This small race is sponsored by the Rotary club in the foothills above Centerville. About 35 people showed up to run. I saw one of my neighbors, and he asked, "Are you going to win?" I told him it depends on who shows up. Last year I was in the top ten, but I was around a mile behind the faster runners. After reciting the pledge of allegiance, we walked down to the start. The first mile climbs around 400' to the shoreline trail. Instead of the usual stampede with the starters pistol, everyone started shuffling along up the hill. Surprisingly, I was leading. A couple guys were roughly matching my pace, so up we climbed. We got to where the course levels out a bit, and they were all still running, so I kept running. I didn't want to turn around and see how far. I spent those first two miles contemplating that I could actually win the race. There are some pretty steep ascents; on one I was actually on my hands and knees. I would get to the top of these, and look back to see a grey shirt guy starting up the incline. I hoped he would be walking up. After several of these, the grey guy was still hanging back there, making me nervous. I spent the next two miles figuring out excuses for why I didn't hold on to the lead and win the race. I was sure grey guy or somebody was sandbagging back there, and would come on strong and pass me. Around mile 5, there is a large bend in the trail as it dips into a canyon. I looked at my watch at the start of the bend, and again at the end. 90 seconds. Nobody was visible at the beginning of the bend when I was at the end. I was pretty excited to have that much gap, and kept pushing all the way to the switchbacks down into the park. I finished in 48:49, which was about 5 minutes faster than last year's effort. The next finisher was 2:40 later. So I won a race! I was pretty excited. My wife even arrived in time to get some pictures of me coming across the line. It was very gratifying/surprising to win. I'm lucky that the strong runners who chewed up the course in 42 minutes last year didn't show up. I guess that's why you tie your shoes and head out. Since that race last year, I've been running up on those trails at least once a week, even through the winter. It gave me a decided advantage to know how long the hills were, and when there were good recovery flats. It's a great change of pace to run on the trails, away from the cars and closer to the trees.
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