Event: Iroquois Trail Test
Location: Kilbride, Ontario
Date: August 21st, 2010.
The Iroquois Trail Test is a 32km trail race run almost entirely on the Bruce Trail. I’d had my eye on it for a few years but it never managed to fit into my schedule. This year I’ve put a bit greater focus on my ultrarunning and thought that the event would be a perfect training / racing opportunity for a couple of upcoming 50 km races and a 50 miler at the end of the season.
The race started with a lollipop shaped loop of about 8-9 km before heading out the main out-and-back section of the race. A 1.5 km warm-up on some pavement before hitting the trail was a nice way to get the legs opened up. In an earlier 50km race this year at Sulphur Springs, I started off too quickly and paid for it later; I was determined not to have the same thing happen again here. But alas, it did, and I suffered in the latter stages of the race because of it.
This first section went well for me; I used some other runners to keep myself from going too slow (really hard for me to strike a balance here!) and recognized that as a result I was going a bit too quick but was feeling strong. A small river crossing at 3km and 6km meant wet feet for the rest of the run, but in my Salomon XT Wings 2 S-Lab shoes, I barely noticed this.
After the end of the “lollipop,” runners past through the start / finish area again before heading out for a 11.5km out and back on the Bruce Trail. The first part of this section was relatively flat and easy, but from training runs I knew that it wasn’t going to stay this way. As the trail went on, it became less flat and considerably more technical, with some good climbs and tricky, rocky descents.
On my way to the turnaround point I caught up with some runners who had passed me earlier and this boosted my confidence. As we headed towards the turnaround point, runners who had taken the early start time (there was an optional 7:00 am start for slower runners) and some of the speedsters from the regular start time who were on their way back started warning us about some sections up ahead that required a keen eye in order to stay on course. At the time, I really thought nothing of this and wondered how people were getting lost.
But alas, shortly before the turnaround point I had lost sight of any other runners and somehow made a wrong turn near Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area. I ran for about 10 minutes without seeing any markings or other runners before I realized this. I went a bit further, and found some hikers who confirmed for me that no other runners had gone by.
Until this point, my race had been going quite well. I was feeling positive and strong, but going off course really affected me psychologically. Over the next 30 minutes, I traced my way back to the correct trail while having a pity party for myself in my head. At this point, I was also struggling with finding the right hydration / electrolyte balance and was feeling quite crappy. Thoughts of dropping out at the next aid station danced through my head, but I managed to work through this. I’m embarrassed to say that there was much more walking on the return trip than was warranted, but I was pleased that I managed to talk myself out of dropping out.
The last 11.5 km of my race was not super, but I pressed on, alternating running and walking. My body felt fine, but I definitely had a tough time convincing myself to run as much or as fast as I should have been. I crossed the finish line in 4:19, quite a bit slower than my original sub 4:00 goal. I’m confident that had I not made my detour, I would have met my goal. Nevertheless, as in all races, I learned some valuable lessons about myself. Once through the finish line, I was reassured to hear that I was far from the only person to have made a wrong turn at some point or another.
Rumour has it that this may have been the last year for the Iroquois Trail Test, but you can find out more about the event at http://www.burlingtonrunners.com/index.cfm?id=5710
