Dogwood 10 Miler - Race Report

 

It was a perfect day for running in the woods. It was slightly cool, just warm enough to warrant going sleeveless for the race. Like a lot of trail races, the mood was low key with runners coming out of the shadows a few minutes before gun time. In fact, this was the most low key group I have seen in a while. Most people stood back away from the starting line with just a few of us gathered in up near the timing mats. There was no fan fare, just a quick shout from the race director. "Thirty Seconds". Then "Five Seconds". Then, "Go"! And off we went. 

The pace was pedestrian compared to previous races. After a while, I realized I was in second place and wondered where all the hard chargers were. While a few young guys passed me, they were actually not participating in the 10 miler but were doing the 24 hour race. I only knew this because I heard them talking about it. So, I just maintained my pace and did not worry about trying to keep up with them. I was sure the faster people would catch up to me at some point but after several miles, the chances of that happening were diminished. 

The course did have a few muddy sections that made the downhills a bit tricky and caused me to run slightly slower than I did the previous year. It was challenging but fun and my main goal was to stay upright. The course was 3 laps of 3+ miles. There was nothing flat on the course. Everything was up or down for the most part. 

During the course of the race, I came across lots of folks doing the 24 hour and 48 races. Despite not competing against them, their presence did give me a lift. I would see them up ahead and get sucked up the trail towards them. It made the course less lonely and kept me on my toes. It was a nice little ongoing motivator. After my second lap, I knew I was probably locked in to second place. At this point, it would be unlikely that anyone would catch up to me. 

Despite not pushing the pace too hard for the first 2 laps, I did fade a bit on the last lap. Overall, I ended up with a 10:15 minute mile average which was significantly slower than my previous year's effort on the same course but with a deeper and more competitive field. Given my injury and less overall training volume, I was happy with my performance and had a fantastic time toeing the line. I love the format for these kinds of racer and I highly recommend checking out Virginia Adventure races.