Run Your Bass Off 10k
Crystal Falls, MI
Running this race was not part of my schedule as little as two weeks ago. When a last minute work trip to Green Bay was inserted into my schedule, I thought that I would make a weekend out of it and surprise my dad on his birthday. Somehow my mom was able to keep a secret and picked me up in Green Bay and drove me back home to Kingsford (MI). When I found out about the trip, I had cross referenced it with the local race calendar and found out about the annual Bass Run in Crystal Falls, MI. They offer a Full Bass (10k) and a Half Bass (3.7 miles). I would run my bass off in the full bass, which is the premiere event for competition, but not for attendance. I was expecting numbers amounting to ~60 for the full and 100+ for the half.
On the day before the race, I spent about 6 hours on my feet attending the Hog Wild Music Jam with my parents. We listened to the likes of the Buckinghams, Chubby Checker and the Grass Roots. This was a fun time, but remaining on my feet for more than I would prefer on the day before a race. I rolled with the punches as it was important for me to spend time with family and not have it be all about running. That said, spending a quality day back on the river sitting around a campfire drinking water and eating carbs would have been nice also.
I woke before 6am on race morning, knowing that I had yet to register and it was a 30-minute drive for this 9am start. The morning was usual for a prerace morning; I was up with plenty of time but somehow managed to cram all of my prep into the last 10 minutes. With one last bathroom stop, we loaded into the car and hit the road. I chilled in the back seat with my ipod on low volume, listening to the likes high bpm 5 star hard rock music. It was kind of like getting a personal chauffeur to the race, making me feel important, like a pampered athlete; or maybe just like an only child home for the weekend.
We got to the park and went through registration pretty quickly. I didn’t know the course and the hand drawn map wasn’t to scale or providing much help, so we decided to drive it quickly. Plus I had to change yet and the temps were too chilly to stay out of the wind for long, so I didn’t mind the ride. It sounds funny to even write the phrase ‘it was too cold to stay outside’ when talking about a race in July but that is Michigan for you. We toured the course, seeing all of the hill climbs and twists and turns of the route, excluding the out and back section. I like to know what I am in for when it comes to a race, but knowing that there were at least 4 hill climbs, a grass section and another portion along a sandy road did not ease my already nervous stomach.
We got back to Runkle Lake at about 8:30, which was plenty of time to hit the restroom twice and get in a mile of warm up time. It was starting to rain lightly now and there was no sun in sight with the overcast skies. I applied some last minute icy hot to my right calf to ease a slight tweak that I had been nursing and took off my cover shirt and visor, throwing them into the car. We were parked at the starting line, and with a crowd of less than two hundred for both races, it wasn’t difficult to make it to the line. I did some quick strides, warming up my legs and scoping out the competition. I didn’t see any faces that I recognized, but I could pick out the likely front-runners. Typically you can tell the difference between the people who look the part and the people who are the part. The top runner in the 10k appeared to be a younger kid wearing a Green Bay East track singlet and shorts. I would later find out that this was Jake Keehan, a UW Oshkosh track star and otherwise nice guy. Other than that, it was going to take an ordinary Joe with amazing skills wearing cotton to have an outstanding day to come anywhere near the top. As we got ready to start, my Dad told me that I was going to win. I pointed out the competition to him but he still looked confident in my abilities.
We stood on the line, facing the opposite direction of the 5k runners. With very little advanced notice, the starter yelled ‘GO’ and we were off. The first section consisted of less than 50 meters of road before veering off to the right to a grassy section that used to be the entrance to the park before it was moved in the mid 90’s. We were sprinting down the hill and jockeying for position. It was very clear that this would be a 2-3 horse race before we reached the road again, coming up off of the grass. I was behind Jake, with another younger running in my footsteps. The end of the first half-mile was at the bottom of the hill as we crossed the bridge and as I looked at my watch, we were on 5:22 pace. I knew that this was ridiculous and that we wouldn’t hold it with the first hill climb looming, but it was fun to sprint out and quickly separate the contenders from the pretenders. I thought about passing Jake, but as I pulled up on his shoulder, I thought better and stepped back behind him, slightly drafting for a few meters. I could tell that he was strong and unless something went wrong, that he was going to be tough to beat. I was still going to run my race and give it everything I had.
The last half of the first mile was up the infamous hill in Crystal Falls. When you mention this town name to people in the area, they immediately associate it to the hill. The entire downtown stretches about 1 mile from the river to the top of the hill near the courthouse. We would turn before the top, but eventually make it to the top via side streets. Just before a fast right off of the hill climb, we had the 1-mile split called at 5:44. My second half-mile was 3:03, though it felt much, much slower. I had told my dad earlier that if I had a chance today, it was going to because of the shape I was in, and that I was a good hill climber. We had 1 hill down with many to go.
At this point, Jake and bike pacer were maybe 10 seconds ahead of me now, but will in sight, despite the twists and turns of the course. The course would zigzag to the top of the hill, giving us another short but steep hill climb along the way. I felt good despite the fast start and the early hills, though I clocked a 3:06 half mile split which was slightly slower than I wanted to be through this point on the course. The good news was that I was able to recovery extremely quickly on the down hills, immediately dropping the pace back down to sub 6’s. We made a left onto the out and back section and looked at my second mile split 5:54, due to a great 2:48 last half mile, coming down the hills. I passed up a water stop on the downhill, partly because Jake didn’t take any and partly because I just didn’t need it for thirst or for the cooling effect. I was now at 11:38 through two miles.
