Lester Park and Pine Valley NMTC Races

On October 29th and November 5th I ran in the final two NMTC fall trail series races of the year. 2011 was the 30th year for the series, and the community enthusiasm and turn out at the runs continues to grow. This year also marked the last year with Gene Curnow as the series race director. The Curnow family has been instrumental in the Northern Minnesota Track Club, the northern Minnesota running community, and both the NMTC trail series and the Voyageur ultra marathon. Our local trail running community has been very lucky to have the Curnow's leadership and organization for literally decades!

The strting line at the Lester Park NMTC Race

The Lester Park trail race was the longest of the series at 10.7k. It was a three loop course on the Lester Park ski trails. The course was hard packed and dry and included several challenging hills with a long down hill finish. I again ran most of the race with a chase pack behind race leader Eric Atkinson. On the third and final lap of the race I found myself in 6th place, and put on a slight surge to move into 5th place, which was where I would finish the race.

Paul closing hard at the Lester Park NMTC run. I finished 5th, and Paul just behind in 6th

Cooling down after the run with Sundari and some other local runners

Pine Valley Ski Area in Cloquet

The series finally was held at the Pine Valley Ski area in Cloquet. Pine Valley is a beautiful trail system that has running, biking, skiing, and snowshoeing trails. They also have still operational ski jumps that you can just see in the photo above.

The race was a 5.7k single loop course. I started the race with a small lead pack and we ran together for the first 1.5k. At that point Eric and two other UMD runners just done with the cross season opened a gap and Craig Hertz, Paul Kimpling, and I formed a chase pack. We ran together until about 4k when Craig and I pulled ahead of Paul. The two of us ran neck and neck until 400 meters to go, when Craig beat me in the sprint. I finished the final race of the series in 5th place. My finishes in the races of the series ranged from 2nd to 5th. I was really pleased with how well I did this season at such a wide range of distances - from winning a 12 hour race and setting a course record at a 100k to placing very well at these 5k to 10k races. A big thanks to my coach Jason Kask for guiding me through that great season.

After the race there was a potluck and celebration for the Curnow's "retirement" from being the series race director. To me these trail runs and events are a prime example of what I love about our endurance sports community. As some of you know, I have been going through some really difficult personal struggles recently, and my friends and training partners here in northern Minnesota have been a huge support. I really appreciate all that they have done for me.

The post NMTC series potluck

I am now taking a few weeks to train at a lower volume and intensity - in the 12 to 14 hour a week range - and will race one last time this year at the Gobble Gallop. Then in December I will begin to build up my training and focus to start snowshoe racing in January. I have a tentative race schedule for 2012 that I will post on my blog when I start to refocus my training in December.

I hope you all had great 2011 fall races, and I hope to see you out on the roads and trails this winter. Keep exploring the limits!

Rock Hill NMTC Race

This Sunday I ran in the Rock Hill NMTC race, the 6th race in the NMTC fall series and the 5th that I have run. The NMTC races have all been a blast, and have proven to be great opportunities for me to run speedworkouts with some of awesome the members of local trail running community!

The start of the race. I'm at the front in blue.

We were once again the benefactors of perfect weather, with temps in the mid 50's, a light breeze, and only a few clouds. It had rained earlier in the day, so some of the leaves and wooden bridges were wet, but nothing was too soaked or slipery. The race was at Bagley Nature Center, a great little trail system that is right on the UMD campus and near the CSS campus as wll. The trails are fairly wide and soft, and run through some nice oak and maple forest. They also have some challenging hills, but are still very runnable. I like to do some of my speed workouts here from time to time.

Half way through the first lap, Paul Craig and still running together

The race again started with a small chase pack forming behind Eric Atkinson (who for a little trivia is one of my former high school cross country and track teammates). I was running in the chase group with 3 other guys including Craig Hertz, who has recently joined me in the very addictive niche of ultra running, and my occasional training partner Paul Kimpling. We stuck together through the first of the two laps and then Paul surged ahead of Craig and me. Half way into the second lap I moved ahead of Craig and then caught Paul part way up the largest hill on the course, known as Rock Hill, which is where the race gets it's name. Although my hill strength helped me reel Paul back in, his turn over and shorter distance speed helped him gap me again on the 400m downhill finish. Eric won the race, followed by Paul in second, me in third, and Craig fourth.

Rounding the corner with 50m to the finish

Paul, Craig, and I have been finishing close together in the NMTC races so far, and it has been a lot of fun to have some shorter distance speed sessions with these guys in my fall training. This coming week I have a few mid distance run in the 2:00 hour range, one shorter speed workout, and then on the Saturday the Wild Duluth 100k. Good luck to all of the other runners who will be racing in the Wild Duluth Half Marathon, 50k, and 100k. I'm looking forward to seeing you all out on the trails,and remember...keep exploring the limits!

Snowflake Nordic NMTC Series Race

Cool temps and great fall colors were the perfect recipe for last night's Snowflake Nordic race, the 5th in the NMTC fall race series. The 7.2k course was made up of 2 loops of the nordic trails near the Duluth Hermantown border. Snowflake is a ski, snowshoe, and biathlon center but also hosts other events through out the year including trail running races and cyclocross events.

At the 6:00 PM race start

The race was the last of the fall series to be at 6 PM on Wednesday. From here on out, the decreasing dayight means that the races will be at 2 PM on Sunday afternoons. Today's race started with Eric Atkinson surging to the lead, which he would hold for the entire race. Just behind I ran in the small chase pack. We ran together until the begining of the second lap when I opened a gap and moved into second place.

Just off the starting line, a runner's dog decided to join the lead pack

The chase pack, with me in the lead, late on the first lap

I carried and expanded my gap on the chase pack during the second lap and finish in second place. Heart rate average for the race was 175 beats per minute, which is right where I wanted it be in my anerobic threshold zone. It was a good run for me, and a great way to do a speed workout. Thanks to Austin Jarrow's for putting on the NMTC fall race series and to Eve Stein - a resident silent sports photographer - for taking the photos in this blog entry.

The next NMTC fall race series stop will be on this Sunday at 2 PM at Bagley Nature Center on the campus of UMD. I hope to see you all there. In the mean time, keep exploring the limits!

Spirit Mountain NMTC Race

Last Wednesday night I joined many other trail runners from the area at the "Rolling Stone" Spirit Mountain MTC race. The race is the 4th stop in the NMTC (Northern Minnesota Track Club) fall trail series. The name "Rolling Stone" is very approperaite, as the course starts at the top of Spirit Mouintain and runs down the trail to near the Lake Superior Zoo and Kingsburry Creek, before connecting with the Superior Hiking Trail and zig-zaging back up the mountain. The race was about 6.5K, half climbing and half descent.

It was a lot of fun to let go on the long steep down hill, and a nice challenge to climb back up. Luckly for me, climbing and legth strength is a strong point for me, so I finished in third place. Eric Atkinson and Craig Hertz were again first and second. Paul Kimpling, who is the past few NMTC fall series races has been third, got lost for a part of the race so he finished a bit farther back. I'm sure he will be charging hard this coming Wednesday!

Closing in on the finish line at the Rolling Stone NMTC race

I'm looking forward to the next NMTC fall series race this evening at Snowflake Nordic Center. The turn out for this year's series has been great, so I hope to see a lot of you there again. If you have not yet raced in any of the races, it is not to late to join in the fun!

Have a great week of training, and I hope to see you out on the trails. Keep exploring the limits!