Stride 'n Climb: 2017 US Trail Half Championships

2017 USATF Trail Half Championships
Hayward, WI (Birkie Trail Festival)
5th Place Overall, 1:14:06 (12.4 miles)

Once I heard the US Trail Half Championships were going to be in the Midwest I had to give it a go. I have wanted to do a trail half or marathon championship race but they have typically been in Moab or Bellingham the past few years.

An 8 hour drive north to Hayward WI wasn't too bad actually and the anticipation of getting to my destination made the trip go by quick. I got into Seeley WI, 4 miles north of Hayward, and checked into my room. The room wasn't ready yet so I decided to go check out the course and get a shake out in. I picked up my bib and went for a short 4 mile run on the course. Im glad I did. I got a good feel for the rolling hills and knew this was going to be a fast race.

Most of the course is typically used for XC skiing in the winter. The course was grassy and wide with lots of short steep inclines and declines, with a 2 mile section of windy single track that takes you up to 1,740 ft. in elevation. There was a modest 1,214 vert ft. of climbing on the course. The field was also not very deep but the competition up front was stout for sure and I knew I wanted to mix it up up front as best I could and see what could happen. The night before was really neat. I got to spend some time with sports best in Joe Gray and Hayden Hawks. Got some really good pizza in me and I was off to bed.

The Race:
The gun went off and I went out feeling good and settled right off the heals of 3rd and 4th place. Joe and Grunewald went out in 1,2 and were pulling away slowly. I stayed in the chase pack of Hawks and Sigl. A couple miles in the chase pack slowly thinned out and they were separating a bit but I could still see them within striking distance. At this point I was just focusing on staying uptempo but in control. Tyler Sigl ended up pulling away out of sight by mile 7 or so but I could still caught glimpses of 4th in Hayden. We entered the 2 mile section of single track that would take us up to the highest point of the race. I caught a glimpse of Hawks and I was closing in on him on the switchbacks. This put some pep in my step and just kept pushing. I tried to close but by the time I got close we were back out onto the wide grass trail heading back to the start/finish line. The last couple miles I was really starting to pick it up bit by bit and had a really nice flow going on the up and downs. The last mile or so was mostly downhill so I opened up my stride and really got after it. We came out of the trees and I could see 4th. I close hard but came up 5 seconds shy. None the less I ran really well and felt great doing it against some stiff competition up front. This was really a breakthrough race for me. I just have to keep putting in the work and keep going to events like this so that I can compete against the best in the sport.