The 2007 Grouse Grind Mountain Run Race results are in and yours truly bettered his goals and won his first ever cash prize for a sporting event. Placing 15th male in the Elite group is good for cold hard cash. As a friend said, that makes me a paid athlete :-) The cheque will probably be placed in frame and put on a wall in the office.
Final time was 35:26, 20 seconds better than my target that I talked about 11 days ago. It was just a perfect day for a race. Temperature was about 10 degrees, moderate humidity, foggy. My hands and feet were cold all the way to the top as I like it. As always, I was the only one on the mountain wearing hiking sandals. I started in the 3rd wave, more on the Age Group vs Elite category wierdness in a bit.
I ran the race I wanted to. I started jogging like everybody else, then did my usual walk up the steep parts and jog the not-so-steep. I wanted to be 1:50 to the turn up the grind from the end of the bridge - which itself is about 15 seconds in to the race - and I was 1:40. I immediately put on the brakes and did a slower walk. Quite a number of folks in wave 3 had passed me by this time, maybe 20 or so. Then I wanted to be 5:15 to the log and I was 5:13. By this time, nobody had passed me since about the 3 1/2 minute mark. I nailed every split that I wanted from then on, and I passed a lot of folks, maybe 30 or so, without being passed once. Towards the top, I was close with one guy but then I really didn't see anybody else. It was somewhat strange being in the fog on race day and only seeing 1 or 2 other people. Then the sprint to the end and finish. Final time of 35:25 was 20 seconds faster than I had hoped for. I always measure from the first bridge to the rocky opening and that was 33:45, 15 seconds faster than I had hoped for and ever done. Nothing like setting your personal bests on race day!
Fast day
As it turns out, it was a *VERY* fast race day. The mens and womens records were crushed and new ones set. And crucially for me, the 4049 age group was really fast too. In 2005, 2006, the fastest 40-49 male non-elites were: 35:15 and 35:37. In 2004 the fastest 40-49 time was 35:59. In 2007, there were 3 times under 35 minutes: 34:32, 34:44, 34:52. I ended up not being in the age group but in the Elite, so ended up with some prize loot.
I originally registered in Elite but then I found out they gave out prizes and had podium placings for the age groups. Given my estimated time of 35:25 and previous history, I felt pretty comfortable about placing. I tried 4 times to change: 5 days before race day, day before race day, prior to the start, and at the finish. Finally I gave up when I found out I would have been 4th in the age group! Sometimes you have to know when to stop.
Press
24 hours covered it in http://vancouver.24hrs.ca/News/2007/09/24/4521008-sun.html. They have a picture of the 2nd wave leaving in the print version only and you can see my black shirt to the far right. The Sun has a short article about the records being broken
Overall a really great experience. My first ever cash prize for a sport. But slightly tempered with missing out on placing in my age group by 33 seconds.
Now will I try again next year? I'm not sure. It's been a lot of work and strain. To try to cut another minute is a lot. I'd say if May/June 2008 rolls around and I'm fit and weighing around 185 lbs, I might try but I'm really unsure. For now I'm still enjoying the memories and the aftertaste of chocolate mousse and Burge Tawny Port :-)
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