Personal Racing:
Harvest Moon Hustle- Zach Harsin’s race series has really been taking off. A friendly competitor to the Pink Gorilla crew (organizers of M2M series, LC10k, and the upcoming Halfsy), Born and Raced in Nebraska is a series of events that Zach puts on all year from February to December. Each race has a different theme or selling point. Check out the site and check out the races. Well worth giving one, or more, of them a shot.
My goal here was to run a fast 10k. I had been putting in some decent training the last part of summer. Raced Thunder Run and Buffalo Run. Putting in some of my own workouts, mixed in with high school 5k training, had me not racing that well. Still going to give me best effort whenever I put on racing kicks.
Harvest Moon Hustle starts in Elmwood, NE with a quick downhill start and then on to the MoPac trail and country roads for a lap around Grandpa Woods’ Golf Course. Tougher course than I anticipated, more like cross country than road racing. Ended up with a solid effort, more of a tempo run pace wise. This race is pretty sweet as you start at dusk and run past sundown. Great after party, small town vibe put it on your calendar next year.
Governor’s Cup 15k- About the only good thing I can say for this race was that it was the final check mark on my Lincoln Track Club Race “to do” list. Outside of kids runs, I have now run every race/distance LTC offers over the year. Struggled through some weird virus to a 3rd place finish.
G.O.A.T.z Trail Run (21 miler)- Easily the highlight of my personal fall racing. Scott Giddings and his merry band of workers put on a great event at Lake Cunningham in North Omaha. Fantastic setting, well-marked course, wonderful support, and a great group of people out racing combine for one of the better trail events I have competed in. Offer distances of 5 miles, 10.5 miles, 21 miles, and a 50k ultra distance there is a little somethin’ somethin’ for everyone. Majority single track with some roads mixed in to connect parts of the trails. Just twisty and hilly enough to make it fun, but not gnarly enough to make you regret or curse it (though those are kind of fun also).
I had a goal time of sub 2:30 for 21 miles. Not a super race pace for that distance but hard enough to make me work for it. Good enough to break the old course record, but not good enough to win. Trail stud Scott Gall put 13 minutes on me for the win. Not bad considering he beat me by 40+ minutes at a 50k in Kansas City a few years back. While there a few things that need to be tweaked still, it is only their third year and I have no doubt that there will be improvements as the fledgling trail group continues to grow and be a positive presence in regional distance running. Cannot say enough good things about the race and race organizing group.
Easily the highlight of my fall, and every fall the last eleven years, is working with high school kids during the cross country season. While our season had some huge surprises, both good and bad, it ended on a high note. Junior Nate Pierce did not contend for a medal, but did set a 20 second PR. Sophomore Diana Lado did not PR, but ended up 11th overall. Senior Jeralyn Poe completed a history making quest by winning her 4th straight Class A and All-Class Gold Medal. It is always a joy to work with these kids and see them become runners. Inspires the crap out of me.
Every year it is really hard to balance their training and my own and every year I struggle with it. Every year I find out it is worth it when a kid drops 8 minutes on their 5k time or doesn’t walk in a race and comes up to me with a high five or a sweaty smile. Can’t beat that.