127 Ronald IRWIN Durham ON 105 M 29/77 M40-49 53:33 4:58A pretty good day , I award myself a Silver for a 53:33 finish. Originally I was thinking around 55:00 then as the day got closer I was in for a just maybe break 50 but......
The morning started a bit latter then the usual race day. Start time was 10:30 and I figured it would only take a couple of hours to get there! Stopped at Tims for a Bagel / OJ and Coffee ....my secret race food! Arrived in Tara Cotta at 09:15. There were quiet a few folks directing traffic , looked like a very well organized event. There were two heated tents where I picked up my race kit. There was a bit of heat but it wasn't quiet enough. I went back to the car , checked out the cool swag . There was a Metal Water Bottle which was kinda neat but the thing I really liked was the Running Calender .... Canadian yet, very well done! I had about 30 minutes to kill after I was ready to go . I found a warm place where there was change rooms , flush toilets, heat and a view of the start finish. Waited there until the mass of humanity started to make their way to the start!
I lined up about 100 folks back from the start, figured that this would about where I would finish. There was a fellow with a megaphone talking but even with 400 folks behind me I couldn't hear a word that he said. The race start was somewhat uneventfully, I knew we were off when everyone in front started to move! In spite of where I started I was held up for the first 200 meters , once we were out on the road it opened up a bit but it wasn't until 400 meters that I was able to really open up. First 2K was a blast down a fairly steep paved road! This i s one of few races that it a good idea to blast off. I held a 4:04 pace for the first 2K and then things flattened out for a few hundred meters , I geared down here in preparation for the climb ahead. The hill wasn't too steep but my legs were reminding me of the quick start , nothing too serious just a "what was that you just did " feeling. Plan for the next 5K was 5:00 or less , I knew that this would be tough o meet but that was my goal. The 3rd km was done in 5:25 , a little slower then I wanted but it may have had something to do with the first 2Ks , total time was 13:33 after 3k! 3-4K wasn't too bad 5:17 , passed 4K at 18:50. Found some consistency to the pace , 4-5K was done at a 5:18! I was starting to feel allot of heat coming on , I was wearing a semi fitted winter tech shirt and a shell as well as a cap in case to rain . I removed the hat and unzipped the shell l but I was already suffering. Passed 5K at 24:08 , things flattened out for a few hundred meters before the big one. At 5.3 K we started a 60 metre climb over about a half K , this was a major O2 hill! 5-6k was not so quick , slowed to a 6:27 pace but I did manage to run up the big one but man was I out of breath! 6-7K was still a climb , picked it up a bit for a 5:30 pace. After 7K I was sitting at 36:05 , this was a full minute over where I wanted to be ... I had some making up to do!!!!! With 3.8K to go I hustled to pick up the pace , there were some rolling hills between 7k and 8k but things did start to flatten out a bit , the pace was 5:05 ... still not there ... had to really pick it up in the last 2.8K ! The next km was more rolling then I had anticipated but I managed a 4:54 pace , not quiet enough , I was running out of race course! Passed 9K at 46:04 , I was so not going to break the 50 min mark but I knew that breaking 55 was a given but by how much? 9-10K was not the downhill I had anticipated , 15meters of down and 6 meters of up a total drop of 9 meters , I was pushing hard here and this K was done at a 4:48 pace , OK but not good enough! The last 800 meters was great , real steep downhill to the finish... a real fast blast! Picked it up to a 3:54 pace and crossed the finish at 53:33!
I look forward to doing this one again , I would approach it with the same strategy but try to pick it up a bit on the 2K-7K climb as well as the last few K's.
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