Traprock 50k

Let me start by saying we had every intention of running a 34k and not a 50k when we headed up to West Hartford on Saturday morning. Shelly Girl and I had decided that running two loops of the Traprock 50k course would accomplish several things. We could get in our 4 hours of training, we could check out this new event on the running scene, we could run some new trails and we could support the efforts of the folks trying to get this race off the ground. With those thoughts in mind we set off on a rainy morning to run some of the Metacomet Trail.

We knew from the web-site that this was a race just getting started so we expected a small turnout and a laid back atmosphere. Right on both counts! Perhaps the most interesting thing about the pre race was the “prelude” music supplied by a cellist. Yes, you read that correctly, a guy who plays the cello. Luckily he played quite well and quite briefly. After the other pre race activities, we took off for the first time around the 10 mile loop. I believe the hardest part of the course is the first mile. A long and steady climb begins almost immediately. I think I heard someone say there were 52 runners, so things were very manageable and we all just chugged up the hill as best as we could. After this ascent you encounter a runnable rolling section ending with a long downhill. You then cross a road and hit one of the signature parts of the course. I believe they call the section “stairway to heaven”. Certainly challenging but not very long and we handled this without to much problem. After this section comes a nice 1 mile section that is quite runnable and on a better day would have several nice views. We negotiated this section and came to the first aid station at a little over three miles. The next mile is quite nice because you have a chance to run as well as see the leaders coming back from the turn around. It is here, when Michele realized she was second women, that the seeds of completing the whole race began to take hold. In addition to being second women, we both were running very well and the course was perfect for our abilities. Except for a few hills the whole course is runnable and by mile 6 we were running quite comfortably. With the weather clearing a bit we also had the chance to take in some nice views along this stretch before we pulled out of the single track and hit the mile 7 aid station and about two miles of road. Yuck! Not road roads, if you know what I mean. Stuff sort of like the road from Route 148 down to Cockaponsett Reservoir. The good news was these would be pretty fast miles so we took our beating and chugged on. Between mile 9 and 10 we reentered the single track and power hiked up a rather lengthy hill. Here was our second chance to see the leaders as they were tearing down the hill on their second loop. After we crested the rise it was pretty much a screaming downhill back to the starting point for our second loop. I think another factor that would eventually get us around the course a third time was we completed the first loop in 2 hours. For me, the allure of a sub 6 hour 50k was substantial. The second loop was largely uneventful. We had been running with a very nice young man, a former marine with two tours in Iraq, for quite a while and the miles just seemed to fly by. Neither Shelly Girl nor I had the high and lows that we experienced in Georgia a couple of weeks ago and the course was just very nice. I don’t want to say it was easy but it was all runnable, with lots of varying terrain and, as the weather cleared, great views. About a mile from the end of our second loop, Michele took off and me and the marine just tried to stay with her. We got to the end of the loop and the debate began. In all fairness Shelly Girl was jiggy with the plan to stop. We were right on 4 hours and we were feeling great. It was really stupid me who said let’s do the whole thing. She gave me a look, and then we filled up our bottles and went for it. Now, if you remember, the hardest part of the course is the beginning, so I thought it was the wise choice to stay a little bit behind Shelly Girl as we hiked up the hill. It was pretty quiet for that first mile, as we both “mentally adjusted” to the change in plan! After that we settled into what would be the pattern for the remaining 10 miles. Shelly Girl would kick my butt on the flats and the ups and I would scramble back within sight of her on the downs. By this time we knew nobody would be catching us, in fact our marine friend dropped back at the start of the third loop. We had slowed, and were a bit more bothered by the technical sections, but still found ourselves able to run much of final loop. We toughed out the climbs and the roads and just got around the course as fast as we were able.

Traprock was an excellent race. Congrats to all involved. I hope they can find a way to make the course only two loops but besides that it was awesome. Great trails, great views, very well organized plus at how many races do you get to hear a cello. Happy Trails.

Lefty