WWC River Jam 10k Trail Race – June edition
So the thermometer was pushing a good
90 degrees along the river's edge, and my only respite from the heat
was to stay in the shadows of the treeline some 30 yards away.
Such is the way it is if you want to
run an evening summer time race.
As we mingle at the starting line I found
a few familiar faces in the crowd and a few new ones. 6:30 finally
arrived and soon we were kicking up a dust storm. The sun baked dust
cloud rose from the path which surrounds the WWC channel.
I could see both Mark and Andrew ahead
me as each of us jockeyed for a good position to enter the woods. I
thought that I had a good spot but I quickly realized that I was not
so lucky. The guys ahead me were bottle-necking a group of us. We
spent the next mile or so picking our way through them.
Around 2 miles, I pulled up beside
Andrew just as a I did during the May race. While he was moving well,
he didn't seem to have the same bounce in his step. I suspect the
hard racing at the Tuesday night Summer Track Meet had something to
do with it. I attempted to encourage him to stay with me.
One of the 5k runners passed me as we
passed the Toilet Bowl trail. Popping out on top by the water stop by the Towers, I
saw Mark standing there dumping water over his head. The heat must
have gotten to him.
From then, I just ran. With no one in sight
and no one forcing my pace, I ran what I needed through the Lake
Loop.
I was hoping to run a little faster time but
ended up about 30 seconds slower than May with a time of 46:03. This
placed me 6th overall and first in the 50 and over group.
Afterwards I wondered if the 30
seconds was from the heat or was it from getting out a bit slower.
Either could have been the case or getting out a bit slower could
have set me up better for the rest of the race. There is no way to
ever know. Still I was happy with the result.
The Cool Down Runner
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