept his comments to under a minute. Finally, it was time to race.

THE RACE (click here for elevation chart)

I wanted to go out at around 7:15 pace and take it from there. I was hoping to bank some time early in the race before we reached the numerous hills that dotted the course. I had a tough time settling into the pace since we started out running downhill and then switched to uphill. I managed to run the first mile at 7:19 pace but it wasn't comfortable. By the end of the first mile we were already climbing and I finished mile 2 in 7:43. Sometime during mile 3 I threw off my throwaway sweatshirt as we settled into the easiest portion of the course. Splits for miles 3 through 5 were 7:25, 7:26, 7:25. Slower than I wanted to be running but I was struggling with the faster pace and kind of knew I didn't have my "A" game today.

During mile 5, a guy caught up to me and we started chatting. Well, mostly he was chatting and I was answering his questions. He wanted to know my goal time, etc. I told him that right now I thought I was on pace for about a 1:38 but I wasn't sure how bad the hills were going to be. He didn't know either. He kept asking questions, feeling me out and finally he asked about running marathons. As soon as I mentioned that I had run Boston, the whole vibe of the conversation shifted. I knew he was gunning for me. I pushed ahead of him at the next water station, pushed up a hill and then tried to make up some time on the downhill that followed. Miles 6 and 7 splits were 8:05, 7:41.

After mile 7, we hit the first major hill. We would be running uphill for the next 2 miles. I took it steady at 8:23, 8:23. Somewhere during mile 8, my new friend caught me again. I told him I was still having trouble finding my pace and then I let him move ahead of me. Vowing to keep him in sight and to overtake him later in the race.

We finally crested the hill and it was off to the races as we sped back down. The downhill was short lived, however, and before I knew it I was pushing back up yet another hill, the steepest and longest of the race. Mile 10 split was 8:03 and the brutal mile 11 split was a dismal 8:54. At this point I was wishing that I had a copy of the elevation chart with me (in the future, I might wear one as a wrist band) because at this point I couldn't remember what the rest of the course looked like so I didn't know if/when to make my final push. The only reassurance I had was that none of the runners ahead of me were gaining on me up the hills.

I tried to pick up the pace during mile 12 but we were running on a busy street with traffic in both directions (like I said, not exactly a marquee event) and the wind was blasting us right in the face. So although I felt like running hard my split was only 7:58.

Right at the mile 12 marker, a woman passed me. Now, when you pass someone late in a race, you have to pass them with confidence. You have to make sure that person knows that there is no possible way that they can keep up with you and so they shouldn't even try. The goal is to mentally break each runner that you pass. Apparently, she didn't get the memo. Shortly after she passed me, we went around a bend. She didn't run the tangent so I found myself right on her heels. Then another quick bend. I took the tangent, she didn't. I bolted past her and started my finishing kick.

I could see 4 runners ahead of me and thought that I could realistically reel in two of them. Three if I was lucky. The guy who I had vowed to keep in my sights and overtake at the end was the 4th guy. It didn't look like I was going to be able to catch him. I decided to concentrate on passing one runner at a time.

So I'm cruising uphill, into the wind (5 degree windchill), pushing as hard as I can and I manage to pass 2 guys pretty easily. I can still hear the woman pounding the pavement right behind me. She's not about to give up. We make a sharp left turn from the road onto this gravel stadium access road and my foot lands awkwardly and for a second I'm sure I'm going to fall. Somehow, I manage to keep my balance and it's only about 20 steps until I'm on the track.

One lap around the track to the finish line. I'm closing on the guy in front of me but the wind is just brutal and it feels almost like I'm running in place. I mentally remind myself that the wind is hitting the other runners just as hard so suck it up, and I keep pushing. I come around the final bend and realize I'm going to run out of time. I'm not going to catch the 2 guys in front of me. I push across the finish line in 1:43:53 (mile 13 and .1 splits, 7:58, 1:07).

They hand me my medal and a pretty sweet running hat as an age group award but they didn't tell me what place I finished in. I find the guy who I had been running with and had vowed to catch and congratulated him on a good race. Then I grabbed a gatorade and a bagel and headed for the car and some warm, dry clothes.

Later that evening, they posted the official race results and I couldn't believe it. The guy who I had let go ended up winning my age group beating me by 23 seconds and the guy who I came very close to catching at the very end, finished 2nd in my age group, beating me by 6 seconds. I had to settle for 3rd place and the knowledge that I could have done better.

But hey, it was supposed to be a training run. I got some much needed practice racing on hills, met a new (friendly) rival and for $25 I got a race shirt, a race hat, a medal, and a gu. Not bad.