2017 Evergreen Lake 25k

2017 Evergreen Lake Ultras 25k
Evergreen Lake, Hudson IL
1st Place Overall 1:36:06 New CR (Add 6min. roughly)

With it being two weeks out from the US Trail Half I decided to jump in the Evergreen 25k as a last minute prep. The event is a real nice low key ultra scene on Hudson Illinois Evergreen Lake. Its a 25k loop around the lake that is a good mix of wide grass paths and windy single track trail. The field was small but all I wanted to focus on was staying around 6min mile pace and just getting a good effort in. We started out and I found a good tempo right away. On the flatter grassy sections I was moving pretty well at 5:45's and my pace varied and slowed on the single track. The single track was not fluid at all. At times I felt like a wide reciever cutting post routes around trees. Overall it was nice little event to get going at. I unfortunately cut the course short by 3/4 mile or so toward the end. I came off the road section and came to a 3 way grassy intersection and didn't see any flags anywhere. So I decided to go straight because it looked like the most used path. I kept going and didn't any flags and just said screw it and kept going. I ultimately came across some flags but they were pointing a different direction. I was confused and ended up just following the new flags which led to finish. Well, I got back to the start/finish line and come to find out I was about 6minutes fast. Either way I got the effort I wanted out of the race and it was a perfect prep for the race in 2 weeks.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/1175536698

UltraSignUp Results Link: https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=41337