In the out and back section we ran a road that turned every few hundred meters. Having just driven the course, I was able to run the tangents, keeping the course as short as possible and make up some distance on him. So despite the fact that I had not driven this section, I had the presence of mind to look ahead and stay focused on the tangents. The road rolled along through here, but we faced a 20 mph head wind. I thought about running 10 miles an hour, combined with this head wind and I knew that it would spell trouble for the way out. But if I could just hold on, I would be able to take advantage of it quickly on the way back. I ran fairly even, clocking splits of 2:59 and 3:03 for a mile split of 6:02. I was now at 17:40 or running 5:53 pace with nearly half the race over. I had only been in this territory once before and it lead to a PR at River City 10k earlier this year.
On the end of the out section, we turned right onto a gravel road, made a quick left and then another left and began to head back. I couldn’t see the runner behind me, but I knew that he was close. He had been working hard on closing the gap and know that we began to see other runners that he knew, I could hear him talking to them and could tell that he was just meters behind. Shortly after this realization, he powered by me, despite an effort to increase the tempo to ward him off. He ran past and I told him to go get the lead runner, wondering what his response would be. I’m not sure what he said, but I got the notion that he wasn’t going to try. I ran past the two other runners that I knew, Kristi, then Erin Dishaw and they knew that I was now in 3rd and that I was trying to win this race. They looked happy just to be out and enjoying the day, while I was cursing myself for letting that runner pass me. I stayed close the second place runner, hoping that I would be able to reel him in on the hills. I had slowed in the first part of the mile, which is probably why he passed, but sped up in the latter stages. The 4th mile was a 3:01 and a 2:48 for a 5:49. I was now at 23:29 or 5:52 pace. I had managed to lower the overall pace, despite getting passed. Maybe this is what motivated me?
We made a left, crossing the river again and passing the aid station again. This mile would have the last of the hills in it, with the final 1.2 miles on a level part of the course. I could tell that I was closing the gap a little on second place. As we would climb, I would narrow the gap, and then on the downs he would stretch out his legs and widen the gap again. After a first half-mile time of 2:57, I decided that it was the time to make a push on him. I don’t have a finishing kick, so if I was going to beat him, it was by pushing the pace, passing confidently and then putting 10 seconds on him. This sounds easy, but given the fact that I was 5 seconds behind, I would have to run 15 seconds faster going up hill before the end of the mile. I decided to go for it and began to close the gap. Reeling him in went very slowly, but once I caught him, the adrenaline kicked in and I was able to run past him with ease. As I ran by, I heard him say that he was ‘spent’ already. This statement was all that I needed; I knew that he had given it his all to close the gap on me and was running on fumes. I decided to put in an extra fast push to show him that I was still strong. I think that this was mentally defeating for him, as his pace dropped off after that. I had run a 3:07 half mile split uphill, for a 6:04 on maybe the toughest section of the course. I was now at 29:33 which is very near my 5-mile personal record.
We made a left turn onto the final road section and I could tell that I had put a decent size lead on the now 3rd place runner. I could no longer see Jake in the lead, as he was probably 45-60 seconds ahead of me and had already made the turn onto the sandy road off of the pavement. I glanced at the course volunteer point us off the road and into the woods and said hello. He said something about me doing well but I didn’t hear it. The footing on the road wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t great either. There were mixed soft sand sections, followed by longer grass and some mud. I was able to run very even despite all of this, knowing that soon the race would be over. I really could not see the runner behind me anymore, but again, I was thinking about having a healthy lead on him before the last two tenths, as he would most likely be able to out-kick me, no matter how spent he was. Just as I made my way around the softball field and passed right field and headed into the back end of the campground, I noticed that he was near third base. I had at least 200 meters on him and I knew that unless I fell or cramped, that he would not catch me. The plan, so carefully crafted over a few second stretch a few miles ago had worked. My sixth mile was a 5:48 with identical 2:53 half-mile splits.
I ran through the campground, crossed the park road and into the final stretch of the course. This is where all of the people were at and they began to clap as I came in. I turned on the jets of what I had left and crossed the line at 35:59.82. For some reason my dad thought I would run about seven-minute miles and that it would take me 45 minutes to finish. He was surprised when the lead runner came through at 35:12 and was not ready for the finish line photo when I came in 47 seconds later. I stopped to catch my breath and then went over to shake the hand of the winner, Jake Keehan. He had run 8 seconds faster per mile than me, though I don’t know if this was his best, as he wasn’t really pushed. If he is a college level runner, then he is capable of at least a 16:30 5km or a 2 minute 800 based on standards for running at that level.
With this time, I had broken my previous 10km race PR and gotten under 36 minutes; a goal that I never thought possible. The only part that I question is that I measured the course slightly short on my GPS, at 6.13 miles. With the heavy cloud cover, I could have jut been off or it could have been short since it was not certified. Given this, at 5:52 pace, I still would have run 36:27 and been under my old PR. The other thing that I considered was that this course was measured by how it was driven, but by running the tangents, it could be run short. A certified course is measured on the tangents, but this was not a certified course.
So this was a hilly course, and I had survived getting passed and passing right back a mile later to finish second. I would consider this a very successful race. At awards, I took 1st in M30-39. There were only 58 total 10k runners, but the competition at the top was very good. Once again, I was a single runner away from taking the overall trophy.
I didn’t win the race, but I felt like a winner. I had run a great race with Mom and Dad watching making them proud.