1/25/2015
Reading, PA - This was a bad decision from the beginning of time. There is a reason it has taken Gabriel over three months to report on this race - it was traumatizing.
Gabriel was in need of a workout. A nice, hard tempo. Well, the advertised "the HARDEST trail run" that the organization puts on relative to more hills on a per mile basis. Well, that was not intimidating, since Gabriel had raced at Spook Lane previously, it was the snowfall that had acclimated over the previous few days.
Gabriel showed up, full of running, to a pretty packed field. A delay held up the start, but soon enough they were off and it was out fast. The initial climb was an absolute scramble. Guys were fighting for terrain and soon enough Gabriel realized this would be no solo effort and workout. A couple of runners had escaped the turmoil behind them and had quite a significant lead early into the race. More devastatingly though, there was 5-6" of soft snow on the ground, meaning everyone was running the same pace no matter the effort. So, at every instance, Gabriel attempted to claw into the lead.
He finally made contact with the leader, who looked strong, and immediately took the lead to press on. He created a small gap, but soon enough the race at the front took on a cat and mouse battle of wills. Gabriel would power away on the uphills, and the challenger would charge back into the lead on the flats and downhills. Gabriel quickly decided two things - 1) he was either not heavy enough to power through the half foot of snow, or 2) he had on the wrong footwear. Pretty soon it was evident, he just didn't have enough fitness.
By midway, Gabriel conceded victory. He had hammered and to no avail. He was exhausted. Finally, on one last climb up to an aid station, the RD yelled out, "only a mile to Mount WTF"... hmm, Mount WTF sounded like a serious climb, Gabriel's only chance to win this race. And so, he took on the mindset of a rabid squirrel, taking short, quick strides to get through the snow as quickly as possible and to Mount WTF with some semblance of a lead. It worked. Gabriel had summoned some inner strength and began pulling away, powered up Mount WTF, sprinted down the road, entered the trail, and somehow managed to keep a 50-100m lead until the finish line. That was amazing. A lot of fun, pain, and craziness, but amazing.
Turns our the challenger was the famous Eric Marshall, one of the best stories of the PA trail racing scene. What a great race, as Gabriel looks forward to more battles in 2015.
