Black Squirrel Half Marathon
I tested the waters with a small 5K a couple weeks ago, but the Black Squirrel Half Marathon would be my first proper local trail race in Fort Collins. I was genuinely excited for this race. I knew the course. I felt fit. Many of the competitors were people I’ve run with.
Furthermore, a trail half marathon is the sweet spot for my abilities. It’s short enough that my speed comes into play, it’s long enough that my endurance is a factor, and if the trail is rugged (or muddy) enough balance and agility will also come into play. This is my most successful type of race (finishing 1st, 3rd, 2nd, 1st in four previous attempts).
But running well at this race race was not a sure thing for me. My confidence has taken a beating since moving to Colorado. I’ve raced in CO/WY four times, having three so-so races and one downright bad race. The Black Squirrel course featured over 2,000 feet of climbing (concentrated in one mountain ascent), whereas previous trail half marathons featured only small rolling hills with less that half the ascent. While I have added quite a bit of climbing to my training, I don’t feel it’s a strength for me.
The weather cooperated and it was nice and cool for the race: 50’s, cloudy, perfect. It rained all day Friday, so the trails were a bit muddy in places.
Photo by Erin Bibeau Photography
Photo by Melissa
Photo by Melissa
I didn’t do much of a warmup so I felt pretty awful for the first mile or so. This was planned though, as I wanted to make sure I didn’t start too fast. I wore a watch, but I didn’t look at it the entire race. We hit the base of the big climb and I was starting to feel a bit better, at this point in 5th place.
Photo by Erin Bibeau Photography
Photo by Melissa
I ran hard up the hill (harder than I’d ever run it before), but I kept things under control. There was a lot of race left after we reached the top and the rest of the course suited me better. I moved up one place into 4th. Most of the climb I had people hot on my heels, but by the time I reached the top the gap had opened up a bit.
After 4 miles of nearly continuous uphill I reached the top and without wasting any time I picked up as much speed as I could on the downhill. The first bit was easy, but after just a few turns I reached the really tricky section of rocky switchbacks. The first switchback was just above the low clouds, so you couldn’t see where you would have landed if you missed that turn. I didn’t miss it.
Halfway down the descent a runner rapidly caught up with me and passed me. I was somewhat surprised. I was running the technical downhill about as fast as I thought a person could run it, but I was wrong.
Photo by Erin Bibeau Photography
Photo by Erin Bibeau Photography
I limited my losses and before long I exited the descent onto the rolling valley trails for the last 5 miles of the race, now in 5th place. This was my terrain and I still had plenty left in the tank. These trails are in the wide open valley and I could see two runners just a short distance ahead of me. I pushed hard in the early part of the valley and I quickly made up ground.
Soon #4 passed #3, and a moment later I passed #4 then #3 (so 3-5 had reversed places). I opened up a gap and tried to maintain a strong pace to the end. After a couple hard miles I could no longer see the runner behind me, and I hadn’t seen #1 or #2 since mile 1, so they were surely long gone. I lost motivation to keep pushing myself and I slowed a bit in the final mile.
Photo by Melissa
I finished 3rd overall in 1h40m26s. That was my fastest trail half marathon finish on what was surely the most difficult course I’ve raced. It went well.
Photo by Melissa
Within a minute or two the next two runners finished. I hadn’t recognized either of them during the race, and I had never met either guy in person, but after some quick introductions I realized that these two guys were both acquaintances I had met online via Strava. I’ve been following when, where, and how fast they train (they can see my training as well). I’ve been genuinely impressed with both of them, and knowing they would be racing, I thought to myself that it would be pretty difficult to beat these guys.
It was even harder than I expected.
