3. Seventh Place finish at Knickerbocker 60K
The 2008 Knickerbocker 60K was my third Knickerbocker, and the race will always have a special place in my heart since it was also the first ultra I ever did. The first year I finished in about 6.5 hours. The second I ran just under 6 hours. In the four weeks prior to the '08 60K, I had done both the Chicago and New York City marathons, so I knew I was in shape for race. However, the only goal I had was to try and set a new PR.
The weather forecast called for thunderstorms all day, which, contrary to what most people would prefer, excited me. I was ready for an epic battle with Mother Nature. I sent out emails asking friends to come by and run a lap of the course with me, and got a few people to commit. The morning of the race, the sky was gray with impending rain. I milled around the start and waiting for the race to begin. I talked with a few people I knew and then the race started in its usual informal fashion.
The race course consists of a short out-and-back section followed by 9 four-mile loops in Central Park. As I ran north on the out-and-back, I noticed I could still see the race leader, so when people started making the turn to come back, I counted the number of people in front of me--six. I laughed knowing I'd probably gone out too fast. I settled in to what felt like a comfortable pace and waited for people to start passing me, but a funny thing happened. No one really passed me. I ran through a short period of heavy rain and had friends join me throughout the race, but the flood of people passing me never happened.
I battled bouts of fatigue with the help of friends and found myself finishing in the top 10 overall. I blew away my PR, my goal, and snagged my best finish ever in a race. I managed a sub 8:30 pace for 37.2 miles. Not bad for a guy who is admittedly not very fast.
For a detailed race report, head over here.
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