Clarksburg 30K

Sunday I rode up to Clarksburg - a rural area outside of Sacramento for the annual Clarksburg 30K.

The Pacific Association race schedule is broken up into the cross country series (which I've mainly focused on this fall), long road races (12K and up), and short road races (10K and shorter). Each has its own cumulative point standings. The top 15 in each of the road series, and top 5 in XC are rewarded comp (i.e. free) entry to all the races in that series for the next year.

After my half marathon, I stood 9th in the long road series. Even though I'm opting out of the California International Marathon (the final race in the long road series), a good showing at Clarksburg (the penultimate long road race) would almost certainly lock in my spot in the top 15 on the season.

Enough explaining our points system... I sound like I'm talking about NASCAR talking about "points racing," but that was the idea Sunday.

Heading up to the race, I really had no intention of turning this into a full race effort. I trained hard throughout the week, then made sure I enjoyed myself the first half of the weekend. The day before I was drinking cold beverages and sitting in the sun screaming my head off as Stanford football took down Oregon! Also, I didn't want to risk not recovering in time for the PA Cross Country Championships in 2 weeks.

My race plan was to start off at an easy pace for a few miles (most likely 6 flat miles) then work into a quicker pace toward the end (maybe 5:40 miles). I barely warmed up at all, and got ready to start my easy jog. The gun fired & the jogging began. There were some slower & older runners in front of me, but I just kept my jog. A runner from the Aggies (Larry) who I had just met actually checks up for a few strides & waits for me as he likes my plan. Larry & I chat as we pass some of the early runners who realize they've started way too fast for an 18.6 mile race. I see my teammates Mike & Jonah up ahead who planned on running 5:40s the whole way (and who I planned to let go). As I jog through the mile mark I look at my watch... WHOA! 5:45! We have 17 miles to go!. But it feels so easy. Larry & I keep passing guys until we tuck in right behind Mike & Jonah. I say what's up guys so they'll know I'm with them. They're a little surprised to see me, but not really.

I still haven't decided what to do, but as long as the pace feels this easy, I'm going to roll with Mike, Jonah, Larry, plus a few others with the group. We're all talking to each other, even joking about how far we have left to run & ways to make it feel shorter. 2 miles in 11:27, 3 miles in 17:02 (a 5:35 meaning we'd picked up the pace a bit), 4 in 22:41. The 5th mile was 28:16 - another 5:35. Jonah and Larry make a conscious decision to back off a bit, while Mike, a Sacramento runner, and I keep going. Through the 6th mile we keep chatting. We hit 7 miles in 39:24 (11:07 for the last 2 - so the pace has continued to quicken). Now for the first time we see a runner from the lead pack of 6 who went out WAY ahead of us. In mile 8, I take the lead in my group for the first time as I can't help myself but to try to reel in the runner who I finally recognize as Andrew Timmons from the Rebels - who had beaten me at the end of the Humboldt Half Marathon. I run the 8th mile in 5:26 (44:50). At this point Mike & the other runner back off. I'm committed to this race now, but realize trying to run the next 10 miles by myself and/or running too fast in the middle is a terrible idea. I relax a bit, and the others catch back up with me. Mike even tells me he backed off intentionally from my little surge. Right at 9 miles we catch Timmons. Even though I relaxed, that split was 5:27 (50:18). Andrew tucks in and we keep rolling. Running a pace that's only about 10 seconds per mile slower than my half marathon I'm feeling way better right now than I did at the half way point of that race - not to mention what I felt like at the 9 mile mark of that race.

In the 10th mile I lead our group up the one hill of the course for a 5:31 (55:49 total for 10 miles). 5:34 11th mile, then a 5:28 12th. For the first time I'm getting a bit tired. So I tuck in behind Timmons, but quickly pull around him and back behind Mike. The couple minutes of not pressing the pace makes me feel really fresh again. At this point a weird thing happened. I wanted to keep working with Mike, but didn't want to lose to Timmons (I didn't mention that West Valley is 2nd in the team road racing standings just behind the Rebels). As I see the one downhill ahead I sense Timmons slightly struggling, so I throw a surge. Then on the downhill I lean in and let gravity carry me down. I've opened a very small gap.

