Sunday, May 17, 2009

5-Peaks Kingston

Sitting here enjoying a cup of Kicking Horse coffee, I would like to start by saying thanks to Derrick, Sara, 5-Peaks and all the volunteers, it was a great race.

This was my first trail race of the year and I was really looking forward to it. First to get back to the trails, and second to run a shorter faster paced race for a change. The race was held at J&J Cycling trails just north of Kingston, a perfect venue for the race.

The weather was calling for wet; rain was the forecast and I was hoping they were right, I was looking forward to playing in the mud. Just this week I had been starting to feel like I was recovering from my Fall/Winter/Spring, the body both physically and mentally was starting to come around.

Race day dawned overcast but dry, however as we headed toward Kingston the clouds opened up and it rained, hard. Arriving at J&J, everyone was huddled in the Big green barn keeping dry. The rain was off and on, but eventually let up long enough for the Kids race and the adults to get-a-going.

Plan for the race was to have fun, stay injury free (I have a date with Kimber for a little half-marathon next Sunday), but to push it a little too. Off the start, I let the fast kids and the over zealous lead us out as I found my legs. The first 500m was a fast and slippery downhill on grass/mud trails, slight up hill, downhill again, into the woods for a bit, out onto a jeep trail and then onto the 1st aid station at 2kms. By this time I had found my stride, passed a few people and settled into racing. Time so far 8:30, for 2km on trails, silly fast.

Here we split off from the Sport group, running another 200m before a sharp right and into the woods. We then climbed up the escarpment, a very slippery muddy climb that on a good day would have been runnable, but with the mud and spinning feet it was a short hard hike. Passed a few people on the climb and then settled in for the fun. Here the course quickly snaked back and forth, here there and everywhere, until around 5.8km where we slid back down the escarpment back to the jeep road to return and follow the sport course home. I hit the 6km marker at 30:30.

The remainder of the course here was similar to the section we had just run, lots of single track tight cornering. Achilles, ankles, hips and core was getting a good workout. With all the back and forth you could see who was ahead and who was behind. I was closing in on a couple of guys and had no one behind me. Once out of the woods back into the meadow, there was another 500m left which included the final climb up the original downhill. I passed one guy in the meadow and then pumped with all my might up the hill to the finish, very muddy and very happy.

Finishing results: 10km - 51:45, 9th looser overall and 1st looser in AG.

Got cleaned up thanks to a handy rain spout and stuck around for a very entertaining awards ceremony before saying our good-byes to Derrick and Sara and heading home to the Hot Tub.

I hope this becomes a regular race on the 5-peaks circuit. The course is fast and technical, but offers a great challenge and experience for all levels of participant.

Pictures on our Zenfolio site here

Thanks again.

12 comments:

Kimberley said...

Way da go Hon! You rocked it. Congrats - I'm so proud of you as always. It was so great to see the look of sheer joy and pleasure when you finished and when you were recalling the details of the course. It sounded like SO much fun. It was easy to see how much you had missed being out on the trails. Wish I could have been there with you. Next time! Love you! xoxox

Derrick said...

Hey David and Kimberly,

It was great finally meeting you guys. Glad you enjoyed the day, even with the nasty weather. We had fun after the initial scramble, and are already talking about next year.

Once everything was torn down, we hit Boston Pizza hoping you might have gone there, but it was probably a little late.

Look forward to hooking up for a trail run sometime.

Good luck next weekend Kimberly, and thanks for the Bruins stuff from Boston...will be handy for NEXT YEAR;)

Derrick

Derrick said...

by the way....awesome run on that course. That was a really solid time in any conditions, but to run it when it was that muddy and slick, is fantastic. Good stuff!

Unknown said...

David

Great report..too good because now I am mad at myself for not sucking it up! Oh well I am in this for the long haul so there will be other ones! I have scouted out a few more trails here at home so I hope that will entice you an d Kim and Derrick and Sara to find your way to the "Ville. I have also found a new beer that has trail runner written all over it..."Cracked Canoe" from Moosehead..3.5% but not thin at all!!!!

Great race David

Aaron

David said...

Thanks once more for the race D, well organized and marked. We never ended up heading to Boston Pizza. We went up to Westport and had a nice little bite at Steve's Rideau Restaurant.

We are for sure up for a visit and some trails after NCM.

Aaron, I'll try not to make you feel any worse, but it was a hoot. I am definitely up for some M-Ville trails, and a little Canoe too.

Sara Montgomery said...

David, Great race on Saturday! It was so nice to see both of you and get a chance to chat in person. Thanks for the sheet of exercises, I really appreciate having them.

Kimberley, Best of luck on Sunday!!! You're going to do great!!

Derrick said...

Here are some great photos...
http://www.msievents.com/MSIevents/Event_Galleries/Entries/2009/5/16_2009_Kingston_Trail_Running_Race.html

Kimberley said...

Hey gang,
It was great to meet you Sara & Derrick! You guys did an awesome job organizing and managing the race... great teamwork under pressure.
Thanks again for the hat and the coffee. OMG, that coffee is delicious.
David had a blast and I'm already looking forward to next year.
Sara - good luck with the exercises. I think that you'll find them really helpful.
Aaron - hope to get to meet you soon. It likely won't take too much convincing. :)
Cheers,
The Mrs

_Eric_ said...

It's hard to beleive this was a trail race, super fast times.


I bet it was a blast!

Derrick said...

Eric,
Just to clarify...the Enduro Course was 10.2km. The timer had the overall times correct on the results, but the pace was wrong has he calculated it from 13km for some reason. That has now been corrected.

Derrick said...

...actually, sorry, just noticed that the correct paces haven't been changed yet. Should be soon, but as mentioned the overall times are correct for the 10.2km distance.

Some fast runners on the course with Taylor and Paul both having run 30' or under for 10km on the roads.

David said...

I think Eric is thinking of the times compared to the Camp Fortune 5-Peaks and there is no comparison. Fortune has 4 tough climbs for the Enduro.
Looking at the times from St. Bruno last year I would say that K-Town is a good blend of the two venues.
My GPS had it as exactly 10km.