2014 - Crystal Springs Trail Half Marathon

2014 - Crystal Springs Trail Half Marathon

Woodside, CA - August 9, 2014

I set aside structured training and race ambitions this year to focus on my growing family.  Despite a
lack sleep, and training, I decided to mix things up and race the Crystal Springs Trail half marathon.  The event fit the bill perfectly as the race is pretty, requires only 2 hours away from a busy home, and accepts last minute entries.    

The course is largely contained within Huddart Park and meanders up Kings Mountain towards Skyline Boulevard.  I was happy to run the cool and shady course on an otherwise hot and sunny summer morning.  I seeded myself near the front of about 170 racers and simply hung on as the course narrowed from a wide field to a fire road.

As the fire road turned to single-track and the gradient increased, the pace of the race dropped.  The course steadily climbs soft single-track through redwood forests for the first half before looping back down to the start/finish line.  I enjoyed my position and guessed I was somewhere in the top ten.  A spectator near the top of the mountain commented that I was actually in 4th place overall and closing on the next two racers.  The race was on!

Downhill running is not my strong suit but I pushed my pace to the brink.  I reeled in the high school XC runner immediately ahead of me to move into 3rd place overall.  Unfortunately, my lead evaporated once the course flattened.  He caught and ultimately passed me. Trodding a fine line between running fast and blowing up, I struggled to keep him within 30 yards.

I continued to chase for a few minutes but the gap persisted.  I decided to mount a last attack once within the last mile of the race.  I closely watched the distance traveled on my Garmin watch slowly tick upward as the time to go for glory drew closer.  Unfortunately, just before 12 miles, my plan failed as I heard the unmistakable commotion of the finish line.  Confused, I rounded a bend to watch the XC runner cross the finish line.  Apparently the course and my watch did not agree on the true distance of the course!

I finished in 4th place as the 3rd place male, 19 seconds behind the high school XC runner.  I thanked him for the friendly competition and a fun challenge.  The fastest woman of the day finished 14 seconds ahead of him as the 2nd place overall finisher.  All in all a close race.

Before I knew it I was back home playing with my family and enjoying what remained of the Saturday morning.  There are few better ways to begin a weekend than with the thrill of friendly competition on beautiful trails.

Results: 1:41:42 (official: 7:46/mi; Strava: 8:28/mi)
http://www.coastaltrailruns.com/cs_smmr_results_14.htm