Now that I'm running (barely) alone in 6th place I think I see a runner way head. So I try to use him as my motivation rather than staying ahead of the runners right behind me. I turn onto a long stretch of road & quickly learn I'll be running into the breeze for most of the remainder of the race. It's a very light breeze, but when you're getting tired it's very unwelcome.

I run a 5:27 13th mile (1:12:16) & hit the half marathon split in 1:12:50 - easily my 2nd fastest half ever. 14th mile was 5:35 (1:17:53). Now it's getting hard. Every few minutes I'm telling myself to relax but keep the stride rolling. I'm now breaking the distance into very small segments. It makes the miles go by less quickly, but keeps my head in the race. The 15th mile was the first one that I really slowed down on - 5:43. This is getting tough. I want to pack it in and jog to the finish, but I can't make a move in the 12th mile & give up before they catch me, so I try to hold my small gap. I haven't looked back yet, but I can judge from the joggers still running outward on the course and cheering for us, that Mike and Andrew can't be more than 5 seconds back.

In the 16th mile we turned out of the wind and I definitely see a runner coming back. He's going to really need to die for me to catch him, but the faster I run, the better chance I have. The 16th split is 5:30 (1:29:07). Then we turn back into the wind and life gets tough again. I sneak a look back and I have less than 10 seconds on the runners behind me. The 17th mile is another (painful) 5:43. I keep my eyes on the runner ahead (almost a minute ahead still). He's coming back to me, but too slowly. I hit the mile to go sign thinking 6th place is locked up.

Then the moment of panic hits. I hear Mike's voice behind me, meaning he must be talking to Timmons. I make the last turn with roughly 3/4 of a mile to go & glance back. They're not far behind me (maybe 10 or 15 seconds) & I swear I see 4 runners!! Are the other runners part of the half marathon which share the same course but started later? Am I at risk of dropping from 6th to 10th? I don't know how I'm going to hold them off, but I have to try.

There was nothing fun about that last mile until I hit 100 meters to go. I just attacked it one small segment at a time. Get to that road sign, get to that spectator. Finally get to the 400 meters to go sign. After running 18.4 miles, I tried to picture myself starting the last lap of a track race. Nobody is going to pass me on the last lap. I hit the 200 meters to go sign, quickly glanced back, & knew I finally had it. I let myself enjoy the last 100 meters as the announcer says "let's see who this is coming in quickly... Jamey Gifford of San Francisco." It felt great and I gave a little fist pump across the line.

My final time was 1:43:57 for 6th place and a 5:35 average pace for 18.6 miles. Mike Little finished 8th (just behind Andrew Timmons) in 1:44:27, and Jonah had his best race in quite some time in 9th @ 1:45:31. Of the 4 runners I saw chasing me, one of them was in fact from the half marathon race, and the other was a figment of my imagination.

There were a few things particularly satisfying about this race. First it was how unexpected my performance was. And it felt good to be the first finisher in our chase pack. It's great to run a fast pace and feel comfortable for so long - a true sign of fitness. Finally, comparing this to Bay to Breakers in the May, I just ran a faster pace for 30K than I had for 12K! I hate to say it, but it looks like as a 30s age group runner, I've lost my speedster status, and I'm turning into a long distance runner. Well... hopefully I'll prove myself in some shorter races soon. Also, hopefully I can recover before the XC championships in 2 weeks.

This race puts me (temporarily) in a tie for 2nd in the long road race standings. I'll fall back at least a few spots by not running the marathon, but it should still be a solid final standing. I'm a little bummed I'm not signed up for the marathon, but I'll enjoy my last 2 cross country races (plus a road 5K).