On Sunday, I ran the shortest trail race of my life: VERT - Sasquatch. It was a 2.35 mile trail race in the Middlesex Fells. I was drawn to it primarily because 1.) I love trail running and 2.) all the great beer after the race (Slumbrew, Pretty Things, Notch). I had run the course with the race director a couple weeks prior to raceday, so I knew what to expect, but it was a whole different beast on raceday. Normally when I head out on the trails, I'm heading out for anywhere between 10-50 miles, so going all-out for 2.35 miles was a new experience for me. I headed out on the initial paved section, hauling at around 7:00/mile pace (pretty fast for me), and then we hit "The Hill." I knew it was coming because I had run the course before, but some people were just at a stand-still. The Hill lasted for about maybe two-tenths of a mile, and I passed about 20-30 people who had slowed to a walk/hike, but I was gassed at the top. I kept chugging along, trying to catch my breath and keep cruising along, as the rest of the course was pretty runnable on some nice trails. I finished pretty strong, feeling pretty happy with a time of 18:07, good enough for 72nd place out of about 450 runners. After crossing the finish line, the party was just getting started at the Stone Zoo across the street, as runners re-hydrated with delicious and refreshing beer from Slumbrew, Pretty Things, and Notch.
Overall, the race was awesome, and I'll certainly be back next year. I just hope that next year there's a "Sasquatch" division for large, hairy men such as myself. Now that's a division I could do some damage in! :)
