This past weekend I took part in a low key race held on Antelope Island amidst the Great Salt Lake. I was looking at this as more of a social long run or a chance to explore a new area than an actual competitive race. That said, I still wanted to push the pace and see where I stand heading into the winter. Most of my training since our Utah relocation has been shorter distances and base pace with little structure so this would give me a measure of where I need to focus heading into 2013, which is looking like another big racing year.
The event, the Mountain View Trail Half Marathon, is put together by an ultra-distance focused race director who just a week prior hosted the Buffalo Run on the same island (including a 50mi and 100mi distance event). He had the laid back attitude I’d expect from an ultra-runner, even indicating the only on course nutrition would be Gatorade (and water) at the 4 aid stations by mentioning that we shouldn’t need much else for a short little run like this (13.1 miles). That said, the expectations of limited on-course support as well as lack of chip timing and other amenities people come to expect from larger road events were clearly defined on the race webpage, so don’t take this as a complaint. I was more than satisfied with the event and RD and it was a fun way to spend a Saturday morning.
Susan and I woke pre-dawn for the 1.5 hour drive to Antelope Island. Having not been to the state park before and not having the clearest directions to the race start area, we gave ourselves plenty (too much) of time. However, it was a mild morning in the 40s/50s at sunrise and there was some scattered cloud cover on the Wasatch front, so as we were crossing the land bridge to the island we were presented with some spectacular morning views.
Once on the island with race number/packet picked up, we encountered our first Buffalo herd. They were essentially right at the entrance to the island to greet us. Antelope Island is a large, hilly land mass made up of mostly prairie and completely lacking in modern development. There are some remnants of former settlements (a ranch at the south tip of the island), but mostly the island is a nature preserve for Buffalo, Pronghorn, Coyote, and a plethora of bird species. We crossed to the northwestern shore and encountered campsites, all of which were full of overnighters welcoming the new day.
Us, along with a few other obvious runners, picked a parking lot near where we thought the start would be and then stood around discussing whether it was indeed where we should be. Luckily it was, and before long the remainder of the participants along with the RD arrived. There were only about 80 runners total with a mix of ultra runners (saying things like, “I’m not sure how to pace, I normally don’t warm up until mile 20.”), casual runners, and triathlete look-alikes with their compression socks. A couple runners brought dogs too, which was encouraged by the RD.
After a brief pre-race meeting and drawing the starting line in the sand (literally), we sang happy birthday to a participant turning 60 and were off. The trail started downhill toward the beach before looping around the campsites and coming back across the island to near the eastern shore. From here, we picked up the Mountain View Trail running south by the shore for the remainder of the race. The terrain was not hilly in terms of long climbs, but the trail had lots of small undulations and surface features (rocks, sand, etc) making it challenging at times. The finish was at the aforementioned ranch on the south end of the island.
Not knowing the trail or what to expect, I took it out conservatively and held back through the first couple aid stations. From there I was getting into a rhythm and the weather was cooperating with a cooling blanket of clouds, so I picked up the pace and passed a couple other runners who had been in eye shot for most of the race thus far. I cruised through aid station 3 and was still feeling alright, my motivation buoyed by the views across the Salt Lake and knowing that Susan was nearby photographing through much of this stretch (the road and path ran a similar route).
At about mile 10, as expected, it started to get tough. My legs weren’t aching, but were feeling heavy and my heart rate was steadily inching up. I hadn’t taken in much other than 2 cups Gatorade and my water, so was running out of fuel. With limited course markings, though I wasn’t sure where I was relative to the finish. After getting passed a couple times, I arrived at aid station 4 (the last) just before entering the fence to the ranch grounds. I remembered the RD mentioning that was around 11 miles, so I perked up knowing the end was near. As I continued on I was motivated by not being able to see what was over the next ridge (so telling myself it was the finish) and by the fact that I was reeling in one last runner ahead of me. Using this runner as a rabbit, I covered the next mile or so and passed him before encountering more buffalo herds, including a rogue buffalo alarmingly near the trail.
Just around the bend from the herd I could hear voices of the finish line (gap in the fence) and cruised in to 11th place.
My time was about 1:37:40, much faster than anticipated, so I was immediately pleased. The race offered a finish line cookout, but we were too hungry to wait for the grill to be fired up and had other activities on the agenda so decided not to stick around. Overall it was a nice way to mix up the run training a bit and get a chance to add some competition back in. I’m not as far off my speed from the spring as I had thought so that’s a motivating factor heading into the winter.
