Sunday, January 15, 2017

Chasing the Skyline Shuffle


It’s been months since I ran the Skyline Shuffle 5K hosted by the Lawrence Trail Hawks and now it’s time to relive it.
Photo by Gary Henry.
My dad and I signed up for the Skyline Shuffle together in April. This would be our second trail race together but certainly not our last. It was an exciting time for me since I was meeting so many new people that love trail running as much as I and making so many new friends that I constantly run with now.
This race is at Clinton Lake near campground 3.  We start on West Park Road and run up Bunker Hill from one end of the hill to the other, deep into the woods where Frisbee golf holes are, then back up Bunker Hill and to the finish line. The course is mostly on cross-country ski trails. It’s grassy and hilly, but not very technical, unless you count the hills. There are three major hills throughout the course, or one for every mile. The first is Bunker Hill, where we run up a path that has been mowed down so you know where to go. You run up to the top of the hill then run straight south until you get to the other end. The second hill is a short by really steep hill in the second mile of the race. Running up it fast can really take the wind out of you.  The third and final hill is Bunker Hill again. This time, you go up other side make it to the top and head directly down to the other side and back to the finish.

It is definitely not one of those races that you can just look at a map and know where you are going unless you are very familiar with Clinton Lake. My dad and I did a preview run of the race with one of the race directors, Matt. Even by the end of the run, my dad and I still didn’t think we could remember the race route without markers. The night before the race, we went and walked the route to make sure we got it down. During our walk we encountered a lot of seed ticks, so we knew we needed bug spray the next morning.

After carbing up and a good night’s sleep, it was race day. It was a very sunny day and temperatures in the 70s’. We got there early to make sure we were ready and we got to chat with lots of friends who were also running. Then it was time to run.

We made our way to the starting line and for some reason we ended up near the front of the pack. As soon as I realized our position, I thought it was a mistake. There was no way we were going to finish even close to first, but then the sound of Viking horn went off and we our legs started moving with the rest of the runners.
I felt a little panic as everyone rushed around as we made our way to Bunker Hill. I knew that my dad and I had started too fast. We quickly made it to the bottom of our first hill. It was a beautiful sight watching all the really fast runners running along the hill with the sun behind them. I powered up Bunker Hill with my dad right behind me. I finally felt like I could catch my breath after making it to the top. We continued down the hill and made our way into the wooded area near the Frisbee golf course.
Making our way up Bunker Hill. Photo by Gary Henry.

At that point my dad had taken the lead between the two of us. However, there was several runners right behind us. We reached a creek that we had to make our way across creating a long conga line of runners. The man in front of the line just kept going straight instead of following the markers and since we were right behind my dad followed after him. Luckily, I noticed that we need to switch directions and yelled after my dad to go the right way, everyone began following me.
We were half way through the race and quickly closing in the second steep hill. I steadied my breath and my strides to make it up the hill. After that point I could tell I was getting tired. I was still fairly new to racing. We moved through the rest of the golf course and my dad had passed me along with other runners. I stayed behind him for a while. My dad continued to lead us as we reached the bottom of Bunker Hill and scurried up it and back down the other side.

My dad took off during the downhill and I followed behind him and he made back to the road and close to the finish. I cheered him on so that he would finish strong. During that time a little girl passed me and went running to the finish line, however, I didn’t know at the time that she wasn’t participating in the race. At the time it gave me a wakeup call. How is this little girl passing me? Turns out she wasn’t actually participating in the race and was just running back to her dad. Another man was gaining ground on my dad so I cheered louder screaming at him to go so that he wouldn’t get passed before reaching the finish. It worked. My dad finished before the other man and I was getting close to the finish line. I could feel someone getting close to me as well, so I pushed myself with all of the kick I had and made it to the line one second before the man behind me.

My dad running to the finish line. Photo by Gary Henry.

One of the neat things about this race was that we could make a prediction on what our finishing time would be in order to win an award. So you had no idea what time you had because you weren’t allowed to wear a watch and you couldn’t see the time as you ran in. My prediction was 29 minutes and 30 seconds. However, I completed it in 28 minutes and 46 seconds. After my finish one of my friends, Shari, told me that I might have gotten third place. I was in complete disbelief. I guess I didn’t take the time to notice how many women were in front of me. Was that true?
We waited until everyone finished shuffling through the Skyline. I had fun cheering everyone else as they made their way across the finish line. Then Matt gathered everyone around and then announced the winners. Shari got first! She kicked ass and PR’ed at 23 minutes. Matt announced the second place winner. Then he pronounced me as the third place finisher. It was a nice surprise! This was only my third trail race and it was nice to place. I got an awesome award made by Matt himself! Overall, I had tons of fun running with my dad and hanging out with the Trail Hawks.
Matt presenting me with my third place award. Photo by Gary Henry.

No comments:

Post a Comment