Race #14/17 William O'Brien 10 Mile Trail Run

The second race this weekend was completed on Sunday morning. This race was postponed from end of June due to high water and trail damage this summer. We saw some evidence of where this high water would have been over the trail today while out running.

Sunday is not a normal race day for me and I prefer to keep it that way. Could not miss this race though as it marks the 14th race in the series with only 3 races left in October! I get two weeks break from racing and then the last three races in the series are consecutive weeks.

Got to the race with plenty of time for packet pick up and to visit with fellow runners. When I arrived at the park it was quite chilly and I was not sure exactly how to dress to run. Going with shorts for sure but spent some time considering the top half attire. It started to warm up as we got closer to race time so I opted for some sleeves instead of my rain jacket. I was happy with this choice. I ended up rolling down the sleeves but never felt the need to remove them completely.

We started out this race with the obligatory Upper Midwest Trail Runners Association picture. There were quite a few of us either running or volunteering at this race.

Going into this race my goal was to run a sub 2 hour race. Last years race was finished in 2:05:49. Being the second 10 mile race of the weekend and feeling somewhat lethargic I was not sure how well I would do. I remembered there being lots of cross country ski trail on this race so was pleasantly surprised when a good 5 miles of the race included dirt and not the dreaded grass.

The first 3 miles of the run is going down to the river (partial road running here), running the trails by the river and then running back up the long road hill to pass by the start line. I carried my handheld for this race and it seemed to work out well. No stopping at aid stations until I needed to refill my bottle at around the 6.5 mile aid station.

Plenty of cross country ski trails to run

Lots of rolling hills on these cross country ski trails!

Coming into the UMTR Aid station

Wonderful UMTR members volunteering at the aid station.

For most of this race I leap frogged with another runner and at some point we just decided to keep pace with each other to help motivate and keep going at a quicker pace. I think we were both pushing each other which probably helped tremendously in finishing this race under my goal time.

One of the dangers of carrying your phone with you during a race is that when someone calls you and you have signal the phone will ring. My brother called me during this race and oh how I wish I had not answered the phone. I was able to talk to him trudging up a hill but had to end the call coming into the aid station. Next time I will just let the phone ring and go to voice mail.

I stopped at the UMTR aid station to refill my handheld water bottle and then hardly drank any of it. I finally emptied the water out of my bottle with about 1 mile to go as I wanted to lighten my load. The weight of the handheld was starting to iritate me and I wanted to finish this race strong.  I kept pace with the other runner but on the last mile I started to fall back somewhat. I figured I would end of finishing behind her for sure. Once I came out of the woods and with about 1/4 mile left I tried to give it that final kick. I started out but fell back again as it was too fast too soon. With only about a tenth of a mile left and the end in sight I was able to sprint to a finish coming in just ahead of the other runner.  It literally took everything I had though as I was definitely spent at the finish line. We had chip timing bands on our ankles so it is always fun to come to a complete stop so they can remove them! Finishing time was  1:57:54. I PR'd this race by about 7 minutes from last year.

T Shirt for the run and then I got the mug for a door prize for running both In Yan Teopa and this race.