X-Country Season Ender
Saturday, November 10th marked the final race of the 2001 Upstate NY Cross-Country Series, though for me it didn't quite feel like a real cross-country race since we didn't have to start the morning with a two-hour drive (the real definition of cross-country being that you drive great distances across the country, run a few miles, and then drive great distances back home). Apart from that it was a glorious day for cross-country, sunny and cool, with temperatures in the upper 40s or even 50s in the sun. The weather had also cooperated the previous week, holding off on the serious rain that would have had the already spongy turf of the Cornell golf course classified as a wetland (running the course early in the week had been accompanied by the frequent and unpleasant sensation of water squelching into one's socks). A number of us, including the indefatigable Rick Hoebeke, Jim Bisogni, Jeffrey Juran, Bruce Roebal, and me had been out the day before (and Rick the day before that) to clean the leaves off certain stretches of the course, install poles and cones, paint arrows and mile markers, and generally prep the course for the race.
Nevertheless, when I arrived at 9:30, Rick and Herb Engman were busily setting up more cones and and the finish line chute. They had everything under control, so I went for a warmup run with Ron Hulsander and Eric Maki, who'd run the course earlier in the week, but hadn't been able to distinguish our particular turns from those of the Cornell 5 mile course or the Ithaca High 5K course. I'd dressed heavily for the warmup, figuring I'd get nice and warm before having to strip down to shorts and a long-sleeved t-shirt - an accidental strategy that had worked well at Black Creek Park several races earlier. For future reference, make sure not to do that too far before the race or you cool off, and it's also worth bringing a different shirt, since otherwise you find yourself stripping down to shorts and a sweat-dampened t-shirt. Ick. But after the requisite greeting of everyone I knew, stretching, milling around randomly, hitting the bathroom, talking to the fully clothed Charlie Fay and Casey Carlstrom about their non-running-related injuries, and milling some more, it was time for the start.
I was more than slightly distressed to see Charlie looking natty in civilian clothes, since I'd been planning to key off him for the first mile of the race, an approach that had worked well for keeping me going out at a sane pace during the last two races, but I decided to try to hold onto Ron Hulsander instead, since we'd finished nearly together at the previous race. The only problem was that the start was somehow more confused and crowded than before, and I was almost immediately blocked out from Ron by a number of other runners. Then there was the distraction of a guy in blue going down right next to me, brushing my arm as he tripped over one of the golf course's many ruts hidden in slightly taller grass. By the time things settled out a bit, we'd done the first mile and were started into the second loop. I could still see Ron ahead of me, along with Rick, and Bruce was just in front of me as well as we hit the mile point in about 5:30. From there I tried to get back into contact with Ron and Rick, but just couldn't manage it. I passed Bruce and together we caught some GVH guy, but that was roughly how things stood going through the second mile (6:02 split), and even into the third mile (5:55 split. No closer to Rick and Ron, no further back, and no places particularly changing.
As those of you who've run our course know, after three miles it's time for the gorge. Dreaded by many, the gorge is maybe two-thirds of a mile long, with a twisty downhill (stay right at the mud!) followed by a deceptively long flat stretch that's actually just across Flatrock from Forest Home Drive. Then comes the uphill, which is truly an awful thing... unless you've been running it somewhere between one and three times a week for the last month. I won't say it was fun, and we all lost two places in the gorge (one to a madman sprinting down the slippery hill and one to some guy who steamed by us going up the other side), but for those of us who've spent so much time down there, the gorge was psychologically a non-issue, and we knew to come up the final incline and increase stride rate into the finish.
And then it was done. Ron managed to slip past Rick into the finish (23:34 vs 23:39), I came in a few seconds later at 23:43 (a 6:08 last mile, despite the gorge), and Bruce followed me in a second later.
Needless to say, we weren't the top High Noon finishers. Although our hotshots Brian Culley (attending his father's 60th birthday party instead of winning the race, which would have guaranteed him the overall individual championship as well) and Jeff Nason (a likely second place, but still injured) and Mike Selig weren't present to put the High Noon Open team in contention (we ended up 5th), Chris Dupont still took 4th place in 20:59, and Josh Cross was 19th in 22:22. Derek Dean and Lawren Smithline filled out the open team with 47th and 53rd places respectively. The High Noon Masters team fared better, taking second overall, though the lack of Casey and Charlie hurt, as did John Hylas's dropping out due to a freak hotplate accident burning his foot (not during the race, for those trying to imagine a rogue hotplate hiding in the tall grass). The High Noon Veterans team was third overall by a single heartbreaking point. You can see the full results for everyone I've missed on the Web at www.gvh.net/Upstate/2001_Upstate_NY_XC_Race_5.htm. A good job was done by all.
After the race a number of people stuck around for the buffet and awards party, and although High Noon didn't take home as many awards as we would have liked, Rick won the veterans title handily again, Ron and Bruce placed in the top ten individual masters, Tim Ingall won a mousepad for being the only High Nooner to make all five races, and the High Noon Masters team took second for the series behind GVH.
-- Adam Engst
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