By Jeremy Bonnett
Well, the day is finally here. I had a whole bunch of trepidation about this race. After having such a great season racing short distances, ultras, hilly courses, snowy courses and the like, I was starting to put some pressure on myself to perform at my best, all the time. I was also nervous as I didn’t do much “quick” training between the 100MW attempt and now. In fact I really only got in two, sometimes three runs a week over the last month. So when I set my sights on cutting my time down from last years 9:05 minute miles to 8’s I wondered if I had it in me.
Leading up to the race was pretty typical except I had Alison and Francesca to see me on my way and cheer me on, which was fantastic. The racers chatted as usual and Ian gave his pre-race talk in the cool morning shade. He directed us to get behind the start line and I got in a position and looked around for my crew to run with. I thought I was close to the front, and started chatting with George Alexion about the Jay Challenge race. Next thing I knew Ian said “Go” and I look up and see 40 or so people in front of me. Damn! Rookie mistake! I fumbled hitting buttons on my watch as I jockeyed for position and scrambled to get ahead quick before the single track. Once there I was annoyed with myself for getting caught in the pack and felt like a caged lion searching for a way out of the mayhem. It took over a mile to feel like I was actually running the pace I wanted. At that point I dismissed the starting error and decided to make it work for me. I figured a nice easy start warmed me up and would make sure I wouldn’t blow up too early. No worries. Shortly in to the run we went by Blaine who had twisted an ankle. Not good. I wished him luck and carried on.
Cruising right along now I came up on Ryan and had some fun words with him. I probably only stayed 10 to 50 paces in front of him and whoever he was talking to for the next bunch of miles. I would scream down a hill, charge up another, fly around some sharp technical corners gasping for breath and still hear him and the other dude casually chatting right behind me. Incredible. At the 4 mile aid station I glanced at my watch and realized I was two and a half minutes behind my goal. Bummer. I felt like I was really flying along now, and was trying to figure how to go faster. Must go faster! And still there was Ryan. I think he left his running mate at one point, but now instead of his conversations, I heard his blowhole. Like a Narwhal ready for a jousting match he spouted, and snorted and grunted towards me. Relenting. At the 7 mile aid station I counted seconds till he got there, one, two, three, four there he was, quick little bugger and closing! Now my goal was to simply not get passed. I had no one in front of me to pull me along so I was running scared at this point, and for my own PR.
I had planned on sucking down a GU before the O trail just to give myself that extra boost, but before I could bother I came up on a few people. I think I went by someone before reaching Bob Poirier who graciously let me by and then it was on to the final aid station. Around that time I caught a glimpse of Jamie Anderson and was psyched how well he was running. I kicked in a bit and charged on hoping to catch him on the O trail. I glanced at my watch, which read 1:13 and change and thought I’d really have to push the next few miles to ensure a good time. Relatively close to the beginning of the O we exchanged pleasantries and he mentioned something about top ten and that Ian and another guy were in front of us. Both of these updates were a complete shock to me. First of all I had no idea I was even close to top ten. Second, I was pleasantly blown away by the fact Ian was crushing it on ahead. I now felt the impetus to maintain position and catch Ian. With this new found drive I started to get a bit ahead of myself and tripped, and skipped a few times never going down. I would see Ian, we’d say hi, then I’d lose him again. I pushed hard through the O, and at one point went right past a turn in to the woods, full momentum carrying me along. OK, I was getting tuckered and getting sloppy. Time to relax, finish strong and uninjured. But Ian was just ahead. Time to kick in the racing juices… sputter…sputter. Nothin’. Damn. I know I was pushing hard through the O, but Ian was absolutely killing it! Just when I thought I might be able to catch him he’d disappear around a bend. It wasn’t going to happen today. Hit the double track and flew to the finish with nothing left.
I was quite surprised by my PR of 1:35:38, 13 minutes and 13 seconds faster than last year. Also super happy to have acquired top ten and helped the team to victory. I am, as always, very impressed by the runners out there, all of them. There were runners and TM’s that were out for a long time, some getting lost, a bunch getting injured. I’m constantly inspired by people’s own challenges and triumphs and today was no different. Another great job on the race by Ian and all TM volunteers!
efficiency: Start at the front of the pack stupid!
distance: 12
duration: 1:35:38