As promised, the Rothrock Trail Challenge had a lot of rocks. Infamously known for its technical single track, cliff scaling and unrelenting undulations, the race attracts over 400 runners to central Pennsylvania willing to test their patience and skill in the east coast humidity. It is part of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup and was my 3rd race in the series.
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| Rothrock Elevation Profile. |
I had some concerns about the
brutality of the course because my hip flexor really flared up after my last
long run. The pain forced me to take 3 days completely off at the beginning of
the week. Kerry and Chris graciously worked to get things under control enough
for me to be able to run the race without further aggravating the strain.
To add insult to injury, our
connecting flight to PA was cancelled due to a plane malfunction. We had to sit
in the Chicago airport for 10 hours before the first available flight. After
28+ hours we finally made it to my parent's house and then drove to State
College Friday afternoon to preview a section of the course. We chose to run
the Shingletown Gap cliff trail to eliminate the element of
surprise the next morning. It was going to be a long 17 miles on the trails.
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| Hunting for rattlesnakes. |
Because the World Long Distance
Mountain Running Championship is less than a month away, Tad and I made a
conscious decision to run safely instead of aggressively to protect my hip and to
make sure that I can recover quickly to resume training prep for World's.
From the start, I had the mindset
of being out for a long run with 400 people. I followed the assembly line of
racers up the first steep climb and then at the first downhill the eventual
winner, local Meira Minard (she has won Rothrock multiple times), went bombing
gracefully down. I tiptoed down as if on hot coals. I realized that I was not
going to win this race by being conservative. I ran alone for the next several
technical miles. Around 7 miles, a group of chatty men caught up to me. They
kept me entertained until I fell flat in front of them and stopped the train.
While I was rolling around on the ground, the third place girl passed me. I
motioned them on so I could take my time and carefully maneuver the rocks.
Despite my trying to be careful, I caught my toe and fell twice and rolled my
ankle several times. Fortunately, just a couple scrapes and bruises to show for
it.
I ran with Bryce Gavitt, two time
Trophy Series winner, for a while until a sour stomach from bad pizza the night
before got the better of him on the second to last climb. I am thankful for his
cheerfulness to keep me company for at least 2 miles.
I crossed the finish line as 3rd
woman, good for 15 points and a 34 point lead in the Mountain Cup. Full results here. The post race party was as
intense as the course: a barbecue with all the fixings, pizza and even an ice cream
truck to celebrate the courageous effort of all the runners.
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| The only rockless section. |
I chose to wear the Helios SR which fit me like a glove and
have a sticky rubber to grip even the slickest of rocks. However, for such a
technical race like Rothrock, in hindsight I may have been better off wearing
the Bushidos. Because the Helios SR
is so narrow, it would get stuck between the rocks and start to pull off my
foot when I pressed off. I did see 10 pairs of Bushidos on feet, but no Helios
on the starting line.
A big thank you to race director
Craig Fleming and all of the volunteers, especially Megan Marshall for being such great
hosts, conducting a seamless race and for marking the course so well I never
had to look down at my watch (which is a good thing because I would have fallen
flat on my face). Thank you to Bio Skin
for the awesome support provided by the compression calf sleeves. I can't wait
to get my hips into a pair of the Bio Skin compression shorts! I also want to
especially thank Dr. Chris Lockwood
and Kerry Gustafson for fitting me
into their busy schedules to make sure that I was "ALIGNed" and
"PRIMEd."
The good news is my hip flexor
feels better the day after the race than it has in two weeks. Mission
accomplished.
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| Final descent to the finish. |
*Tad Davis photos.
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