I received a free entry into the Tread Chico Racing series through the team draw. I decided that the Albion Hills race fit my schedule and went out to see the race. My experience at this race was very positive in general and would race again.
In terms of organization it was really well run. The volunteers were cheery and the race directors were upbeat and energetic.
This particular race did not have many participants. I believe that there was roughly 13 in the full 11.7km race and maybe double that in the 5km race. Most of the participants seemed to be there for the mountain bike race there the next day. They ran Saturday, slept in tents on site, and then raced in the mountain bike race. The overall atmosphere and organization was not unlike similar races like the 5 peaks races. There wasn’t a sponsor’s tent village or anything, but there was drinks and food, and cheery people. There was also a kids race before hand where all kids received a prize from a bin. I felt safe and the course was interesting. The major difference between this race and a 5 peaks race would be that there was no chip timing and there was only 13 people versus 500.
The course started and I found myself leading about 1km in with one particular fellow hot on my heals. I thought about a couple things that moment. One, I still had to go home a be a dad and I had a lot of marking to do as I am a teacher. Two, I was getting in the hurt zone and did not know if I could keep that pace up. I let up a little and the other fellow passed by. I lost site of him until I peered him walking up the top of a hill. It was then that I thought I had a chance at catching him. As it turns out he had just finished throwing up and apparently had thrown up a number of times (I did not know this at the time, I would have run differently). I settled into a manageable respectable pace and decided to defend 2nd place. There was lots of interesting switch backs, one largish kind of hill called the green monster (it was all grass), and scenery that kept the mind busy. I finished up the race in 2nd place and was very happy with the result.
The prize for first was a voucher for a new New Balance shoes from RunningFree. The prizing was noteworthy. I tell myself if I had know the guy in front of me was suffering and that shoes were on the line, I may have dug a little deeper and sacrificed my body a lot more, but who really knows what would have happened. I got home that afternoon and played with my kids in relative ease while my wife took a nap. Who needs new shoes when you have family.
