Location: Hale Reservation, Westford, MA
Miles: 15.68
Elevation gain: 1755′
Start time: 8pm, 8F windchill
Official time: 3:10:32
Place: 13/50
I headed out around 4:45pm and arrived at Hale by 6:30pm, long after sunset. I found a parking spot one lot away from lodge parking by the race start. I carried my waterproof bag with my running gear, extra layers, and a change of clothes to the start line by the lodge half a mile away. The road was icy and I had to be careful not to fall. I checked in at the registration table, and then chatted with folks around the fire for a while. I was able to connect with the race director, who I’ve been emailing with as an ultrarunning buddy for more than a year. I tried to stay warm and mostly succeeded, though my toes were numb by the time we needed to line up to start.
I managed to break the glue holding my bottom teeth’s retainer in place biting into a gummy (which had frozen solid in the cold) only 15 minutes before race start. It was solidly enough in place that I wasn’t too worried about it, though it was annoying. As I listened to the race directors’ course review, I stripped off my outer layers. I didn’t realize that as soon as the course review was over, we’d be starting. I quickly went to the bathroom, and put on my running vest. I went with the group to the starting area, and then realized I’d left my headphones in my bag. I ran back to grab them, joined the herd, and was still putting on my headphones when the start was called and everyone started moving forward.
I got myself settled in the first few hundred feet and then started moving around in the group, trying to find the appropriate place based on my pace. There was a hill almost immediately and many people dropped to a walk. I jogged around them and kept moving upward. I had been told the course was only 750′ gain, so I figured I’d go at all of the hills hard. Sadly, by the end of the first loop and start of the second, I realized that there was no way the total gain would be 750; but I’d already exhausted myself on the first loop’s hills and it was quite a suffer-fest for the 2nd and 3rd loops.
My arches started bothering me by mile 5-6, indicating that my orthotic insoles needed to be modified. It was good information, but very painful to keep running. My right hamstring and piriformis progressively tightened throughout the evening, battered from the hard uphill running. And my lungs were toast by the end, with a heavy wheeze and crackling sounds when I exhaled. It took ~12 hours for that to dissipate after the race.
The 3rd loop was the hardest. Despite the intense cold (and one of my bottles freezing shut), I was really thirsty because I was breathing so hard. And I got deep into my head about where I was in the pack; I was so convinced I was in the last 10-20% of people, that I was so slow despite pushing so hard. Even after I finished, changed, and then drove home, I still felt defeated. It wasn’t until 2 days later when they posted the results that I was I was 13th out of 50 people, and the first non-man to cross the finish line.
In the end, I was able to meet some cool people, including folks I knew from the internet but had never seen in person, and participate in an event aimed at ultra and trail runners. It was brutally cold, but ultimately, a positive experience.
Transcending Mountains 