One of my friends won a free entry for the Jack is Back 15k/30k race but wasn't able to run it. I didn't think I really had the itch to race again in 2023, but a free entry to a low-key event sounded perfect, so she gave me her free entry to register for the 30k. I've never raced a 30k, so knew finishing would yield an automatic PR - and a state record for age 43, since the state records for the 30k are weak because it's a rarely run distance. I've been keeping my long runs relatively short since Bass Pro, so running 18.6 miles was a bit of a stretch, but Bass Pro was just 6 weeks before this race so I figured my legs hadn't completely forgotten how to run for over 2 hours.
The race was on a rails-to-trails trail, and I have learned these type of trails can be anywhere from immaculately maintained like Tobacco Road to rough single track like the northern part of Frisco. This one was somewhere in between, but we'd gotten a lot of rain leading up to the race so it was muddy! I didn't realize this would be a factor until I was at the race, when it was too late to turn back or wear my trail shoes that I'd left at home.
The race was a pretty small event, and my goal was to win overall female without running too hard. I eased into it for the first 3 miles, then got into a groove and ran really even. I never looked at my watch during the race, and afterward before I looked at my Garmin I told Jon I thought I averaged around 7:15 pace; my watch then confirmed 7:18, so I have a good gauge on my effort! My splits are here.
I was with a few men for the first couple of miles, then pulled ahead of them. I was in first female and there were 5 men ahead of me, but I didn't know who was in which race distance. The 15k ran out and back once, and the 30k ran out and back twice. The first 4.65 miles out were pretty uneventful, then once we turned back I enjoyed the race more because I got to see everyone else. I was also gaining on the man ahead of me, so that gave me something to focus on for the first back. I passed him around mile 8.
I started the race in arm warmers and gloves, because the wind chill was 37* and since I didn't plan to run all-out I thought I'd be chilly. The first out was into the wind and I was comfortable, but when we turned around I got hot and took my arm warmers off. They got annoying flapping around while tucked under a sports bra strap, but it gave me a reason to look forward to the turn around where I planned to drop them. I tucked my first gel wrapper inside of them so I could get rid of it along with the arm warmers. As I neared the turn around I decided I'd toss my gloves off as well.
As I neared the halfway point, the men who had been in 3rd and 4th when both races were together came back starting their second out, so I learned that the two fastest men had been in the 15k and I was 3rd overall in the 30k. I also saw the large lead I had on the next woman, who turned out to be in the 15k anyway. The race had an option to compete in both the 15k and 30k distances, with your halfway split being your 15k race time, and so at that point I wished I'd have signed up for that with my free entry - my rationale for not doing that was because I didn't want to race a 15k and then death march another 15k if there was someone faster in the 15k. After the race I saw that the girl who won the 15k was 14 years old, so I am sure the win meant more to her than it would have to me, so in the end I was glad I just did the 30k!
I dropped my arm sleeves and gloves at halfway, then turned back out for my second tour of the course. The spectators around the finish line cheered and someone joked, "Show off" when I turned around instead of finishing. Heading back out on the course I got to see everyone coming back in. I was also able to see that I was gaining on the man in second, so I decided I'd try to slowly reel him in. We were going back into the wind and I wished I'd have kept my gloves on.
When I was about a mile into my second out, a teenage boy who was running in the opposite way desperately asked, "Am I almost there??" I told him he was close, "about a mile left", then realized that probably didn't feel too close to him. 9.3 miles is a long way when you're 14!
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I ended up catching the second place man just before the final hair-pin turn, which was about 14 miles in. After passing him I was just ready to be done. I have only been running 12-14 mile long runs since Bass Pro, so 18.6 miles felt a little farther than it usually does - plus I can't even tell you the last time I ran that far alone. I had a great runners high going, but it was pretty lonely out there! Like Frisco, the trail also felt uphill (incline) both ways, and the wet ground wasn't doing me any favors.
When I finished, many people told me how impressed they were with my huge lead and how fast I ran for 18.6 miles. I have decided I really like low-key races that I can win without going all-out! Although I didn't race race, 18.6 miles moderate is still a hard day, and I do 100% of my training on roads, so I ended up feeling quite beat up from this race! Running on gravel and through mud uses some different muscles.
Before the race they'd announced that the overall awards hadn't come in and would be shipped when they did. They said it's a personalized brick so I am interested to see what it looks like! I didn't stay for the awards ceremony because it was outside after all 30k finishers were in and I was freezing standing around, but I believe I will also get awards for setting a new state record for age 43 and for being the top age-graded female time in the 30k. I told the race director I'd get my awards from him the next time I saw him so he didn't have to mail them - a brick cannot be cheap to mail, lol.
My state record is here.
Race results are here.
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| This picture is from Bass Pro last month, but I found it on Jon's phone on the drive home from Jack is Back & love it |
I always love low-key races where you can just run for fun!
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