This is the last in the series of races that the Prairie Inn Harriers put on at Thetis Lake every Fall. It's a great course, usually quite muddy and wet, with a fantastic climb at the mid-way point. The Stewart Mountain climb is a pretty decent length, with some pretty steep sections and has always been a quad and lung burner.
This year, going into the race, I was feeling somewhat nervous, as I wasn't sure how I'd fare on the climb - I've never been a super confidant climber, and as I haven't been training too much on the hills, I thought it might cause me to hurt. The results from the race left me feeling both happy and dissatisfied -- overall I had a good race, but sometimes that's not enough.
The week leading up to the race, it had been raining pretty steadily, so I was pretty certain that it would be a wet course. As we lined up on the start line, the rain had started to fall, but it wasn't too heavy. Once we started running, I barely felt it at all.
I didn't expect this race to have a fast start, given that it's a bit of a longer race, with a difficult climb mid-way that you need to save something for. However, was I ever mistaken - the frontrunners blasted off the start and one guy who doesn't usually lead, I believe it was Richard Knowlton, really took off. I overheard some of his friends say "What's he doing leading like that -- that doesn't seem like a good idea!" Apparently he was overtaken a few kilometres later, but held on for a decent finish.
So - I started out at a steady pace for me. We got onto some smaller trails right off the start, and then wound our way up to Upper Thetis Lake. I was running around a bunch of guys I didn't recognize and just hoped that I didn't start out too fast. The race gets much more interesting once we head off the main Thetis Lake trails and onto the single-track. Although, it was also here, that I wanted to speed things up a bit, and found myself behind 3 other guys, who while not going slow, felt like they were holding me up a bit. This didn't last too long - as soon as we got off the narrow, technical terrain, things sped up again. Here, we got to maneuver over fallen logs and trash through puddles that took up the entire trail, making keeping your feet dry completely impossible.
Then came the main puddle - it's over knee deep, has a fallen log in the middle of it, and is maybe 25 metres long. Overall it's not that deep, but it's long enough to freeze the feet. I emerged from the puddle, with completely frozen feet and then came a gnarly, technical downhill, that my feet did not want to navigate. At the bottom of this hill, came a gushing stream. It had definitely expanded, and there was no way, but to run right through it. As we neared and ran through each of these puddles and rivers, there was a guy running near me who would yelp and yeehaw, excited about each foot drenching experience.
I knew I was pushing it pretty hard, but overall I was feeling pretty good - although some of the early short hills took it out of me a bit, and I was labouring to climb them. I only hoped that I hadn't expended too much energy before the real climb, and that I'd be left struggling my way to the top.
Just as we made our way onto the loop that would wind our way up to Stewart Mountain, Joelle McCartie passed me. I have trained and raced with Joelle, and while we've been similar speeds, I have always been a tad faster than her. I was surprised to see her passing me at that point, and to see how strong she looked. I had already gone through a few points in the race, where I had battled with myself mentally to keep going hard-- as I didn't want to keep on pushing. Once Joelle passed me, I was thrown a momentary blow. 'Is that Joelle passing me?...' I wondered. I knew that she was a strong climber, and she had been training hard over the last year for triathlons - but I hadn't expected her to have become so fit. I didn't want to lose sight of her, so I kept at it- and staying with Joelle remained my motivation for the rest of the race.
After a few more twists and turns, and a few more puddles, we started the climb. It's a two part climb - whereby you get a few steep sections, then a slight levelling out for a few hundred meters, and then the second part of the climb begins as we turn onto a wide road that leads us near the top. As in previous years, it was tough. However, I felt better than I had before, and was even able to switch between power hiking and jogging throughout the climb. Near the top, we get off the main trail and head into the woods for the final push. A guy who was running ahead of me, missed the turnoff. I tried to yell at him 'Left! You missed!' was all I was able to muster between deep breaths. He heard me, but it didn't register until someone behind me yelled 'You've gone too far, turn back!' in a loud commanding voice. This last part had us scrambling over large rocks, until we hit the summit and had our photo taken.
Photo credit: Adam Lawrence
Then came the descent. It's somewhat technical to begin with, as it's steep and there's lots of loose rock. I felt confidant in some parts and let my feet roll with it, and then tensed up in other parts. Once we got off the loose stuff, I let my legs completely go. Once you've ascended the hill, the rest of the race much easier. There are a few climbs on the return route, but overall it's much more downhill on the way back. It's a nice treat, as you're able to push it, and still feel relatively well.
Throughout this entire time, I kept Joelle in sight, but wasn't able to get much closer to her. It was somewhat frustrating, as I had thought that perhaps on the downhill I could catch up to her. Once we got back off the Stewart Mountain loop, it was back along many of the trails we'd taken on the way out. More puddles and rivers to run through, but luckily we didn't have to do the monster puddle again. As we neared the finish, there were moments when I'd come close to catching Joelle, but then she'd put some distance on me again, and it was definitely starting to feel like there would be no catching her this time.
As we were running some of the final bends around Upper Thetis, I was passed by another strong female runner, who I've trained with. Although this one I had been expecting. Kirsten Arensen passed me with a vengeance. I had been expecting her to come up from behind me, as she generally takes a more conservative start and then finishes strong. While I'd beat her at many races earlier in the year, she had posted some faster times than me on some of the later races, and I knew that she was fit. I knew there was no catching her as she pushed hard, while passing me. This by and of itself would have been okay, but being the third female in a row of three was somewhat demoralizing.
Then, we made our way back onto the final stretch, and while I knew I was only about 5 minutes from the finish, it would be a tough last bit, as we had 3 steep hills to climb: Little Gunner, Big Gunner and Big Bugger. This is where Joelle and Kirsten got some extra time on me, as my hill strength wasn't quite there. I did run each of them, but really struggled. After ascending the last one, there was a fantastic downhill and I pushed it hard to the finish. As I crossed the finish line, the clock read 1:22:45. I was around 5 minutes faster than last year, 18 seconds behind Joelle and around 40 seconds behind Kirsten. Overall I had a great race, posted a faster time than the previous year by a pretty good margin, but I finished feeling unhappy with the race because of my placing (I ended up 7th female, out of fourth place by under a minute). I was happy for Joelle - she took close to 10 minutes off her time from last year and really had a fantastic race. However, it was still mentally challenging to have 3 women so close to me, but all beat me. Although, I cannot be unhappy with my performance, as I felt pretty good during the race, felt better on the climbs than in previous years and posted a faster time than previously - and this is what I need to keep in mind.
Shane had a fantastic race all-round and won the race overall. There was some speculation that Bruce Deacon, a previous Olympian, who is still a fantastic masters runner, and who'd shown up for the race last minute, might come out on top. However, this type of race isn't really his forte, and while he was still the top master, he ended up 3 minutes back from Shane. Shane still had to work for his win though, holding off Trevor Ruck - but congrats to him for his time of 1:04:56. Sarah Baker came in as the top women in 1:14:40 - a really strong showing. Full results are here.
Thanks to Bob Reid, race director and for the Prairie Inn Harriers for putting on such a fantastic race -it was exceptionally marked, with enough course marshals, and definitely enough wet -- I finished the race completely soaked to the bone with the combination of puddles and rain. But all in all it was a fun day!
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