Dirt Cheap Stage Race 2011

A little background - The Stage Race concept came about because Dave Boutillier (aka "Boots", co owner of Fleet Feet with his wife Ellen) is a professional duathlete - since he has a love of biking, he wanted to create a running race that would kind of be like a Tour de France.  The winner of each stage would receive a yellow (male) or pink (female) jersey, in honor of the Tour de France and Giro di Italia, respectively.  The Stage Race was held over two days in Mendon Ponds Park on the outskirts of Rochester.


The race runs in three stages:  two on Saturday ("Time Trial" and "Devil's Bathtub"), and the third ("Queen's Stage") on Sunday.  Completing this race would conclude 4 races in three days...definitely a challenge, especially since I had ZERO training in the 2-3 weeks prior due to illness (normally I can run through the occasional cold, but this was much worse).


We were lucky to have absolutely perfect weather for the entire series!


(all photo courtesies Barb Boutillier, unless otherwise noted)


Stage 1 Time Trial:  

This course is one of my favorites, with some pretty challenging inclines.  What I hate more than anything is that it's a time trial.  I love me some challenge, but when your name starts with "A" (runners are lined up and start alphabetically), and you're a slower runner, the experience really, really sucks.  I'm a runner who competes with myself and my own speed, but being passed so early in the race is incredibly frustrating.  Plus, my lungs were on fire - being sick zapped my cardio something fierce.  For once my legs felt okay, but I couldn't get my breathing under control.


Regardless, I know this course like the back of my hand...knew the hills, the blind turns, which worked in my favor.  Although well marked with hot pink engineer flags, YellowJacket Racing's courses require you to pay attention - so don't zone out.  Even one guy who called "on your right" to pass me before the final turn to the finish - a left turn - ended up going right.  The flags were obvious and plentiful - Ray Charles could have figured out that turn, so I couldn't feel bad for the guy.  


In any case, getting a little lost in a trail race comes with the territory.  Just go with the flow...


Finish time:  40:23

Stage 2:  Devil's Bathtub

Stage 2 is also a familiar route from the Dirt Cheap races over the summer.  This is my favorite course in the park in terms of the different terrain you get in a relatively short distance...open, wide trails, barely single-track areas in the bog, and some crazy inclines/declines...all leading up to the finish UP a staircase.  About a mile in I pitched it on a flat part...which is usually my M.O. of tripping over my own feet or something.  Landed on my left hip and left hand - a badly bruised hip and an open bleeding wound on my hand with plenty of nasty dirt to slow the bleeding.  As I passed my friend Jim, he said "what did you do, high-five a tree?"  I wish!

Photo courtesy - Laura Church

By breathing was a tad easier than Stage 1, but still not stellar.  I finished relatively strong, took the steps with guts, but was really tired.  Throughout this stage I contemplated whether or not to run the next day, until I crossed the finish line and Ellen (one of the race directors) announced "And here she's completing her third race in two days, and she'll be running the 11 miler tomorrow!"

Shit.

So, off to the wah-mbulance I go to get my hand cleaned out (to which the EMT asked if I was experiencing stigmata), grab some grub, and head home to stretch and prepare for the next day's challenge.

Finish time:  57:45

Stage 3:  Queen's Stage

The beast was upon us.  Those of us who had suffered the first two stages had one thing in mind....the boo-ya sweatshirts awarded to every runner who completed all three stages.  

Waking up for this race was rough...I felt like I'd been hit by a truck when I woke up at 3 am (my usual routine...wake up, drink some fluids and go back to sleep.  This way, I'm not trying to hydrate right before the race and end up with puppy bladder at the start line), and when I woke up at 5:30 it wasn't much better.  I REALLY thought of DNS'ing, not because Ellen's announcement at the last race made me feel obligated, but I have a habit of running races when maybe I shouldn't.  I was really worried about my respiratory shortcomings.  I knew I was going to finish...I've never not finished a race even in the worst of circumstances.  But for some reason I dragged myself out of bed and headed over to the race.

The race went well - I opted for the early start just so I could run my own race and not feel pressure from others.  Funny how running solo is something I enjoy - more than I used to (although I do like occasional group runs).  Well, in any case, this stage went better than I anticipated.  The first half is kind of rough with some inclines around the East Esker Trail part of the course.  There are about three miles that are nice and flat and relaxing before you get hit with the "cloverleaf" portion around Hopkins Point.  My fuel strategy (HEED and water...a sip at every mile - a strategy with which I started experimenting after not being able to choke down anything solid at Sehgahunda) worked perfectly.  My legs felt good, my lungs felt better than yesterday, and I was really enjoying the trail.  As with the rest of the stages, the leaves cover most of the hazards;  with my depth perception being chronically awful after a concussion a few years ago this can be pretty dangerous.  But I managed to stay upright the whole race.

When I ran this race back in 2009 (on an ankle I sprained during Stage 1), I started getting passed by the main starting group at about mile 6.5 or 7 - and subsequently by practically every other person running the race.  So as I approached this part I started to get kind of nervous (so much for running my own race!).  But I was still running against other early starters and in a way I was reaching a goal...to not get passed before mile 8.  At the cloverleaf (a series of steep inclines and declines), I came up on a runner who was likely (as politically incorrect as this may sound) a little older...maybe in her 60s?  I was simply amazed at her effort.  She told me that this was the toughest thing she had ever done and was really getting tired and doubting herself.  I tried to offer her some encouragement as I passed her...something that is hard to sound sincere about as you're passing.  But I still look back on that moment with amazement, hoping that I'm tackling this very trail at her age.

I actually didn't get passed by runners from the main start until around Mile 9 (and only by the eventual winner).  By that part I was pretty tired and was happy to see the finish, which was - of course - uphill!

Finish Time:  2:31:52

I'm hoping that next year I can keep healthy and further improve my standings (which weren't stellar but were all a drastic improvement from 2009).  I really love this race - I love the challenge of running multiple races in a short time, I love the trails in Mendon, and I love the atmosphere:  a party where a race suddenly breaks out.  And I feel very lucky to have access to such great races so close to home.  I honestly don't feel the need to travel out of state for a good race...New York trails are in a class of their own.  It's good to be a runner here!