EPIC ROTHROCK

  

"Our course is designed to reward those who have trained and to punish those who haven't."

BOALSBURG, PA - Where to begin? Perhaps back in 2012, when Gabriel decided he would pursue the La Sportiva Mountain Cup Series. Perhaps back when he suffered a calf strain so severe that it threatened his career. Perhaps back in February when the Mountain Cup commenced without Gabriel running a step at Chilly Cheeks. Perhaps back in April when Gabriel dominated the Mt. Penn Mudfest 15K and gave him hope. Perhaps the past couple of months of consistent training and racing at a very high level on some very technical courses. Perhaps back to Thursday, when Gabriel took his first serious fall on mud, tearing a muscle in his oblique and abdomen two days before Rothrock. Perhaps to the morning of the race at 3:45AM, when Gabriel decided to drive out and roll the dice.

Gabriel knew he was fit. His climbing was at another level. He could knock out 15-25% grades in a waltz; manage 4000+ft of elevation gain without missing a beat; but ultimately, he could hammer 2+ hours on knarly, technical trails without running into issues. He knew he was ready to race against the best, but he also did not know if his torn oblique would stop him dead in his tracks after 2 hours of racing on technical trails.

The drive was better than Greenwood Furnace. There was no Mayweather fight the night prior, so Gabriel got some reasonable rest. The drive was uneventful and he arrived with plenty of time. Upon warming up, Gabriel found his legs unresponsive. His quads were still a bit torn from the 15 x 1 min fast workout on Wednesday. He didn't seem to have much power and his left side was tight. Oh well, he knew he could go through the motions and run well, if need be.

At the start, Gabriel spotted Jason Bryant and Matt Byrne - the La Sportiva guys. He also thought he saw Jordan McDougal from The North Face. What was he doing here? Wasn't he trying to win TNF 50 in DC this same morning? I guess money talks. This would be interesting, as Byrne had taken down McDougal at the Hillbilly Half, one of Jordan's only losses in his stellar trail career. Thankfully, Gabriel had a pretty active warm-up, thinking of Jono, to prepare himself for the immediate climb from the starting line, on the road, and the commenced one of the largest climbs of the day.

Within a mile or so, the trail climbed some 1,200ft at an average grade of 17%. Gabriel pushed on, knowing this was his strength. He wanted to make his rivals get uncomfortable early. But how uncomfortable? Had Gabriel under-estimated this climb? It was not levelling out and it was brutal. He was working hard, perhaps too hard for only being 10-minutes into a 2.5 hour race, but he knew no other way to race. And then, it happened, a nasty descent down Kettle. He summoned his best Kilian Jornet once more and scambled down the mountain, this time his quads absolutely burning up, he had to let go a bit more to lessen the damage, but the risk was high.

The Aid Stations were every 4 miles. Those would be his checkpoints. He would take a GU and water at each checkpoint. The trail reminded him of the Appalachian Trail - amazingly rocky. Rocks, rocks, rocks. He was prepared for this.. he thought of Cascade Falls; he thought of Greenwood Furnace. The path to the second aid station was uneventful other than the "reptile" sighting and he was somewhat surprised that he was once more alone, 8 miles into the race. However, he did hear some cheering from the aid station to warrant that there was a pursuant. He prepared to get caught, he suddenly felt over-heated and hot, and full of fatigue - wow, he had been running hard and not even halfway done.

And then the catch happened, on a nasty technical descent past some boulders, Jordan McDougal made his presence known and Gabriel conceded the trail. Who else would be in close pursuit? Gabriel reasoned that Jordan must have struck out alone, his only chance at victory. And then, he was gone. Gabriel pressed on, not feeling too bad, mentally, losing to McDougal would not be a bad thing, the kid was a champ with a pedigree unlike others in this sport. But at the third aid station, Gabriel was right there with him and after another GU and water, they departed the aid station together to begin a rock scramble that Jordan absolutely owned. This was not Gabriel's strength, and it showed. Once again, Jordan was gone, basically hand-and-foot climbing away from an unresponsive Rodriguez.

And so, Gabriel found the trail and continued to work hard. He was now focused on preserving 2nd place. He wanted to beat Byrne, and Loverich, and Bryant. He could stomach losing to McDougal, but all this effort would be sweeter with a second place. And then, it happened. Gabriel took a sudden left onto a grassy trail that started ascending and there was Jordan - completely blown up and walking! Gabriel continued his pace, right past Jordan, and up the trail. He could win this, he had to push, and push he did.

However, like in all sports, Gabriel expected Jordan to make a run, and make a run he did. By the 16 mile aid station, Jordan had climbed back to within 100 meters. Jason Bryant had dropped out and was at this aid station, mentioning about a 5k remaining, which was not good. Gabriel had a good two miles of hard running left in him, perhaps not three. He did not wait for McDougal to refuel on salts and electrolytes and he scampered onto the trail, thankfully uphill. He pressed, over-heated and tired, one foot in front of the other, pushing. He was winning, if the race finished uphill it could be his, but then what went up had to come down, and then started another nasty technical descent. Gabriel threw himself down the trail, but within a few minutes, Jordan came flying past and just as quickly, was gone. At mile 18. Ugh.

Gabriel was just wishing for the trail to flatten or at least ascend. Finally, after too much time, the trail levelled out and Gabriel attacked. He fought for every inch, every turn. Finally, he hit the road and saw the line green singlet of McDougal about 400 m down the road. Gabriel exploded, eyes closed, onto the road in pursuit. He was gaining and full of run, but would run out of room. Even 4:48/mile pace was not enough and he finished 2nd, a full 30+ seconds behind Jordan.

It was an epic battle and effort, and it ended in the lake, a great bond forged from respect. Mano-a-mano, over 2 hours and 40 minutes of pain, the race was done, but the story would last a lifetime.