Organizers of the Dirty Half once again put on an amazing race. Thanks to the Footzone crew, volunteers, and all of the sponsors. This race just keeps getting better. Admittedly I was a bit disappointed to not have the stomach for a Down and Dirty IPA after the race, but did enjoy a Taco Stand burrito and Jamba Juice.
As for the actual race, it was almost epic for the Cabas. My wife Katie did her part by cruising to victory in 1:25:27. Her goal was to break 1:26, which she did easily. Her top competitor was to be Lisa Nye, who apparently was sick and wasn't able to race. With Lisa out of the picture, it was Katie vs the clock. Or should I say Katie vs Jeff Browning who battled her the entire way and ended up in an official dead heat. The photo finish showed Browning outleaning Katie at the line. I think Browning was just pacing her to victory, much like he did for Lisa Nye last year. What a gentleman.
As above, I mentioned the race was almost epic. The weather was nice, trail conditions perfect, and legs felt great. Unfortunatley Santi Ocariz showed up and crushed us all. Since the race, as is customary with my neurotic behavior, I have googled Mr. Ocariz to see who this guy was that flew by me, uphill, running a sub 6 minute pace. Turns out he is a nordic skiier for University Wisconsin Green Bay, and also a pretty good runner. All I could dig up was his high school mile time of 4:37. Anyway, he was fit and strong and did a great job posting a 1:17:05.
For me, I was still happy with my 1:18:00 but really wanted to go sub 1:18. Amazing what a difference 1 second makes on your race perspective. I did have a good battle with Mike Condon, Damon Kluck and Nick Miller through 7 miles though. Those guys pushed me hard. I then set my sight on Santi, who I seemed to be reeling in and was within 15 seconds of at mile 8. Come to find out, he had a side stitch that allowed me to gain on him. Once his side stitch resolved at mile 9, he took off again and beat me soundly. Guess I just have to go faster next year.
As for the oddsmaker, he did pretty well with the ladies, but not so well with the men. Top three ladies, Katie Caba, Kristen Riley (1:33:31) and Ahna Jura were all favorites going in and did their job to hold down podium spots. Nice PR for Ahna at 1:34:05. On the men's side, only Caba finished on the podium. Ocariz and Nick Miller (1:18:58) somehow dodged my internet search. They will definitely not be overlooked next year. Nice job guys. Regarding the master's division, there were no surprises with the women, with top honors going to Amy Peterson (1:39:38), followed by Laura Fritz (1:40:56) and Chris Vergona (1:41:48). The men's masters went down totally different than expected. Kevin Hutchins, an apparent ringer from Salem finished first with a 1:23:19, followed by JC Callans (1:25:06) and Jeff Spangler (1:29:10). As for the over/under on Teague Hatfield's quest for 1:30:00, he easily was under with a 1:28:44.
Nice job to all finishers. I talked with many runners following the race. I heard about many new PRs, many off days, some really bad days, but everyone had a good story and another experience to reflect on. Ultimately everyone seemed to have a good time, which is why we do this in the first place.
Now back to training for Cascade Lakes Relay and Haulin Aspen Marathon in August.
Ch-ch-ch-changes
5 years ago
5 comments:
You know, yesterday after the race I went through all 7 years of my results (I only missed the first) and was pleased with how far I have come since 2003 - almost 11 min. faster (06 was a purposely slow year with a big race only a week later). Anyway, so I looked at your past results. You, JC, have got to have one of the best turn arounds in DH history - from 1:37:27 in '03 (heck, I even beat you that year!), took 15 min. off in '04, last year breaking the magical 1:20 barrier, then this year posting a mighty fine 1:18:00. Not too shabby for someone old enough to be Santi's dad.
Too funny saschasdad. You are as geeky as I am. I also looked through the DH results of years past and had a good laugh with 03. Heck, I only beat my wife by 19 seconds that year. Thanks for the age reminder. As Santi's father however, I would have raised him to never beat me in a race.
Jeff, you are my inspiration, if I can take 15 minutes off my time in 3 or 4 years I will be running right behind you or maybe in front of you since you will be OLD by then!
Jeff,
Nice work man. I WAS pacing Katie, yeah, yeah...that's it. A gentleman, yes. :)
I was just trying to not get chick'd! Okay, in all honesty, if I'd known she was 21 seconds from Lisa's record, I would have pushed harder and yelled at her over my shoulder to "c'mon!" Tell her great job on the PR and I'm sorry I didn't know she was so close to the record. I would have really "gentleman'd" out then. :) Peace.
Jeff, great run at the Dirty Half...and congrats to all finishers. Way to go hammering a 1:18 for that course! Nice victory for you wife too.
That was my first trail 1/2, and being an "outsider" from the valley I was impressed with the race itself. The Footzone crew, volunteers, and sponsors indeed deserve a big thank you. I would categorize it as an "off" day for me, but nevertheless it was a great time. I felt like a slug and it showed! As a late entry I wasn't sure exactly what to expect and was hoping to battle it out with Brian Gingerich. That didn't pan out, but I knew there would be plenty of people to chase or try to keep within sight (which obviously I couldn't do!)
Again, nice race and great job to all finishers. I'm looking forward to making the trip again in the future.
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