Northfield Mountain race -- Sat. June 7

Day of BHS graduation, but time for a race before that. Forecast was for very hot, but fortunately the night had been cool and muggy, and there was mist and almost no direct sun throughout the race. Good thing they started at 9 am, though it was a haul to get there in good time. Noone else from SRRC was there, though I recognised plenty of Snowstorm names (Sri B, Rich C, among others) and Abby W from the CaveHill. Arrived at 8:15, and found there was only one loo -- no portables, which seems pretty lame, given the 150+ field. Ouf. Warmed up with a short run:

8:18 for 1 mile @ 7.3 mph

then stretched and got nervous: my first start in a mainly serious race (very USATF-scoring oriented). Start was pretty much on time: bit of a crush, but I was happy at first to jog along, given the hill ahead. Then I got a bit worried about getting too far behind, so pushed ahead a bit. Basically that was the story of the first half: going cautiously, overtaking little by little, until as we turned downhill I had noone ahead; it stayed that way until the end, noone overtaking me, so I guess I paced it about right - with one exception. The course markers were small and coyly placed, and I lost the way twice. First time just before the powerline straight -- a fork in the trail with no clear sign, so I chose one but was slowing up as I was v. uncertain. Finally at the bottom of a long descent I stopped and looked back, to see a crowd a bit behind me. I was about to yell and apologise for taking the wrong fork, when one of them said it was okay, to keep going. So I lost time there, but at least didn't have to backtrack. The second time was after the powerline section, very near the end; I went straight and came to a fence and gate with no way through: looked back just as someone (the second person to go by) called me back. I raced back on to the main trail, thanked him as I passed and cursed the signage, overtook the next guy and tore down the hill, vaulting the gate the others were going round, and then pushed on almost up to the guy who'd been well ahead of me when I took the wrong turn. For some reason I backed off then, and we were in the chute, him 4 seconds ahead.

I was livid, and in a hurry to get back for the graduation, so I stayed only to grab some food and get a sense of my placing (about 50th, I thought, though it turned out to be 46th) then I took off. I can understand from the race report that signage is an effort to put up, yet there were mile markers laid out -- why not two or three more signs, big arrows at the critical forks? Gah. Things to remember for when Ivan and I organise a race.

Here's the data, a good target for next year:

Time: 48:34
Distance: 6.5 miles (official distance; GPS said 6.3, though signal was wonky a couple of times)
Speed: 8 mph (7.8 mph)

Comments: despite the signage trouble, this is a great race. Has lots of very steep bits, both up and down, and a nice crowd, w/ lovely scenery. Nothing technical, strangely--no single track, no rough bits, all very civilised. I think I could get it down to sub-48, but more than that? Abby Woods did 47:39, even though she was only two places ahead of me. I'd need to get more hill work to try for that, but hey, that's what this summer's for, right?