I ran the 3 Hour Race at the Snake Run last year and loved it. It was an absolute blast. I really wanted to run it again this year and was a bit bummed it wouldn't work out. I knew if I ran it again, I would want to run 10 laps which is 20 miles and my longest run recently was 13 miles back in January. So I decided not to run it. Then when our race team coach sent out the comp code, he mentioned there was a team option this year which I wasn't aware of. I recruited Thomas to be on a team with me and we were set! I figured if I ran 10 laps alone last year, Thomas and I splitting the run time could get 11 laps in this year. I didn't really do any math or deep thinking to puzzle that one out which I probably should have. We had Viva Zarrow the night before and a friend had asked us to go in on a special package together which included an invitation to the pre-party where we could get early access to some items and have unlimited free drinks from 6-7pm. I just had to try all of the specialty cocktails there and got a bit tipsy. I figured since I would "only" be running 11 miles the next day, it wouldn't matter if I was slightly hungover. When Ty and I got home from Viva Zarrow, I talked through things with Thomas and decided he would run first. He said he planned to run 6 laps or 12 miles. Last year parking was a mess so I said we'd leave at 8:40 and get dropped off for the 9:00 am start. There's Daylight Savings time in there so that was a bit confusing.
I set my alarm for 8:30 after going to bed much too late and just threw on some clothes and brushed my teeth when I got up. Since Ty was still asleep I figured I'd do the drop off at the race start and then come back home to finish getting ready. I had a pretty bad headache and my stomach was somewhat upset. I walked in and Thomas wasn't ready yet. We ended up leaving at 8:56 for the 9:00 start and I knew the race was a 4 minute drive from the house. Thomas said by the time he got to the start line, the race had started 2 minutes beforehand. Not a big deal when it's a race for distance and you have chip timing, but this is a race to see how many miles you can run in a certain amount of time, so the race ends 3 hours after is starts, regardless of when you actually start. I went home, ate as much plain oatmeal as I could stomach, did some yoga, and got my race gear on. Ty dropped me off at the start area and I didn't see Thomas come by. I may have just missed him coming through on his 5th lap. I estimated Thomas would come through 6 laps in 1:36 so I knew I had time to run a warm up. I wanted to run 11 miles and I knew 5 laps would be 10 miles so I jogged a little mile warm up on Mooser trails since the race was at Lubell and I didn't want to get in anyone's way. I forgot it had rained a few days before and the trails were a bit sloppy. I ended up with wet shoes during my warm up!
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When I came back to the start area after my warm up, I chatted with a friend. He said he and his friend were in a relay together and Thomas was a bit behind him. His partner was getting ready to come through on their 6th lap so I knew Thomas should be arriving soon. We had to switch off with the bib and when he handed me the bib, I dropped one of the pins. We wasted some time searching for the pin, I would estimate at least 30 seconds, before I took off with just one pin which I used to pin my number through the middle of the top of my bib and it ended up working just fine. Thomas ran his laps in: 17:26 (which was probably more like 15:26-15:46 since he started late), 15:22, 15:43, 16:12, 16:33, 16:56. As I was running I did the math and figured if Thomas ran 1:36 for his 6 laps, that would give me 1:24 to run my 5 laps. But since we lost 2 minutes at the start, I would really need to run a couple minutes faster than that. I was estimating 10x8 at 1 hour 20 minutes, plus 2 minutes would be around 8:15 pace which is pretty fast for trails, even ones like Lubell that aren't super technical. The tricky thing was the trail conditions were pretty soft, muddy, and wet which slows things down. I went through my first mile in 8:22 and felt great. I knew that pace was very doable for me, but I was going to need to pick it up at the end to finish 5 laps in under 3 hours. That's when I started regretting the time I wasted searching for the pin I dropped.
It was fun running the 2nd leg of the race because everyone else was starting to get tired and slow down so they were super impressed with how fast I was running, even though they knew I wasn't running the full 3 hours. I didn't realize it, but each lap of my section of the race, I was running faster than the team in front of me and I was slowly, but surely closing the gap on them. When I started my portion of the race, they were 1 minute and 42 seconds ahead of us. They were running the race differently where they passed off a baton with their bib wrapped around it after each lap so they were alternating running a lap with standing and waiting for a lap. I think that made them faster in the 1st half, but slower in the 2nd as their legs started to fatigue and then the time standing around between laps gave the lactic acid time to really build up in their legs. My 2nd mile was 8:23 for a 17:09 first lap which was probably more like 16:39 since I wasted time after Thomas crossed the mat searching for the pin we dropped. I was pretty consistent throughout the race, but I could also tell on sections of the course that were muddy, the conditions were getting worse the more times people ran through there and there was one spot in particular that was really slowing me down. Each time I ran through there, it felt like my shoe was going to be pulled off! Miles 3 and 4 were 8:29 and 8:13 for lap 2 in 16:39. I will say I didn't feel horrible or like I was going to throw up as I was running (with the slight hangover), but I also just didn't feel quite myself.
