Trailblazer 10K: a disclaimer

I love this race. So much that I tried something really new this weekend: two races back to back, and not small stuff. Yesterday, I ran the SNER double trail marathon (follow the link to my race report) and incidentally placed 2nd overall and first Masters. 52 miles, 5,300 feet of cumulative vertical climb (and downhills), temperatures up to 104F, 5,000 calories spent according to SportTracks and my Garmin GPS, enough for everybody to say that I was really crazy to toe the line of the 10K this morning.

But, again, I love this race and I had promised Aaron back in June (my Stevens Creek ultra marathon for the dedication of the two bridges) and July (the grand opening of Blackberry Farm), that I would run this year's edition, before knowing that the double marathon would make the calendar of the ultra Grand Prix which I'm competing in (Pacific Association USA Track & Field).

Thankfully, I got an extreme massage from the Monsters of Massage after yesterday's race, which got rid of most of the toxines I accumulated during the 8-hour run. Certainly I could not have done today's race without it, in addition to hard and consistent training.
I ran Trailblazer in 2002, 2003 (overall win, with an Xbox which the boys still enjoy, another reason for me to like the race and the Microsoft sponsorhip!), 2006 and 2007. I missed the other years either because of race conflicts or business travels.

Back to the race, it turned out to the usual and annual great Stevens Creek Trail party. Perfect weather (on the hot side), great turn around (good for the fund raising purpose), great volunteers all over the place, great course marking, and great course of course since we use the... Stevens Creek Trail!

I'm not going for a long race report as I only ran 6 miles today... There were familiar faces at the start, although it has been a while since I saw them as I mostly focus on ultra trail now (see some of my race results on Ultrasignup). Just before the start I mentioned to Aaron that I saw a local Kenyan whom I met at the 2007 Human Race and was surprised not to see him as we were getting ready to go. Aaron replied that he was on the 5K which surprised me. Sure enough he passed me in the first half mile after missing the start while switching distances and getting a new bib. I settled in 4th position running the first 2 miles at 5:53 minute/mile pace, not too bad given the circumstances. By mile three however, I felt a shortness of breath as my lungs had not recovered yet from all the dryness and the dust ingested during yesterday's run. I slew down at 6:04 min/mile pace and got passed by the eventual Masters winner who finished 50 yards before me. I crossed the finish line in 37:44, far from the 33:57 PR I set on that same course two years ago, chasing Jose Pina Sr (who finished 2nd overall today).
With such a short distance, the longest was the award ceremony which, eventually did not even occurred for the 10K as the computer got confused with some people changing distances at the last minute. In the meantime, there were numerous prizes and books to win from the drawing to celebrate the Stevens Creek Trail with this joyful running party.

See you next year, calendar permitting! And here are a few pictures in the meantime...

A busy registration desk this morning, with runners entering until the last minute. Great turn around!




My friend and speed work running buddy, Bob, before the start but after a 5-mile warm-up. Bob's goal today was to use the race as a tempo run before the upcoming San Jose Rock and Roll half marathon of next weekend.
And after the additional 6.2 miles:
Today's 10K winner with his son who ran in the kids fun run:

Some shots of the furious kids' mile "fun run." There are already many promising runners in the next generation!Behind the stage (for the "marathon" prze drawing and award ceremony ;-):