Trail running race 3:48:00 [4] 25.48 km (8:57 / km) +960m 7:32 / km
shoes: Salomon Speedcross 3 Pro
Broken Goat race over the 7 Summits trails in Rossland.
A rather large group of us from Trail Culture and Dirtbags decided to head to Rossland for this awesome race. I think about half of us signed up for 25k and the rest for 50k. The weather was looking gloomy, rained on and off the day before and was supposed to be the same on race day.
I was debating whether or not to take poles as I knew there would be a lot of climbing but at the end decided against it. The uphill started almost immediately and went on for about 8k. It wasn't too steep but I power hiked it anyway. It took about an hour to get to the ridge. The next section was spectacular: rolling single track above the treeline, with superb views on either side, lots of wildflowers everywhere. It was amazing! Too bad I could not stop for longer to enjoy those views....The trail started to go downhill and then another long climb which I power hiked. I truly wished I had the poles.The forest was thick and dark. We emerged on top of a ski hill and run on a single track towards the next little summit where the aid station was (at km 18). I caught up with some runners there, quickly ate a watermelon slice, had some coke and started a 7k decent to the finish. I figured this was my time to get ahead. The first part of the downhill was on a rocky, wide path (road) and it felt super long! I was not able to run too fast as I was afraid to roll my ankle. More than half way down we turned into a super flowy, forested single track and that's where I spread my wings:) I wanted to finish close to 4hr and at this point I knew I had the chance. I run as fast as I could, even managed to pass a couple of runners. It felt great, it seemed like my feet were not touching the ground.
I am really happy with my result, I keep wondering though how much faster I would be on those uphills If I had poles?
The shoes were awesome, no issues at all.
The venue and the overall atmosphere of this race was amazing. The RD hugged every racer that came through the finish line. It was great to enjoy it all with friends.
(Not sure why the watch showed finishing time as 4hr26min - I noticed the time error during the first climb, it was showing we were running for an hour when it wasn't even 30 minutes yet.....will have to investigate this).