Race Result

Racer:	Steve Smith
Race:	Mt Penn Mudfest
Date:	Saturday, April 19, 2003
Location:	Reading, PA
Race Type:	Run - Other
Age Group:	Male 30 - 34
Time:	1:04:30
Overall Place:	3
Comment:	Risk a little and gain a lot

Race Report:

Well, we had another year of beautiful weather for our little piggy romp in the Reading woods. Yes, the Mt. Penn Mudfest kicked off with just as much fun and silliness as last year. Well, that's not exactly true as I didn't spy a shiny bald head with tigger ears, but it was close enough. How fun is this race? A couple was married at the start line. She wore a lovely dress and the groom wore a nice jacket with black tights and one of those tuxedo t-shirts. They both ran the race.

Before I start, I would like to admit that I'm a fool. It wasn't until I hit the start line I realized that I'd forgotten to make arrangements to meet up with Trevor & Joe Hellenbrand. Ooops. Fortunately, Trevor and his lovely bride managed to pick me out of the crowd before the race. Joe, sorry to have missed you. If it's any consolation, the only pizza I ate was the bagel pizza offered at the concession stand.

Quick rant: Reading is a 3.5-hour drive from work. I wanted to leave at 3 p.m., hoist my tent, and maybe go for a swim. I left at 3 p.m., crashed in a Rodeway Inn in Lancaster at 10:45 p.m., and that's all I'm going to say about that.

Before the race I found myself doing a warm-up run on the last 2 miles of the course. The first thought that hits me is, "Where did all these rocks come from?" Sheesh! Sharp pointy buggers too. Thankfully, I'd borrowed a pair of trail-running shoes from my roommate. The morning started out cool and cloudy, but as soon as the race started the temps were perfect.

The race director lost the "high-tech" presentation of last year (bright pink sheets of laser print copy), and gave an equally humorous set of race instructions.

With lots of time to think on the drive up, I talked myself into racing this race. I have done little speed work since my last tri in September. Two 8K races in Nov/Dec, three or so hard finishes on the Sunday 10-mile runs, one hammerfest of 10-miles on the Sunday run, and a 5K race last week. Lactic acid takes some getting use to, so this decision would result in some serious discomfort. Still, I have done tons of base work and seen my easy run pace drop almost 30-seconds/mile. Racing, at this point, would be more "suffering" than "speed" (relative speed for me, that is). Still, I figured I should put it on the line, that I should not be afraid to hang it all out there and potentially blow up. In short, I decided to poke around the edge of the envelope and see what happened.

The RD stuffed a stuffed pig into a sling-shot and we were off when the pig hit the ground. The Mudfest is a figure-8 course that starts from the top of Mt. Penn. The first two and last two miles cover the same ground, a low-grade long hill down, down, down with some generous false-flats (or up, up up at the finish). Relative to the rest of the course, this section is flat.

After the first 1/4-mile shake out I was in 8th or 9th place. I passed two guys in the first 1.5 miles before we started the real descents, where I passed one more guy. There was a section of downed trees this year that was much worse than the section of downed trees last year. More descent. Finally, a creek. SPLISH ... through the creek. The thing about creeks is that they always indicate a change in terrain. So it was up a muddy bank (thank god I was in front, this had to be a mess later on), up some short, steep hill, and back onto the trail. Going up this hill I passed another guy that I'd been shadowing for nearly 1.5 miles. Mostly flat before a sudden turn. There are portions of this run where you're moving along a fairly nice bit of trail when you see these markers that point into what seems to be dense wood. Just to make things interesting, I guess. Into the woods on almost-trail and then down to the second creek crossing. That wasn't so bad, I think, until I have to scramble on all fours to get up the other side. More up up up up hill until we reach a road, make a U-turn, and head back down. All that hard work ... oh well, back down to the creek for a third dip.

I have a plan for creek crossings (and really muddy spots): don't spend time looking for a line, just pick one and go. Well, I did this and found myself in cold water just a little too close to the nether regions. I managed to make it out of this hip-deep water without drowning. As I exit I look up at the race volunteers, who are staring at me wondering, "WHAT is this FOOL doing." Of course, the volunteers were about 10 yards downstream in front of a fairly manageable stream crossing 4 or 5 inches deep. Oh well.

Some fairly flat trail along the lake that the last stream feeds before crossing, against on-coming running traffic, the first (and now last) creek-crossing of the day.

This is where things get interesting. That's what the sign reads, but I didn't have to read it because I remembered from last year. Interesting = HILL. I have a plan for running & biking serious hills too. Don't look up. Just pick an effort and look about five feet ahead. Luckily this plan works better than the stream-crossing plan. Here I pass another guy. At this point I figure I'm in 5th or 6th place. When I pass this guy, he's walking. That's how serious these hills are: the 6th-place guy is walking.

After the first serious up hill, we get back onto some flat for a breather before the killer hill. This is the one so bad they put beer & margaritas at the top of it. However, I remember from last year and my morning warm-up that after the top of this hill it's pretty much easy going for the last two miles. I make the turn for the last hill. I'm heading up. I pass another guy, also walking. Okay, so the #5 and #6 runners had to walk up this thing! I "ran" up all the hills, but that mostly consisted of very quick baby steps, probably no more than 3 or 4 inches apart. Hey, it worked.

I hit the top, tell the bartender that I'll be back in 20 minutes for my beer, suck some serious wind, and hit the gas. I had caught a glimpse of #3 at the base of the last climb. I tore down the sloping hill and pushed hard for 3 minutes until I caught site of him. I was *barely* faster than he was in the flats, inching up on him. We were both trucking. In my warm-up I'd noticed 2- and 1-mile markers for the finish. Never saw them during the race. Finally, the course switched back for it's slow, up-hill finish. I started gaining more slowly. With about 1/4-mile before the trail exited onto the road, I knew I would take this guy. He was pushing hard, pushing both of us hard, but I was feeling stronger and stronger. We hit the roads and I took off. After about a minute I worried that I kicked too early, but the worry faded and I kicked a little more as the pace settled into my lungs, looking for number two. There he was, shaking the winner's hand, as I turned the corner for the finish line, taking third in 64 something.

Mt Penn is a great race for many reasons. The t-shirt rocks, they give you $2.50 in credit for the concession stand, great post-race food, and killer awards. I picked up a huge plaque, maybe 9x12, with a stone-carved, laughing pig. Think Buddha meets Porky Pig. I love it. In retrospect, I hadn't executed my race plan exactly. I still managed to run a little conservatively. I should have gone out & ran with the front guys from the start (they finished 1:50 and :40 ahead of me). Perhaps I would have blown up, perhaps not. That little laughing pig on my basement wall will remind me: put a little on the line, and good things can happen. Put a little more on the line, and ... you will never know unless you try.

Trevor & Joy finished up not long after I did, crossing the line together with a big smooch. "How cute," I thought, before adding: "They are not nearly muddy enough." But I'm much too nice to correct such oversights. Besides, I had an appointment with the bartender.

Trevor took the Clydesdale division and Joy took 2nd place in her age group, so the Virginia crowd made a good run of the day.

This race is a blast. I'll be back next year. I'm also eyeing some of their other events. If you ever get a chance, have at one of the Pagoda Pacers races.