Running race (Trail (Night)) 56:44 [5] 10.0 km (5:40 / km)
Trek or Treat 10K Night Trail Run at the Kortright Centre. This event is loads of fun - some great costumes, lots of mini-chocolate bars, nice variety of trails, and kid-friendly (5K event). It was about 5C, and luckily the heavy rain held off until after the race, so conditions were perfect.
After letting Leanimal abuse my bad knee earlier today, I felt great while running. (When I'm not running though, I can feel the places where she dug her evil thumbs into my ligaments.) At first I settled in behind a couple of women who looked like real runners in their early 30s. I was feeling good, and at the 1 km mark, I pulled out and passed half a dozen people. After that, I spent the next 7 km mostly alone (other than some *very* scary haunters leaping out of the bushes). Then a woman passed me, and she had a great pace. I was reminded of the effect that Slowrunner and Leanimal have on me, pushing me to do better. But it turned out that she *wasn't* exactly like them because on the final, HUGE hill up to finish line, she slowed right down to a plodding pace. I encouraged her, but I think her iPod was turned up too high, so I just kept going up the hill and left her well behind. That's the kind of terrain where adventure racers have an advantage over road runners, and we did the hill twice in two 5 km loops.
I was 1st in the 40-something age category with two 5 km laps that were about the same pace - exactly the pace that I need for Boston. However, I was tired in the final kilometer, so I couldn't have done that for very much longer. Still some work to do.
'Bent had expressed some concern when I reminded him of the race - it's only been five days since his first marathon, and he's supposed to be recovering. So... here's how 'Bent recovers from a marathon... He led the race for the first half-kilometer until Martin Rydlo passed him. Then he held 2nd for awhile until Bob McGrath passed him. Then he kept Bob in sight for the rest of the race and finished 3rd overall, 1st in the 40-something category. Yup, 'Bent and I RULED the old people's division!
Great event, *very* well-marked race course, scary haunters, lots of great volunteers, nice prizing (we got attractive Saucony fleece jackets), hot pizza, Starbucks coffee and Hallowe'en candy. What's not to like?