I recently ventured into the wilds of Wildwood Missouri to run a first time event sponsored by the local Parks and Recreation Dept. They had announced a 12 mile trail race some time ago and I think I heard about it initially through Big River since they were scheduled to provide timing services for the event. Late in 2010 I decided that the new year would see me committed to change up my racing habits so this brand spanking new race in January seemed like a perfect opportunity to follow through with that pledge. New races tend to attract a much smaller crowd than those that have been held for many years so I wasn't surprised to see only around 125 runners sign up to compete.
The race began at Lasalle Springs Middle School just off highway 109 in Wildwood. I had picked up my number and pull-over hoodie the night before at the Big River store since I was worried I might sleep in and wouldn't have time in the morning. I was kind of surprised that I was seeded in the first heat with all the fast runners.
The first wave runners a few minutes before the start.
However, the organizers had asked us to send in a 10k time which generally means I will be seeded higher than if I had sent in a half marathon time. My relative performance to my peers is always better the shorter the distance I am racing. If I were truly smart I would probably stick to racing 400 meters to perhaps 2 miles at most, but I am either too obstinate to stick to what I am good at or just not that smart. Anyway, the weather on Friday was warm---I had run 5 miles the day before the race and then biked about 15 miles to take advantage of the warm temps and the heat wave continued into the morning for our race---it was probably in the high 30's or low 40's at race time which was pretty nice running weather for January in Missouri.
I ran into a few friends at the Lasalle school before the race and took a few pictures (of course). We lined up in groups of about 20 or so and since I was in group one I tried to snap a bunch of pictures right before the gun and then a few as we were getting underway.
The view from the middle of group one.
I hung back near the middle of the pack trying to run a conservative pace. I didn't have my Garmin with me (I have managed to misplace it since getting it back from a friend) so I was running based totally on my own sense of pace. The first mile was probably a tad bit fast but nothing out of the ordinary. The first part of the course involved running down a bike path that was actually part of a 100 mile hilly bike ride I completed over the summer so I was familiar with the start of the event. We ran through a tunnel and the path had quite a bit of crunchy snow and a bit of ice which fortunately wasn't slick for the most part. We then made a right turn and headed toward a little park and the Al Foster trail. Ha! I had made it to this point on a few occasions from long runs begun in Castlewood State Park but had never been at this location with my car nearby---so it was nice to see how to get to this point by driving if I ever want to start on this end and run toward Castlewood.
Once we hit the actual trail some portion of it was usually covered in snow and part of it was relatively clear from the muck, so I tried to stick to the cleared portion as much as possible since it was generally faster to do so. Nevertheless, at least half the time we were running on crunchy snow and/or ice. The race organizers had told us before we started that there were mile markers on the course but warned us not to count on their accuracy---I wasn't looking closely for them and the first one I remember seeing was at the 4 mile mark. It wasn't surprising I missed the first three since they were on white paper with blue lettering and only about 4 or 5 inches tall and my guesss it that they were sporting a white snow background. Very easy to miss. No worries though since this was a 12 mile race and I was just trying to run hard and my splits were not all that important.
I knew it was an out and back kind of course with the final section veering off to the right hand side on the way back. A thoughtful race volunteer had pointed out the spot where we would be making that turn on the way out (about 3 miles later). What I didn't notice before the race began as I quickly perused the map was that the "turn around" was not the usual cone placed at one spot but was a half circle that was probably around 3/4 of a mile in length. Thus, my normal plan of shooting the runners ahead of me on their return trip was nixed by the course design since they weren't far enough along to complete that stretch of the trail before I began it. Oh well. By the time I finished the half circle some of the runners in the later heats were coming through in the opposite direction and I started shooting some of their pictures.
Runners heading in opposite directions on the main trail.
It was also on this half circle section that some of the faster runners from the second heat caught up to me including my good friend Al Beers. He and I have battled it out in a few epic trail races including during Pere Marquette and Castlewood Cup but today was all Al--he dropped me hard! Good for him. I assume his run training is going quite well based on how he looked and how quickly he was out of my sight.
Al catching up to me from wave two and about to pass by with ease.
