Unfortunately there was a very small field for the inaugural running event, although Sunday's mountain bike event (on the same course) was well attended. That said, there were a number of high quality competitors. Fastest lap time on this homologated 19.4k lap (1,400') was around 1:20. It was turned in by a recent college grad who does a 4:13 mile. The 80k winning time was just 8:01.
Team NCS spent most of the day in second place (Melanie had the fastest female lap time), however in the final 2.5 kilometers I was struggling with my knees and the downhills, and gave up a place. Truth be told, I ran the hills pretty aggressively until the end, however I was reduced to a crawl on all the downhills in the last 5-6k.
After the race, the skies cleared, the food, ale, and fiddling were awesome, and the small field meant everyone walked away with nifty prizes. Of our relay team, three people (including me) nabbed new running shoes. Lucy and I also walked away with great new swix ski hats ... mine was a more classical color and styling, while hers was wildly colored and vibrant. Many ibuprofen later, the knees feel reasonably good.
I highly recommend this event next year for a fossil gathering ... although with significant growth in the size of the field expected ... glory and new shoes will be a lot harder to come by!
KUDOS to Brian, Karen, and the High Peaks Cyclery Staff.
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