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June 6-7, 2009
By MATT CARPENTER
www.skyrunner.com
Matt Carpenter reports:
Distance: 1/2 Mar / 10K
Goal: Originally win the 10K, morphed into win them both
Results: 2nd in the 1/2, 1st in the 10K
Website: http://www.tevamountaingames.com
General Summary:
The Spring Runoff 10K is perhaps one of my favorite races. There are gentle ups, steep ups and very steep ups. There are gradual downs, steep downs and very steep downs. There are straight sections and insanely twisty sections. You are never doing anything for more than a few minutes at a time and you don’t really do anything more than once. Add to this that some of the course is on asphalt bike path, some on dirt service roads, some on smooth single track, some on technical single track with roots and/or rocks and some just running over the side of a mountain with no trail whatsoever and you end up with a race where the time just flies by. Exciting to say the least and far from the typical “get into a rhythm and grind away” of many races.
All that said, I almost didn’t do it. Leading up to the race there was talk of a new road 1/2 marathon that the organizers had added as part of the Teva Mountain Games. At first, I paid this little attention as I did not think many would be doing it [which turned out to be true] and the 10K would remain the competitive event as it was the prize money event. But about 2 weeks out they made the interesting move of putting up the same $5,000 prize purse for the 1/2 as the 10K. Almost immediately I heard that the top runners were starting to split between the two races with some talking about doing both. That is a bummer as there are already enough races out there that don’t seem to look at a calendar for conflicts with other races when they pick their dates. For a race to double book itself on the same weekend just seems insane.
However, I did not want to be put in the situation that if I did “just” the 10K and did well it would be said that it was because I was fresh. As such, I Doubled Down as well and to be perfectly honest went into race week with one of the most pissy attitudes that I can remember. Indeed, even two days before the race I was seriously thinking of just blowing the whole thing off and staying home! I had the GOG10M to direct the following week and that was already enough pressure.
In the end, I went into the 1/2 half heartedly and paid for it. I just ran along with everyone during the 3-4 mile “flatter” section to get to the bottom of Vail Pass. The road felt hard, literally, and I was glad it finally turned in the direction of up as I was getting a little beat up. After a mile or so of up Joseph Gray, from sea level no less, and Rickey Gates started pushing each other. I actually started thinking of the 10K and decided to let them work on each other while I saved some for the next day. I was sure I could run them down after they beat each other up as there were still 5-6 miles to go. Big mistake! Working together, or perhaps working against each other, they gapped me pretty good. I managed to bring back Gray after the altitude finally got to him but ended up losing by 23 seconds to Gates. What can I say other than he ran this race like it was the race which was very smart and as such he earned and deserved the win.
After the race I got that strange feeling that I was an octogenarian as both Gates and Gray were saying things to me that basically amounted to “I have been watching you run since I was in diapers.” Gee thanks! I told Gates how well he had run and told Gray how well he had done for coming from sea level. Indeed, I would rate him as performer of the weekend. But while I tried to play the part of a gracious loser on the outside, on the inside I was fuming mad. And as the Hulk might say, “you won’t like me when I am mad!” It was at the awards ceremony where Gates not only picked up $1,000 (to my $750) but a $400 watch (to my silver medal) that I became determined to get some revenge.
I played down my chances to anyone who asked but in all honestly since 6 of the top 7 from the 1/2, including the top 5, were Doubling Down we would all pretty much be in the same boat so I was fairly optimistic. This was after all the race I had been focusing on. And did I mention I was mad? The only unknown would be the fresh runners on day two of which there were several with rather good credentials that with all things being equal might not amount to much but with them being fresh could spell serious trouble.
One minute into the 10K and it became apparent that while the fresh runners may have been fresh they were not fast. Then, as soon as we turned off the bike path and turned uphill it was if everyone hit the brakes. At 4-5 minutes into the race I took the lead and that was that. Soon, I had a huge gap and got to relax a little and not take as big as chances on some of the downhills that I had feared as both Gates and Gray are known as insane downhillers. It was another 40+ er, Simon Gutierrez, who was actually running second for a while which had me wondering about the strength that comes with age. Alas, Gates and Gray gobbled him up on the first technical downhill. Then, as they were pushing each other they were actually closing pretty good on me on the next up but I was using it as recovery for the next flatter section. This played off perfectly and the next time I looked back Gates had fallen off the pace and I had gained a little more on Gray. I used the same strategy for the final up,
which is the steepest and has a couple of sections with steps like the Inline, and was able to pull away again on the next flat. I pushed the final gentle downhill and then got to cruise the 1/2 mile or so on the bike path back to the finish, the win and my own Swiss Army Convoy watch and my own $1K check. The top 5 from the day before ended up being the top 6 in the 10K with just a few swaps. Gray and I had each moved up one with Gates slipping to 3rd and Simon holding onto a his second 4th. A fresh runner bumped the previous day’s 5th to 6th. All and all a great showing for those of us Doubling Down and if I were one of the fresh runners I think I would not be feeling so hot right now.
I came away from the weekend with mixed emotions. I am really upset that I got schooled in the 1/2. I deeply respect that Gates and Gray duked it out and in the process one of them kicked my butt. On the other hand, I am extremely pleased that I pulled off the win in the race I had come to run. But it is just my way that I tend to dwell on the losses more than the wins and I will focus on that in order to do better next time. But this weekend has also firmly brought home the point that as much as I am in denial about it, the age factor is slowly starting to play its hand. There is just no more denying the fact that kids in their 20s like these two are going to start getting the confidence to run with or even away from me. Unfortunately for them, I am not ready to accept that fact yet and I shall train with even more focus. Unfortunately for me, and as much as it pains me to admit it, father time catches us all. But for now I will try to win that race as well.
Things Done Right:
Day one — not much (little warm-up, little focus, terrible attitude), day two — mostly everything (I learn fast:-)
Things Done Wrong:
Day one — mostly everything (see above), day two — not much (see above).
Any Other Stuff:
Because I was doing two races I stayed in Vail for the weekend instead of the usual drive up at o’dark thirty only to leave immediately after the awards. As such, I got to see the amazing amount of construction that has gone on, and is currently going on, since I lived there in the late ‘80s/early 90’s. I must say I don’t like some of it! The size of some of the new buildings just dwarfs everything around them and I did not even recognize Lionshead anymore and getting through the place felt like an exercise in jigsawology. On the other hand, during some of my easy/recovery runs and just milling about before/after the awards ceremonies I bumped into some of the folks I used to run with while living there. It was fun to catch up and swap stories.
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