I actually felt better once we started seeing other runners and I was able to focus on looking for friends and shooting pictures. I was feeling pretty good between miles 4 through 6 but once we made the turn onto the right offshoot section of the course the fun factor dropped precipitously. A major element was a lack of both crowd support and competition since by the time I reached that point most of the racers were fairly spread out. For about two minutes I was completely alone on the course, not able to see anyone ahead of, or behind me and I started to wonder if maybe I missed a turn. In addition the course started heading ever so slightly uphill and about that time the two leaders came flying by in the opposite direction---Sunny and a guy I didn't know named Andrew (I looked up his name in the results). They were chatting up a storm as they passed by me......if I hadn't started the race with Sunny I would have sworn she was just on a training run due to the ease with which she appeared to be talking--not breathing hard at all. I snapped a quick picture as they ran by and then I started coming across the other top runners on their final few miles heading back to the finish line.
Sunny and Andrew around mile 10----I wonder how the cost benefit analysis turned out?
Did I mention the course grade yet? I think so...but at this point things for me really started going uphill---there were several major inclines with a doozy just before you made a left hand turn and things turned flat in the parking lot of another local school where an aid station had been set up. My legs felt trashed and I was out of breath so I handed my camera to one of the volunteers to shoot my picture. If I wasn't feeling like the grim reaper was watching from the sidelines I might not have taken the time for a photo op but I thought it was a good excuse to kill two birds with one stone; get a pic of myself and recover a bit. Erin almost walked right in front of the picture as the guy snapped the shot and I didn't even know she was there.
Erin with a classic OMG look on her face.
I drank a bit of water and then headed back down the hill. Some people say that running down hill is hard. I think those people are mental. Running downhill is a piece of cake compared to going uphill. When I was young I remember reading about a one mile race in either New Zealand or Australia that was entirely downhill and the course record was something like 3:20 or so......much faster than the world record on a flat surface of I think 3:46 at the time. Yeah, sign me up for that any day of the week. So, I was enjoying the downhill section and was still snapping pictures on the way back to the main Al Foster Trail head. I felt pretty good between mile eight to eleven but was still trying to keep things rolling along without falling apart by going too fast.
The last mile and a half I tried to maintain my pace but a couple of runners caught up to me with about 400 meters to go since I was really ready for this race to end by the mile 11 marker.....I was just going to let them go by...but the competitor in me hates to get beat in the final stretch of any race so I managed to stay with them as they picked up the pace and then threw in a surge of my own with about 75 meters to go....yeah I beat all three of them to the line. However, I think they all started in wave two or three so the victory was more symbolic than anything else since their overall times would have been faster than mine anyway. Sometimes it is the small victories that you have to cling to though to get you through.
I finished in 46th place and ran the 12 mile course in one hour forty five minutes and 56 seconds or 8:50 per mile pace.....which is slightly slower than the pace I averaged in the Go! St. Louis Marathon last year. I really wasn't focused on time or place---I just wanted to go out there and push myself which I did while getting in a 12 mile run.
I hung around the finish line for quite a while shooting pictures of the finishers and cheering them on, while chatting with some of my friends. I ended up missing most of the awards presentation though. The organizers did provide the racers with ample water, gatorade, bagels, plus a bunch of other stuff and even Imo's Pizza so it gets a big thumbs up on the quality of the free goodies. Overall it was a pretty good event and I will likely be back next year if they hold it once again.
This is one of my favorite groups since it is usually only a handful of dedicated folks who show up, and you never know what the exercises will be on any particular day. Normally if the temperature is 40 degrees or higher we are working out in Tower Grove Park with small hand weights. However, when the weather is bad we will work out in the trainer's home. In the past I have taken a 20 lb. weight vest with me to make the workout even more challenging. However, since I hadn't worn it to this group in a few months I left it in the car to try to slowly ease my body back into the old routine. Here is a picture of me just after a session with this group from the summer of 2010 with the vest plus some ankle weights: 
On one occasion during the summer of 2010 we ended up running approximately 3 miles plus some plyometric movements all with yours truly wearing the vest. That was a tough workout trying to keep up with everyone else since we usually take a few breaks to do exercises where I can recover but on that occasion it was 1.5 miles of straight running each way! The group usually meets several times a week but Sundays are free so my frugal nature usually has me attending the Sunday sessions whenever possible. However, the cost of a Monday through Saturday session is only 3 bucks which is by far the best cost to value proposition in the St. Louis area if you are looking for a bootcamp style workout. Let me know if you are interested in joining the fun sometime--no weight vest is required! 
