Table Rock Trail Challenge
This was a different type of race. There are two 1.2 mile loops, course A for the first 10 loops, then course B until the end. You have 22 minutes to finish the first loop. If you don’t finish, you’re out. Then after 22 minutes, everyone starts together with a reduced amount of time to finish. Repeat until the winner remains.
Times were not recorded, only completed loops, so the correct strategy had to be learned. You can take it easy, essentially walking, the first several loops, and conserve energy. Or you could go a little faster and take breaks after each loop for food, bathroom, etc. I did a combination.
There just plain walking to start:
Some walking on the large wet rocks with slippery moss (the Table Rock):
Some climbing up a rock wall. These were nice dry rocks, so just a fun thing to do:
More slippery rock walking:
And there was a hurdle:
And many times walking across the finish line when I knew the lap was “safe”. You couldn’t see the countdown clock until you turned the corner with 200-300 ft to go. I’m not good at working the watch, so I trusted people around me who looked like they knew what they were doing.
The RD purposefully switched from “A” to “B” so people wouldn’t kill themselves trying to beat the clock. I thanked him for that.
Course B was all runnable, so I was still getting 2-3 minutes of rest between loops from miles 12-18 (through loop 15) as I sped up, although the time limit was shrinking. Then it got real. That 2-3 minute break disappeared really quick, and although the RD stuck with 12 minutes for awhile (10 min/mi pace), I was running out of steam, and was tapped out after 19 loops. Later that afternoon, the winner crossed the line for the 30th time. I don’t remember the time for that last loop, but I don’t think he started sweating yet when I finished.
The women’s winner (28 loops) was a straight poker face the entire time. She had the timing perfect, and beat the clock with less than a minute each time. She ended up being my “sweeper” - right in front of me as I got knocked out.
It was a pretty neat format for the race, since you got to run with people of all abilities every loop, and the winner finished last.
Back to a good speed run this morning, so all systems seem to be recovered.
Proof that I actually ran some:
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