Race basics
The race is point to point from the city of Kalamazoo to South Haven on the Kal-Haven Trail. The past 2 years I have participated in this race as a 2-person relay team. This year my friend and I both decided to run the whole thing because he wanted to do his first ultra. The course consists of 33.5 flat and straight trail miles with nicely groomed limestone as the surface.
Leading up to the event
Over the long winter months in Michigan, this race was used as my motivation to run in the snow and incorporate cross training activities like yoga and cross country skiing. These activities helped develop a strong fitness base which directly improved my running. During the last month or so of training I was consistently running under 8 minutes per mile on purpose. I focused more directly towards high quality and faster miles.
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| Start of a beautiful day |
The Race Itself
I was a little worried about the trail being muddy and icy like it had been in years past, but since they moved the date a couple weeks later the trail was perfect. My most important goal for this race was to run it under 4 hrs and 30 mins...which is essentially 8 minute miles. I felt like it was attainable but I would have to work pretty hard to get it.
The race started off and I positioned myself about 15 people back from the very front. In the start of a race, it is soooo important to contain your adrenaline and calm yourself down. I've seen so many people go out way too hard and pay dearly for it in the second half of a race. Within the first 3 minutes I was running at the exact same pace as another runner....we got to talking and had the same exact goal in place. In my mind I thought there was no way we would stay together, but for now we were running a little bit below 8 min/m pace. The miles clicked off and we stayed together. This race has tons of water stops and I'm always amazed at the LURE of the aid station....people love wasting time at them! If I absolutely have to stop, I try and get exactly what I need and get in and out in a matter of seconds. Throughout the race, I only stopped twice for a water refill, totaling in less than 20 seconds lost at aid stations.
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| Photo Credit Mike Peterson |
The entire rest of the time was spent running, no walking breaks. Around mile 20 we were right on target for a time of 4:26....we were even impressed at the 26.2 mark that we were sub 3:30. During the last 7 miles, we were pretty committed to staying with each other and both of us knew if we were to fall behind, there would be no catching up. We helped each other break up the monotony of the straight and flat nature of this course by engaging in conversation.
At around mile 30 we were still at 4:26 pace for the 33.5 miles. My Dad greeted us on the trail and I thought to myself "yes, we must be getting close now". Little did we know, we had another half mile to go. Charles and I didn't even look at each other as we picked up the pace simultaneously. Time to really put in the best effort and get after it. The 4 minutes of cushion from our goal was shrinking by the second. The time kept clicking by and I felt my goal slipping away with no sight of the finish line....then finally the short uphill by the finish line appeared and we sprinted uphill past the finish line. We had no idea if we made it under 4:30...we knew it was really really close. I was happy to be finished and happy to see my wife, daughter, dad, and mother in-law at the end of the race. About 5 minutes later the scoresheet was posted, and I about fell to the ground laughing.
The official time read....4:29:59.9. HA, what a way to reach my goal!
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| Photo Credit Mike Peterson |
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| Photo Credit Mike Peterson |
Oakley Split Jacket Glasses
Under Armour hat, shirt, and shorts
Nike Terra Kiger Trail shoes
Nuun electrolyte tablets
Power Bar gels
SPIbelt
Injinji socks
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| My Dad and I after the finish |
