On Saturday morning I ran the Webster Trail Classic, taking 1:50:55 to run the 10 miles of trails. This race has moved from September to June which makes it much warmer, but the weather was fairly nice the morning of the run.
I ran the first two miles fairly quickly before falling into a steady pace. In hindsight I kept to the steady pace a bit too long and should have pushed things during the flattish section in the middle and through some of the quicker section the second time through Whiting Park. I did pick up the pace for the final two miles of the race and finished feeling good and strong.
For my next race I am staying on the trails and doing the run our trails race next tuesday in Mendon Ponds Park.
On Saturday morning I ran the Webster Trail Classic with a time of 1:45:33. For a ten mile trail race I was very happy with this pace, and it was eight minutes quicker than the last time I ran this course in 2019.
Despite this being only the second time I have run this race, it is one of my favorite courses. The terrain and the trail vary between the three parks, and while there is plenty of elevation none of the hills are so steep that you are forced to slow to a walk. Additionally the course is mostly shaded, and (while perhaps I have mostly gotten lucky with the weather) there is very little mud.
At the start of the race I found myself towards the front, and was a bit concerned that I had started too fast. I settled into a comfortable pace, and while a few runners did pass me in the first four miles it turns out that I was actually was just faster than most of the field. Most of the miles were uneventful as I enjoyed the scenery while only occasionally gaining on or falling behind the other runners. With less than a mile to go I decided to pick up the pace, but instead kicked a root and fell on my face. I pushed on for a quick finish, but that was the one thing that really held it back from being a great race.
Overall I am glad to see the improvement from 2019, I felt good while on the trail, and I even felt good after the race as if my legs easily had more miles in them. Hopefully I can continue to run well as the Wineglass Marathon is less than a month away.
On Saturday morning I ran the 10 mile Webster Trail Classic in 1:53:33. This was my first time running this race, and I was the 63rd finisher which made me the median runner in this race.
The Dirt Cheap race in Webster Park has always been one of my favorite courses to run, so I jumped on the chance to run another race that starts in the same park. The course is far from flat, but the hills are not all that steep, so I was able to run the full route.
The middle mile is a loop around the outside of a large field, typically I am not a fan of these sections and prefer to run through the woods. However, in this race it was actually kindof nice to be able to mentally take a bit of a break in the middle of the course.
This is only the third new course I have run so far this year and my inexperience with the path resulted in me first pushing towards the finish line far too early, and then being unprepared to when the finish line finally did show up.
My next race is the Rochester Half Marathon and will be my first road race since the Fourth of July.
On Saturday morning I ran the Webster Trail Classic, taking 1:50:55 to run the 10 miles of trails. This race has moved from September to June which makes it much warmer, but the weather was fairly nice the morning of the run.
