Last year the conditions at the Mac were ideal. Soft, dry trails, and a cool overcast day with a high around 60. You couldn't ask for more. But over the last few months I'd been thinking, I'd really like a muddy Mac.
The course has been dry on race day for quite a few years. I thought it would be nice to have some mud like the days of old. I've never experience a course that lived up to the stories of people losing shoes or passing other runners while standing still because their fellow runners were sliding back down the hill. I thought it would be fun.
By the end of April it looked like I'd get my wish. Race week rain added to the mud leaving the conditions wet enough that OSU asked us to skip one small section of fresh-cut trail to avoid tearing it up!
The race start was rather abrupt so it took everyone a minute or two to settle into a rhythm on the first climb. I thought we were moving pretty well up 500 Road, but 3 other guys didn't think it was fast enough! By the time we reach the Powderhouse trail descent I was 5-10 seconds back of the top three runners.
While they weren't happy with the uphill pace, I decided we should be running downhill faster, so on the descent back down to Cronemiller Lake, I took the lead and let the other guys follow.
Rounding the end of the lake, there was a big group of people who hiked up from the start to cheer us on. Seeing so many locals out there put a smile on my face. The community around the Mac is the highlight of the race!
After a brief stretch of road, we headed onto Calloway Creek trail and the lead group of runners started to bunch up again. The second half of Calloway Creek was lined with lots of iris, and as I watched the flowers I could hear runners bunching up behind me. I though someone would pass me, but everyone seemed content to continue to follow along.
Calloway Creek went by quickly and soon we were heading up TNT, now an official trail called New Bonsai (or Nonsai). After the gravelly start to the trail, we reached our first section of muddy trail. The trail had already been trampled by early starters, so the mud a little slick in spots. There was a little talk at the bottom of the trail, but we started to spread out as we each settled into our own pace for the climb.
After a short stretch on 543 Road, we were back on New Bonsai and climbing through the mud again. I started to pull away through this stretch and was 15 or 20 seconds ahead when we reached the top of the climb.
The next couple miles continue to follow New Bonsai and then Lower Dave's trail. Both of these trails aren't graveled so I was optimistic the muddy conditions would work in my favor. By the time I reached the end of Dave's I couldn't hear anyone behind me.
After Dave's we followed 580 Road toward the Saddle. I passed my friend Rita in this section and a few more early starters. Seeing them out there always gives me a boost!
By the time I reached Old Growth Trail I could hear the runners behind me closing in. Turning onto Old Growth I looked back down 580 Road and saw a couple guys right on my heels and a few more within 15 or 20 seconds. Looks like I gave up some time on the road.
I passed a lot of early starters on Old Growth and New Growth, including John and Scott who were going to hike the race, and soon found myself back on 580 Road heading up to the Saddle. The top group of guys had spread out a little bit, but there was still 4 or 5 people within 30 seconds of each other. Last year, the race had already spread out a bit more.
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| Old Growth Trail - Mile 8 |
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| Old Growth Trail - Mile 8 |
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| Old Growth Trail - Mile 8 |
I didn't stop at the Saddle aid station, mile 9, and soon was climbing up Ridge Trail. There was a couple other guys right behind me on Ridge so I assumed they didn't stop at the aid station either. I pulled away on the climb up Ridge and had a small lead by the end of the trail.
Turning onto Lower Bomb's Away I saw my friend Tyler and said a quick hello. The day before the race, I ran into Tyler when I was biking so knew that he'd be somewhere on the course. Seeing so many people I know out on the trails is the highlight of my day.
I saw a few more early starters on Lower Bomb's Away including Randy Law and Jamshid Khajavi who would finish their 23rd and 26th Macs on Saturday. Impressive! At the end of Lower Bomb's there is a couple switchbacks and when I passed through here I didn't see anyone behind me. I figured I was 20 or 30 seconds ahead.
