Horror Hill 6 Hour Trail Race- Oct. 28, 2012

[West Grey Runner]

3rd Ultra in the past 4 weeks is in the books. Did the Horror Hill 6 Hour Trail race yesterday. Way back in 2007 I did the HH 15K road race. I remember at the time thinking that the folks running around a 2.5K loop for 6 hours were not playing with a full deck. Fast forward 5 years and add one more Ultra nut to the loop ...me!

The week before the race I was pleasantly surprised that Grant ( local running friend ) who had been injured for the first half of the year had signed up for the 6 hour race. I was happy to have someone to ride with but a little concerned that Grant had bit off a little more then he should at this point in his recovery. We headed out from his house at 06:00 am and arrived at the race at around 07:30 well before the 09:00 am start which meant a prime parking spot right on the course. Now the day was all about the weather. We were expecting temps around 6-7C with lots of rain and a bit of wind. I saw this as a really good opportunity to try to get comfortable in less then perfect conditions. I started out with my "thermal" long sleeve compression shirt, shell, shorts, gloves, compression toque, ball cap, Injinjji Toes socks and my Saucony Xodus Gor-Tex shoes.

I wasn't into the race at the 09:00am start. It was raining and I had allot of trepidation about the conditions over the next 6 hours. There was lots of chatter on the course as to how the conditions would deteriorate as the race progressed. The only equipment change I made early on was loosing the compression cap leaving the Ball Cap on protecting me from the constant rain. In the early stages I was also contemplating whether 50K would be possible in the allotted time. Passed the 10K mark with the clock showing 1:11:04 . Doing the math it meant I had to maintain pace over the next 5 hours which seemed highly unlikely as the course was becoming quite slick. I started gelling and taking my "S Caps" and more or less did so through the next 5 hours. Passing 20K the clock read 2:18:47 . I had picked up the pace a bit but I was not enjoying being out in the rain and the cold and was not all that comfortable with nearly 4 hours remaining. This was also the point in the race that things started to turn around for me. Conditions continued to worsen but I was able to pick up the pace passing 30K at 3:26:57. My thoughts often turned to my upcoming Creemore 100 miler Dec 1/2. If its going to be above freezing and wet the conditions in Dec would be very close to what I was running in today. I hoped that Creemore weather would be below freezing giving me an opportunity to be allot more dryer. I don't have any running stuff that is truly waterproof. The thermal compression shirt with the shell was all about keeping the warm wet in and the cold wet out and I was wet to the bone! The Gortex Xodus Shoes were performing amazingly. First they had fantastic traction , my feet were comfortable .... no pain at all and wearing the toe socks made a huge difference. Now the feet were anything but dry and I continue to be dismayed that they advertise " guaranteed to keep you dry". There is no shoe ever made that would keep my feet dry in the conditions I was running in. Passing 30K is when I really find out what kind of day its going to be. Other then a bit of muscle pain I was feeling good and still moving along at a consistent pace. This was also the point of the race where I started to catch up and even loop people that were way out in front of me. Passed the 40K mark in 4:36:48. Doing the math I realized that I was still holding pace in spite of the ever worsening conditions. I also realized that unless I blew up 50K was in the bag and I was also thinking about how far beyond that point I would be able to go before the 6hour mark. I was surprised at how comfortable I was , it was 6-7C , rain , wind , muck.muck.muck and more muck. I was soaked but comfortably warm , my feet felt great and I was motivated! So I kept pushing and crossed the 50K mark in 5:46:35. I was amazed at the fact that I didn't fall off pace and was over a minutes faster then the first 10K of the day! Legged it out for another 13min25 sec adding another 1.7K to my total before the 6 hour horn blew.

I was thrilled with how the day went , buy far my most solid Ultra of 2012. I quickly washed the mud off , put all my mucky wet stuff into a garbage bag and then changed into a few layers of dry clothes. Beer and Chilly were next ...mmmm so good!

It was a small race with 35 starting the 6 hour event , 9 in my age group 50+. I figured that with the day I had I would probably be in line for an AG award. To my pleasant surprise I ends up being first in the 50+ category. I was thrilled as I had never won an AG category before. Overall I placed 8th out of 35 participants and I was 7th out of 25 men. This was the second 6 hour Trail Ulta I have done and a PB by 4.2K.

I walk away from this race confident that I can face the elements in Creemore and successfully complete the 100 mile winter run.




2.5k Splits ...

1: 17:27 17:27
2: 17:54 35:21
3: 17:37 52:57
4: 18:07 1:11:04 10K
5: 16:48 1:27:51
6: 17:37 1:45:28
7: 16:25 2:01:52
8: 16:55 2:18:47 20K
9: 17:12 2:35:58
10: 16:47 2:52:44
11: 17:32 3:10:16
12: 16:41 3:26:57 30K
13: 16:38 3:43:34
14: 17:35 4:01:08
15: 18:07 4:19:14
16: 17:35 4:36:48 40K
17: 17:16 4:54:04
18: 17:55 5:11:58
19: 17:22 5:29:19
20: 17:17 5:46:35 50K
21 made it another 1.7 k before the 6hour mark

[cbaker1]

Great job Ron. I felt miserable out on the course and called it quits about 3.5 hours in. I think I got 27.5 done but I was not having any fun. I needed to change into something dry and didnt bring enough clothes for the day. Great job for all that remained out there for all 6 hours.

Its a fast course when its dry. I bet you could have done 60 if the weather was better.

We will see you in January. I plan to get some speedwork in between now and then and would like to see if 60 km is possible. The way you are going, you probably are going to get 65+ km in!!

[Doonst]

Well done Ron, you're really getting the hang of this thing!

[orleansrunner1962]

Awesome job -- congratulations on the AG placement -- what a confidence builder for your 100-miler!!!

[Robinandamelia]

What a fantastic result, congratulations!

[ratherawkward]

Fantastic result, especially given the conditions!

[Robbie-T]

Awesome Ron, I've always wanted to run that race, 2.5k loops sound interesting to me.

[Chainsaw Baby]

WTG, WGR! First in your AC! I guess you want rain and 5 degrees for Creemore?

[fit-kitty]

GREAT JOB!

[chunkymonkeymelonhed]

Well done!

[Ken B]

Fantastic result on a miserable day. I was in the 3 hour event as a training run and managed 25.5 kms. I was amazed that anyone finished the six hour event. To have achieved your results is great! Congratulations!

[Ken B]

Hey, Ron:

I just checked my detailed results and realized that our times at the end of the 7th loop were almost identical. You must have passed me running down the grassy strip leading to the timing mats. Being able to maintain your pace as the conditions deteriorated is amazing!!

[West Grey Runner]

Thanks Ken , I had fun in the mud. It felt like a I was floating over it. Some of the inclines became a little tricky.

Congratulations on your race and sorry I missed you out there ... next time.

[barebuns1]

Congrats on the great time and a great race report.