Trail Run 2:31:30 [3] 10.5 mi (14:26 / mi) +1341m 10:20 / mi
Seven Sisters! After getting deposited in Amherst for the evening, I got a ride down to Seven Sisters. What a great race. I got a bib, sorted out my stuff, left my bags in a field, and went towards the start. I didn't know what to expect from the course except that it would be "hard and rocky." I have a pretty special definition of "hard." Hard is Tucks, the Ammy, anything in the Great Gulf. Rocky is anything on the ridge (particularly Lakes to Madison), or the Galehead-Greenleaf sections, or the top of the OBP. I wasn't expecting anything that hard. I'd heard there was some hand-over-hand climbing. Except for pack trails, nearly everything in the whites has that. So I was ready to run, slightly stiff legs and all.
I was in the second wave, and I was fine with that, especially since my legs were tired. Nothing to prove out of the second wave. There were a few people with grassroots gear, and several hut kids and OH, and CSU people: worlds collide! The waves started two minutes apart (it had been advertised as 5, but given the general dysfunctionality of their website—guys, it's really not that hard to use Wordpress—I was not surprised) and I planted myself near the front of the second wave. The runners there didn't look that fast, but this is the first year of seeding for their waves (I think) so things were mixed up.
We went out and there was a bit of a hole shot on to a single track. I was in second for the climb. Within about 300m we caught the back of the first wave. The first climb wasn't too bad, some scree but I was able to run most of it and pass a lot of the first wave, then settle in to some wave 1 runners. I crested the top and there were some rolling hills before the first tricky downhill.
As usually, I gave back time on downhills. But gained on ups. I'd brought a water bottle along with gatorade—good idea—and took some swigs. The sun had hidden and it was cool and breezy, great running weather. A second decent climb, some mud, and then a bunch of rolls, some rather technical. This was where I began to trade off with a woman (first wave) who took me on every downhill, and who I passed on every up. We developed a rapport: she'd pass me on the downhill and say "see you on the uphill" and I'd pass her on the up and retort "see you in a minute" or something similar. After several iterations, it became more of just a giggle when we'd see each other again, and again, and again.
The last climb is up to the Summit House and terrific views—to Springfield, Hartford and beyond! I had a goo here, and then dropped my water bottle and goo packed for the run down to the turnaround. I chatted with a guy who knew Colin (he had a run reg shirt on) and he called when we'd see the returners coming back up. In third place was a woman (she'd finish fifth); it was a great female (low center of gravity) race.
I saw Alex during the run down, probably too far ahead to catch. And Deniz (NP). At the bottom I had a goo and two glasses of gatorade, and then threw the detritus in a well-placed garbage can. And then I began the uphill portion of the race. On the way up I saw two November Project people, and I was able to give both of them bear hugs, which was beyond awesome. The best part was that though it cost me some time, it was so great that I ran faster after each one.
I passed the woman I'd been hopscotching on the hill, and didn't see her again. And I started reeling in several others, including Giovanni, who'd passed me on the downhill from two minutes behind. (I stayed near him for a while.) I grabbed my goo and bottle at the summit again and kept up the pace.
I felt really quite good, all things considered (I'd run near even splits: I'm an uphill runner). I had enough liquid, and I had enough energy (I finished with a goo to spare). I mostly passed people the rest of the way on uphills, and mostly held them off on the downs. I dropped Giovanni as he was hurting on some uphills, and put some time on him. I'd catch others and if they were in the first wave didn't really care. On the little downhills, I'd pussyfoot the technical stuff and then let loose in to the flats of the saddle, using momentum. I felt strong.
Despite that, I was doing a lot of fast hiking. But that's okay! I ran the flats, and fast-hiked the not-so-flats. I got some more time on people on the last couple uphills, and came in to the last down. Here a couple of reckless guys passed me, but they were wave 1ers, and there was no way they'd put two minutes on me in half a mile (Alex was nowhere to be seen; she finished four minutes ahead of me, we think, the results were messy). I sprinted the flats to the end in case Giovanni was 1:50 behind me, but he'd dropped a lot. Then I wandered around for a while, barely walking, and ate all the food.
49thish, maybe 47thish, felt good at the end, even splits.
I thought about the trail for a bit and how it relates to various parts of the Whites. I decided that it's akin to the section of trail between Lakes and Mizpah. There are some scrambly sections, a bunch of rolls, and a few places where you can let loose and run. It's certainly easier than Lakes to Madison (all rock) or Greenleaf to Galehead (rock, water, cliffs, etc). Maybe also similar to, say, the Franconia Ridge Loop or Zealand to South Twin.
Then we went for ice cream, then we went to Newton to exchange Katia and Giovanni at Alex's house. The walk for hunger was going on so this caused some traffic. Alex had to go to Russo's and I said me too! So we went and bought all the vegetables (and cheese) and then chased down the 70 bus (this time we won once we passed it) and I got on with a backpack, and seven bags of groceries and stuff. (The driver? unfazed.)
By the time we got to Cambridge I had consolidated to four bags. What started with a dark morning Hubway ride ended with a Sunday afternoon ride on the 70 bus. With 25 miles of trail running in 24 hours in between.