I went to Seattle to run a race with my cousin Alicia on her birthday. Ended up a really nice morning, finally a day without rain, the sun peeked out a bit and it wasn't as cold as forecast (rather than 30, we got maybe 45). Seward is a nice park on the water, but the course was in the interior and protected from the wind. It was a three-lap route, with one mile of each lap on a wide, packed gravel trail that was flat and downhill. The second mile was muddy single track with sharp turns, several hill climbs and four or five logs that had to be jumped. I timed each lap, but obviously the first mile of each was much faster than the second.
14:57 -- Started with a loop of the parking lot for the 0.2, then headed onto the trail. Went out behind the lead pack and stayed with that group until the single track, which was probably a little aggressive. Once the climbs started I backed off some, stuck with a group of four or so.
14:36 -- Paced off two guys the whole way, one of whom passed me as the loop began. Felt ok but I wasn't a speed to pass.
14:51 -- Picked off by one guy as the loop started, stayed just behind him and one other until the single-track. But there it got tricky, becasue the 4.2-mile racers and slow 10k runners were all over the course. So every 25 yards I was asking to pass someone, or getting hung up while the slower runner crawled over a log. I didn't have the juice to sprint up the hill anyway, but the interference meant the other guys were out of reach down the stretch.
44:24 total
Then 1.5 cool down along the waterfront. I actually felt fine at the finish, I don't have a ton of pick up right now and the course was challenging. But a good workout and a fun winter race in the mud. Snacks were a little paltry, that's my only complaint.
brooks cascadia 10 -- 84
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