After a short stretch of road, we headed into The Maze. The Maze has always been my favorite part of the Mac as the trails are narrow, twisting, and often steep. It's not the fastest running, but I find it the most fun. I passed a few early starters on the first descent into The Maze and a few more on the descent down Low Rider and Baker Creek trails. Seeing my friends Jan and Ken in this section, and Clem, who was volunteering, was great!
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Knucklehead - Mile 10
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| Knucklehead - mile 10 |
After crossing Baker Creek bridge, I started climbing up Shave and a Haircut trail and looked back toward Baker Creek trail. I didn't see anyone coming, so I figured that I was at least 1 minute ahead of second place. A few minutes later I passed the last couple early starters and was on my own.
I love seeing other runners on race day. In particular, I like seeing people at the Mac because so many of them I know pretty well. But when I'm racing, my favorite part is when I'm alone. When the runners have spread out enough that you can't see anyone ahead of you or behind you, that's what I really enjoy.
It's probably just what I'm most comfortable with. I have done the vast majority of my running alone and have always seen running as an individual pursuit. When there are too many people around, that's just not what I enjoy.
After leaving The Maze, I gave
The Queen a quick hello and she pointed me up Innuendo. I settled into a steady rhythm for the climb up Innuendo and kept up the pace as I hit 700 Road and gave a quick hello to my friend Liz and Kamm.
Heading up McCulloch Peak, I kept telling myself "take it easy". Of course, I was running fast, but I didn't want to push too much. It would be a little reckless to push hard at this point and I really wanted to have a good day out there.
I always want to have a good day out there, but the 26th Mac was a little extra special for me. I had already got the mud I wished for, and this year's course was the best Mac course I've ever ran! Each year the course changes a little and getting the inside scoop from the race directors, I knew that future courses will be a bit different. With that said, I made sure to maintain a measured effort on the climb up McCulloch Peak.
My friend Warren directed me to the top of McCulloch where I stopped briefly to get some water from the aid station. From there I descended down No Secret trail and into a low cloud which brought with it a touch of rain. The light drizzle kept up as I made my way onto Playtime trail.
My legs were still feeling good, but I was a little disappointed to feel some fatigue in my quads. My shoes, the
Sense Pro 4, have been discontinued, so I've been trying a some new pairs over the few months. A couple of these pairs aggravated my left foot a bit which left my training a little bit behind last year's.
Regardless, I was going to give it my best effort, so I focused on staying smooth and efficient on the descent down Playtime. Soon I popped out on 680 road and ran down the short road descend before heading into The Maze for the second time.
Cross Cut and Lovely Rita trails weren't too muddy and I was moving fast on my way down to Baker Creek. After Baker Creek, the climb up What Do You Know seemed pretty easy. On the Sly trail went by quickly too and by the time I arrived at the bottom of Knucklehead I was 5 minutes slower that I thought I'd be. That's the magic of The Maze.
Knucklehead was fairly slick at this point, so the climb up wasn't too fast. The climb is short though so I knew I wouldn't lose much time if I focused on getting to the top without slipping around too much. It couldn't have been more than 2 or 3 minutes and I was back on 640 Road running toward Upper Bomb's Away.
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| Knucklehead - mile 19 |
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| Knucklehead - mile 19 |
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| Knucklehead - mile 19 |
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| Knucklehead - mile 19 |
Now that I was through The Maze, the course was all easy running. Upper Bomb's Away had a few muddy spots and one or two steeper pitches, but it is mostly a mellow grade. I ran ran pretty fast through this section and soon was headed onto High Horse trail.
High Horse was in good shape except for the three dips in the trail that are always boggy. High Horse felt pretty short and when I turned onto Hydra I had a quick laugh at the "Trail Closed when travel leaves tracks" sign. There would probably be a few tracks today. Realistically there's muddy tracks for 6 months of the year because no one is going to use the trails for only half the year. After all, what's the point of having trails if you can't use them?
