Phlox Trail 25K Run Report

These are the Phlox that the race is named after.

So Portage, The Boy and I picked up the Captain @ 6:35a.m. on Sunday morning, right after his 24 hour shift at work, and drove to Brantford Ontario(best known as the home of Wayne Gretzky) for the Phlox Trail Runs.  Captain, Swiss, Phantom and me were doing the 25K, Portage and The Boy were doing their first trail races ever, the Phlox 10K.  Portage had my water belt, so I couldn't carry my camera.Doh.But she takes better pitchers than me anyway.
   We all got there without a hitch, Swiss arriving (via Pimpcedes) his customary five minutes before the start. Only one washroom for 300 runners, luckily I found a woods nearby. I quickly discovered the mosquitoes here have had a very productive spring, and "got 'er done" asap.

Getting to the start line. Can you feel the heat? It's like 24˚C at 8:30a.m.

 

More Phrickin' Phlox

   We realized it was going to be a very hot day, so everyone got hydrated and ready to go. Phantom showed up and we presented him with his shirt from the Bobcat Trail Marathon.This was the race that he missed last fall in Ohio because he slid off a bridge 15 seconds into the last training run before the trip and twisted his ankle. Doh.These long sleeve tech shirts were really nice, it seemed a shame to throw it out.

Stole this idea from one of Brownie's buddies. At least Phantom can wear the shirt now.

Oh yea, so here's the race recap. I was coming off a six week rib injury, but had still gotten a few good runs in. Captain was coming off the broken foot, but had also been running. I was telling him about Gary Robbins, who unfortunately re-broke his foot a couple of weeks ago. Same original injury as Captain's. Not good.
  So after a long speech from the RD that had us all laughing, off we went. We started fairly quickly, but once we hit the single track passing was difficult. I think there were more than a few road runners who had never seen rocks and mud before.They were causing backups trying to get through the run without getting dirty, and Captain let a few of them have it. "Oh come on people, it's a trail run!!" No Lady Byng Trophy  for you this year,  Captain.
  After a while we got where we should be, not passing anyone and no one passing us. I realized things were going to be OK when I looked at my watch and an hour had quickly passed. Captain and me were running with the eventual Ladies winner, she was setting a good pace.
     At one point, maybe around 12K, I looked behind me expecting to see the Captain, and there was Phantom, right on my tail. So, as has become our custom the last few races, we ran together, each of us taking turns setting the pace.
  I guess it was about 23K my legs really started to get rubbery, but I was eating and drinking, so no problem. Phantom began to slowly pull away, and there was not a thing left in the tank, nothing I could do to stay with him.

By the time we did the 2nd crossing of the Grand River around 22K, Phantom had dropped me, but ever so slowly.

 I remembered passing a couple of guys who looked to be in the 50+ age category and just concentrated on keeping the legs going so they wouldn't catch up to me. I knew I had a good time going and was still hoping to podium. I kept imagining I could hear them,but when I looked, there was no one there. Maybe it was the heat? By this time I was getting a bit dizzy like I might pass out or maybe throw up, so things were pretty normal. A hat might have been prudent.
  In the meantime, Portage and The Boy had finished the 10K and were waiting at the finish line. Phantom won the "Pylon Division", Portage got a good shot of him crossing the line.

Phantom-2:15:38......11th overall

Moi, 2:16:57 ....12th Overall

Captain-2:29:42...19th

Swiss- 2:38:12 ....60+ Champ!

So we all finished, and no one got hurt,which is nice. The course was hilly and had some good technical sections, it was tougher than I was expecting. The course reminded us of the "Dances With Dirt"course in Ann Arbor.
  We got some exciting news on arrival, The Boy had taking 3rd in the under 20 10K category, and got a couple of prizes and a certificate. Pretty sweet for his 1st trail race.

Attaboy!

Phantom, Alistair and me. Alistair won the race by 10 minutes (1:46:19). He has a 100 miler in South Dakota in 3 weeks.

Re-Hydrating

Good Looking Group Shot

 After the race things got interesting. First,the winner's prizes were handed out, The Boy, Swiss and Phantom all got their podium goodies(shirts, metal water bottles, certificates), and then they started the door prizes. One after the other, all the Pylons won something good. I got a $200 gift certificate to "The Runner's Den". Sweet.People were yelling It's fixed!" because we won 3 prizes in a row. LOL.

Swiss wins a door prize

Don't tell Dora, but we have a prize for her as well. Swiss will present it to her when she gets back from Geoff Roes'  Running Camp in Juneau, Alaska.

 So a good time was had by all. My only complaint is, what's the deal with the 50-59 age category in this race? It was the largest group, and 3 of the top 10 guys were over 50 years old. I'm not complaining, just sayin'.... (although the Pylons are known as "Podium Sluts"). Put me down for next year,  I'd like to try this one when I'm in better shape!
   This race gave me the confidence to think I may be able to salvage my year with a great 50 miler in Michigan at the end of August. Just gotta run!
Full 25K race results here
Full 10K race results here