Breakneck 2008

8:00 Sunday morning.  Shellygirl and I drove up to the Killingworth traffic circle to meet Iggy and Ticket at the commuter parking lot and then head up to tackle the Breakneck 20K.  It seems Iggy had a rough night, unfortunately all work related, and decided to skip the festivities.  She still met us just to say she was not going. What a good girl!

Shortly after 8 we began the hour drive up to Bigelow State Park to tackle one of the more interesting races around. The three of us have all had some previous experience with races in this part of the world, with Shellygirl and I having run the Nipmuck and the Northen Nipmuck races and Shellygirl and Ticket running the Breakneck last year. The reason I mention this is to add that there is something in the water up in that part of our great state that leads to intereresting races. Nipmuck Dave and his famous starting speech or the piece of wood finish medals he passes out are two examples of what one can expect from a race in the place that is called the quiet corner. 

Breakneck did not disappoint. For example, you register for the race by going up to a parked car where the race director is sitting. Of course the most intereseting part of the Breakneck 20K is that there is not one route. Let me explain. After a brief speech from the race director  he yells “Breakneck” and… well …. we all go.  Shortly, we are running up, down and over very nice single track trail.  Runners seemed to be sticking together more than usual and it was not too long before I found out why .  At this point there is only one trail and while  well marked it still was hard to follow and soon everyone fell into a group of like paced runners. I fell in with four others with Ticket and Shellygirl somewhere behind us.

After a little less than five miles of this fun we came to the end of the trail and the lake. This is where things get interesting. The only rule is you have to go around the lake and end up where you started. You can go around clockwise or counter clockwise. You can follow a road or follow a trail. You can also do a combo road/trail route. Or, if this is not enough options, you can also do some bushwhacking passing by some sort of beaver dam, not too be confused with damn which is what most of us were thinking confronted with this many choices.  Before the race Shellygirl told me to take the road counterclockwise, so that is the way I headed. The other runners in my group apparently thought I knew what I was doing so they all followed.  All seemed to be going well until I saw Shellygirl and Ticket in front of me.  I will go to my deathbed not knowing how they got in front of us on the single track trail we had all just completed but that is the essence of the Breakneck.  Our group, now seven souls, continued on with the sole goal of getting to the end of the lake without getting lost. It soon became clear that the road was the right choice when we found ourselves running parallel with another group of faster runners who had chosen the counter clockwise route but took the trail instead of the road. They were not pleased to see us slowpokes in front of them.  Moving on, our group finally made it to the end of the lake and had one more decision to make.  Do we take the trail or the road back up to where we started this adventure. Shellygirl suggested the road and everyone else had no idea so the road it was.  At this point I was fairly confident that I could get back to the top of the lake, and the single track trail that would return us to the beginning, without incident so  I picked up the pace a bit.  I soon found myself back with my original group of five. The road was more like a wide technical trail but it was the right move and with no further adventures we completed our circumnavigation of Breakneck lake.

Back on the single track it was now the time in every race where you say take it easy or push it.  Luckily, I was feeling good so the push was on. Going back the way we came I knew where I was going, kinda, and the trail was clean running with no terribly hurtful hills.  About two miles from the end, I was still feeling good and since we had navigated the most technical sections, I upped the tempo one final time and our original group of five was down to three.  Shellygirl and Ticket were somewhere behind the group but I knew they were going easy today.  Since I was fairly sure we were not lost  I did not think that we would see them again.  About a mile from the end the group was down to two and we settled in to a very nice tempo that felt strong and only slightly painful. We passed a runner coming towards us and for a brief moment I was seized with the fear that we had gone the wrong way, yet again.  Fortunately he was doing a cool down and told us the end was just around the corner. We all know never to believe that statement in a race so me and my partner ignored the comment and maintained our pace. This time he was right and the end was right around the corner but the Breakneck threw one more curve at us before we could rest our weary legs and, in this case, even more weary brains. There are a couple of ways to get to get the finish line!  We took the one we thought was best and after telling the race director our names (Of course no race numbers for Breackneck) we were done.

Shortly after Shellygirl and Ticket came in, both running as if they could do it again.  After some nice post race food, pictures and conversation we boarded the spaceship to leave Planet Breakneck and return to our own solar system. Seriously, it was a wonderful race and we are sure to return in the future.

Lefty