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It was definitely quite a bit of fun passing people the whole way. When I started lapping women who seemed like they were probably top finishers, I made sure to let them know I was in the relay, so they wouldn't think they were getting passed by a woman who would take their podium spot away. When I lapped the woman who was the eventual winner and told her I was in the relay, she replied with, "Whatever," which I found hilarious. She was obviously so tired, she didn't care at all about her place. She didn't say it rude or anything, just like cool, you do you, lady. Very early on in my laps I lapped April and she cheered her little heart out for me and would cheer again every time she could see me through the trees on a switchback section. She finished 3rd overall female. Miles 5 and 6 were 8:38 and 8:25 for lap 3 in 16:45.
Around in here I got lapped by the guy winning the race. I got really excited that he might be the first person to ever complete 12 laps on the course and really cheered for him. I also lapped a friend I used to run with at Turkey Mountain quite a bit and we chatted even as I pulled away, just yelling back and forth to each other. During lap 4 I could tell the top male was fading and he kept slowly falling back. I was fairly rapidly closing the gap between him and myself and within a half-mile of starting that loop, I caught him. When I encouraged him and cheered him on, he said, "I'm going to let you pull me along." I told him it would be an honor and it was pretty exciting for me to be pacing a top male finisher. That was a first for me! As we neared the end of the lap I told him I was going to try for another, but I wasn't sure I'd finish in under 3 hours. He said he was pulling the plug. He kicked it in as I ran along behind a little bit. Miles 7 and 8 were 8:32 and 8:20 for lap 4 in 16:43. As I crossed the mat they announced there were 15:00 left. I knew that was 7:30 pace and didn't think I had it in me. Thomas was standing at the start and I told him I was going to run another lap, but I didn't think I'd finish in time. He said, "I think I have another lap in me, give me the bib." I handed it to him and he took off. I was still pushing it for race pace and he very quickly pulled away to where I could barely see him in the trees.
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I told myself if I ran my last loop in 17:00 and he was 2 minutes ahead of me, he would make it in time. Then as I ran, I started thinking, what's the point in running race pace if Thomas has the bib? I could just dial it back to cool down pace and still get 11 miles in for the day with 8 miles at race effort which was a great workout, so that's what I did. I ran my last 2 miles in 9:35 (I was still running race pace for the start of this mile) and 10:27. As I was doing a section where I could see the finish area, I could see my friend on the other race team and then I heard the alarm go off to signify the end of the 3 hour race. I knew he didn't make it in for another lap, but as I continued to run, I never saw Thomas. I wondered if he actually made it in time. I didn't know that I had narrowed the gap between us and the other relay team down to 18 seconds by the start of that lap so I was surprised Thomas had been able to pass him. After the race he said he could see Thomas closing on him, but felt like he still had an okay lead and then all the sudden Thomas was right there and blowing past him. Ty got video of the finish, Thomas missed making it in for that last lap by 3 seconds. The other team missed it by around 30 seconds. Thomas ran his last lap in 14:41 which was 7:23 pace!!!! We were pretty disappointed that we missed 11 laps by 3 seconds, especially considering the time we wasted by starting late and then searching for the pin I dropped. Thomas was disappointed he passed the other relay team, but they won because they finished 10 laps faster than we finished 10 laps. I didn't really care because I knew how the rules worked going into it and the awards for the team sucked anyway.
Team Sneaky Snakes finished 10 laps/20 miles in 2:45:22. Seeing that time, I realize we actually only had 14:38 for our last lap, not 15:00. We are the 2nd place team. Thomas had so much fun he wants to do the race again next year, but do the full individual 3 hour. I think that sounds like fun and maybe I'll target it as a race next year rather than doing it more as a training run for a marathon and see if I can lower my time from last year. I was a little disappointed with my performance, I felt like I should have been significantly faster than last year since I was running half the distance. Last year I averaged 17:20 per lap. This year I averaged 16:41 per lap. 40 seconds faster per lap sounds like a lot, but it's really only 20 seconds per mile. Though the trail conditions this year were much worse with the rain leading up to race day and I was a little bit hungover this year compared to not drinking at all at the fundraiser the year before. Everyone being so impressed with how fast I was running did make it a bit easier to swallow. It just wasn't quite the performance I was capable of, but I definitely put in the effort. I carried a water bottle and tried to make sure to drink each mile since I knew I was likely a bit dehydrated from the night before, but I know I missed some miles. My stomach was a bit upset but I was able to take a Gu when I was at 5.5 miles including my warm up and it went down just fine! It was a fun race and I was so glad Thomas got to do it with me!
