September 10, 2011
MILLBORO, VA - In an effort to test his psoas on a challenging course, Gabriel Rodriguez was met with a phenomenal obstacle. The obstacle was not the initial 2,700ft elevation gain over three miles (which Gabriel was King of the Mountain) of the Odyssey Trail Running Rampage Half Marathon (13.33M), the obstacle was in athlete Andrew Budiansky's amazing downhill running ability over the course of the seven mile descent.
Budiansky, a 21-year old club runner from William & Mary, made up most of the time gap within the first mile of the initial descent down the Douthat State Park mountainside, and immediately gapped Gabriel with amazing agility and speed. Gabriel attempted a pursuit, but it was not to be, as Budiansky was just too technically sound on the downhills and produced a magnificent course record in 1:31:56 to Rodriguez's 1:39:19 (incorrect final time, 1:37:50).
However, other than some equipment issues in the second-half of the race (socks), Gabriel managed to finish strongly with the third fastest time in race history. And on the most positive of notes, Gabriel's hip flexor/psoas was no worse for the wear after 13.5 miles of treacherous ascending and descending on some pretty technical trail.
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