With that said, Hydra wasn't all that muddy. There were a couple flat sections were the water always pools, but the trail was mostly pretty dry. I made decent time through here, but on the brief descent to the 600 Road junction, my downhill legs were feeling a little slow.
It only took me a few minutes to reach Dimple Hill and my Dad met me on top with a couple water bottles. I grabbed these, yelled thanks to the folks at the aid station and headed down Dan's trail.
Dan's is an easy gravel descent but I could feel my quads starting to feel the miles a bit at this point. Last year my quads felt great the whole race, but going into the race I was pretty sure I wouldn't have that luxury this year. However there was only 10 miles to go and 2 significant descents left, so I did my best to open it up on Dan's.
I made it to the bottom of Dan's pretty fast and started the gentle climb up to Middle Horse. This section of road is easy running and I made good time though here. Upper Horse is also easy running and I felt like I maintained pretty solid pace up to 600 Road.
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| Horse Trail - Mile 22 |
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| Horse Trail - Mile 22 |
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| Horse Trail - Mile 22 |
After Horse, there's just over half a mile on 600 Road before reaching Ridge Trail. My Dad was at the top of Ridge Trail and he estimated that the second place runner was 8 minutes behind at Dimple Hill. I'm not the fastest runner out there, so on more runnable terrain, like we would cover from Dimple Hill to the finish, I knew I might give up some time if someone else was feeling good. Hearing this gave me a little extra motivation to push up the short climb on Ridge Trail and descend quickly down to the Saddle.
I didn't stop at the Saddle aid station as I had just got water at Dimple Hill. Leaving the Saddle, there is a climb up Vineyard Mountain which is fairly gentle. I started running up the Vineyard Mountain Trails and a few thoughts went through my mind. My friend Cary had mentioned 4:20 at the beginning of the race and I had a vague recollection of how long this section had taken me last year. There were also a few guys behind me, maybe not that far back if they were running fast. But that was too much to think about. I just tried to run as fast as I could. If my mind started to wander, I told myself "faster".
I would have been fine if the race ended on top of Vineyard Mountain, but there was still 3 miles to go. First, windy Dave's (High Dave's trail). I thought the multitude of switchback on the second half of this trail would be a bit slow in the mud, but all the corners were dry so I had no problem rounding them at speed. The only problem, was the downhill corners weren't that popular with my quads at that point. Didn't matter, faster!
Upper Dave's trail only had 2 switchback and is faster running. This went by quickly. I was on 500 Road. There about a half mile on the road before the final trail descent. The first part of the road is downhill and goes by fast. The second part is flat and doesn't go by fast.
When I reached Section 36 and the 1.6 miles to the finish sign, I turned right and started the short climb up before the final descent. As I began the climb I took a brief glance up 500 Road to see if anyone was coming. All clear.
The climb only takes a minute or two and soon I was headed down to the finish. Last year I reached the top of this climb and started bombing downhill right away. This year it took me a little bit to get in gear. My quads were definitely feeling it at this point, so it took a little encouragement to get them going.
I ran the downhill fast, but I definitely had to push myself. My legs wanted to slow up anytime the trail got a little steeper, but I did my best to keep them moving fast.
The two short climbs near the finish felt easy and soon there was nothing but downhill between me and the finish. And not much downhill either.
Crossing the finish line of the Mac this year felt great! Every year it feels great, but this year was special to me because I really wanted to run well. This time the race meant quite a bit more. The course was terrific and we finally had another muddy day on race day. I knew this combination might never come again so I really wanted to deliver.
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| The Finish |
Thanks to my Mom and Mike Rosling (the race directors) for putting on such a great race. I'm always impressed at how much effort goes into putting on the Mac! Thanks to all the volunteers out there who helped with the race. It's this incredible community that makes the Mac such a special event.
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| Jamshid Khajavi running his 26th Mac! |
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| Karen King running her 26th Mac! |
