Beat the Recession Trail Running Series #1

May 4, 2009

Beat the Recession Trail Running Series #1
by Larry Bradley

On May 4th the first of 64 Beat the Recession Trail races took place in Oakville, Ontario. I had been reading about this series designed to create an affordable race setting several nights a week in various GTA locations, and I became curious.

When I originally viewed the website, I thought it would be a good idea to get in a quick paced run on some trails in an effort to get me back into mental shape with the big duathlon season only two weeks away. I continued to think about the race for the next few days but with a few other early training sessions planned in the same week, I didn’t want to be too much of a time drainer for my family.

As the day of the first race arrived, I did not think I was going to participate so I went out and put in a solid hill session on my bike at lunch time. After lunch, I was talking to my wife and I brought up the race that was to be held around dinner that night. With great weather and several parks in the vicinity of the race she had no issues with me racing for 25 minutes or so as they would be able to keep themselves busy for the duration of the event.

It was now decided that I would go and use this as a group training session. I arrived twenty minutes before the race and quickly registered to run. The turnout was small but, with last year’s Toronto Marathon winner in the field, was sure to be a test. I noticed a few other runners from past races so I knew I was not going to be jogging on this trail and was happy there would be a push to run hard.

When we toed the line of the 5.2km course, I got up to the front right behind the Kenyan speedster and stayed on his heels for the first few hundred metres to get myself clear of the field. He was just out for an easy stroll and his effortless pace was amazing to watch as he weaved through the mix of asphalt and dirt paths.

After five hundred metres, he had started to pull away and I was now in a group of three runners. One teenaged athlete and another gentleman from my age group had joined me in the chase but I knew this would not last long as my legs were already feeling heavy.

The student seemed to have some local knowledge and an edge of fearlessness. He used this to jump ahead into second as we hit a steep, long downhill section. He blazed down the path in a reckless fashion that we did not want to match. The trail going down had two speed gates to keep cyclists from going too fast which we were required to negotiate and I was not going to risk this at the speeds he managed to.

Once in the valley, I tried to get back on pace but I was struggling and the other 30-39 Age Grouper was looking strong and tracking down the youngster. By this point it seemed like we had been running for a long time so I was horrified to look down and see that we were only hitting the four minute mark of the run. Ouch, this was going to hurt.

Running a little smoother on the flats, I met our next challenge which was another killer hill but this time we had to go up. I pushed my legs in an effort to keep a respectable pace up the climb and actually found myself getting closer to the younger athlete slowing considerably on the incline. Stupid pride took over at this time and I pumped even harder up the last portion to the summit. Bad mistake. I was now at the top but almost too tired to get the feet moving back to a running form.

The next section of the course had us loop around on top of the hill through some pretty dense forest so it was hard to find other athletes on the trails as we made our way around the lengthy bend. Without anyone visible in front or back of me I was able to settle the pace to a comfortable level closer to a tempo run speed as I made my way back to home.

The course continued to stay solo from the out portion of the run so I was running by feel (no km markers) still but confident that I was getting closer to the decent from this hill. I was expecting to come back to the same path on the way down but the drop was actually a little below the trail we climbed. It was not until I reached the bottom of this slope that we switched back over to a familiar pathway.

I could now see a decent distance around me and was alone in fourth with one huge hill left to climb. I was not looking forward to this but really wanted to break the four minute per km barrier (which would be a little more than twenty minutes as they announced the distance of 5.2k before the race) so I kept up my effort.

As I shuffled up the steep rise, I felt the hills taking their toll on my legs and regretted the earlier bike training. If I had only stuck to my plan I would have just been out for a spin on the bike at lunch and this would not have been so tough. Oh well, I am sure it will all pay off soon enough.

Catching my breath from the exhausting climb, I accelerated to the best of my abilities, and current strength, as I snaked through the final section of the race. I looked down at my watch one final time and could see sub-twenty slipping past but my four minute per kilometre pace was still within reach. I sprinted to the line in 20:19, one minute behind second and forty seconds behind the under twenty age group runner who ended up in third.

In close, this race was really fun and the small, intimate crowd was a nice change from some of the huge events I have done lately. The organizers and volunteers were all very friendly and they had lots of swag for everyone. The event was well run, the trail was marked out nicely so no fear of getting lost (although missing km markers but I think that is normal for trail races) and the course was very challenging. I will be back to beat my time in the future as there is several more races this summer at this site and other in GTA.