Mad Dog Scramble
Sunday, November 7, 2004
Race report from Mike...
Date: Mon Nov 8, 2004
Subject: Mad Dog Scramble Race Report
Stacie and Mike: Rested and Happy before the race.Stacie did this to me. It's remotely possible I'll forgive her someday.
Ok, actually, I had a blast. It was a great time. Despite some dire forecasts, the weather turned out to be wonderful. About the best we could have hoped for, to be honest. We arrived at the starting location about 30 mins before race time, and then employed Stacie's strategy of "follow the red car" to find the right parking lot. After driving absolutely over the entire place, following the other lost driver, the strategy eventually paid off, as we stumbled across the right parking lot.
This was a tiny little race (only 120 people) so it was just my speed. Registration went very quickly (we had both pre-registered), so we picked up our numbers, and headed out to enjoy the balmy day. The race had a very interesting format of a staggered start, based on your last 5 or 10K time, with the slower runners going first. Naturally this put me in the very first group. And one of the interesting things about this race is that they didn't publish the route beforehand, so part of the challenge was trying to find the trail markers and flour on the ground. Thankfully the trail was very well marked, in terms of where we were supposed to go. We had no idea how far along we were at any point though.
Off we went onto the trails. For anyone who remembers the trails we ran at the Don, this was MUCH harder. There was a 30 foot or so span where I had to run completely doubled over, trying to avoid the low hanging branches. Running over logs, ducking under logs, and slogging through mud, we just kept going until we finally hit the first of the 3 stream crossings. Thankfully, there was a bridge, and I didn't even have to consider what I was going to do – bridge here I come!
That worked fine, until I go to the second stream crossing. Most of the people were just wading through the knee deep water, but there was a log over the stream, so I decided that I had to try the "dry" option. It didn't work very well – I made it about a quarter of the way across, and realized that I wasn't gong to be able to maintain my balance, so down I went. Let me tell you, the water was COLD!!!!
Another thing I forgot to mention was that I had stupidly agreed to go for a long run with my other running group on Saturday, so I'd already done 10k or so before I started the race. 20 minutes or so into this race, I was already starting to tire, and then I had to wade through that stream – I was almost completely out of gas by the time I got out the other side, but I was so cold, I knew I had to keep trying to run.
I finally made it to the third stream crossing. The stream crossing from Hell. (It's a town in Michigan! More later!) There wasn't a dry option here. It's about 20 or 25 minutes into the race, and I'm already soaked, so what the heck, I guess I just have to go for it. Well, I quickly discovered that this water was deep. It was about up to my ribcage. And then the far bank was completely coated in mud. Very slippery mud. About halfway through the stream, I look behind me, and there is Stacie. Apparently they didn't stagger the start enough.
Immediately after the final stream crossing, there was a HILL. A *BIG* HILL. It had to be a 60 degree slope. I'd say that we ran up it, but I'd be lying. We barely managed to crawl up it. Even Stacie seemed winded at the top, and we both took a quick walk break together, before she took off again. I was totally labouring, but having a blast.
The next major obstacle was a deep mud field. The mud must have been 4 inches thick, so if you slowed down, it was up to your ankles, sucking at your shoes. And it was very hard not to slow down. I made it through that as well, but by this point, I was walking more than I was running.
Right near the end, they had a few people helping you figure out the turns, and it's a good thing, because by this point, I was so tired, I'd have missed the signs completely. It was a very nice surprise that the race was so short though. They claimed it was an 8k, but with those obstacles, I finished in about 45 minutes, and there is no way that would be possible if it was truly 8k.
At the end of the race, I had more than a few questions and comments about my Dances with Dirt sweatshirt I was wearing. (That's the race in Hell, Michigan.) We also ran into one of the Hash House Harriers, and got to hear a bit about their group. The food afterwards was good, although Stacie had some trouble operating her bagel. I had a few chocolate chip cookies – I'm not sure how many, but apparently Stacie was counting, so she can fill everyone in with her report. And, for once, I actually remembered to bring my camera, so we
managed to get a few shots of ourselves, both before, and after the race. I'm not sure if this link will work, but the pics are here.All in all, a very fun race, and something I'm definitely going to do again next year. Although, perhaps I'll wear a wetsuit. Who plans for three deep stream crossings in a race in Canada in November?!?! Thanks again to Stacie for pointing this race out to me. And figuring out how to work my camera. :)
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