This is my first official race of the season and I was very excited to see where i stand amongst a field of talented and experienced runners. Pinnacle Classic is extremely intense race with 18 hills to tackle in the course of 18km, hence before the race i have been logging a lot of miles in hilly terrain to prepare my legs for the uphill onslaught.
Prior to the race, i knew the big three would be there: Ben Duffus (a young 20 year-old guy who has been winning all the races he joined and breaking course records at the same time. His PB for 5000m is 15:35), Caine Warburton (PB of 16:01 in 5000m who has been winning multiple ultra and middle distance races in the last 2 years), and Dave Coombs (the winner of Pinnacle Classic in 2011).
All of these did not matter when the whistle went off, when i led the charge to attack the first hill. I decided that i was going to run with them for as long as i could possibly sustain. I was able to run the first 4-5km next to them, but after that I started to feel I was not able to power up the hills the same way they did. At that time, my heart rate was sitting dangerously high at 171-180. Fearing that i might bonk in the second half, i decided to let them go and i would focus on running my own race. There were lots of cyclists then, and though they blazed past us with their road bike in the downhill, I was able to wheel them in, and even overtake them during the uphill.
I passed the half way point (9km) at 42 minutes. I thought the worst was over, and from then on it would be mostly downhill all the way. I could not have been more wrong. It was downhill for 500m, and then uphill for 200m, down for 600m and up for another 300m. So we continued on in this undulating terrain. Some of the uphills in the second half were extremely steep, and i had to switch on hands-on-knee hiking posture in a couple of occasions.
Unfortunately, going out too fast in the first half meant that my mental and psychological reserve were running low in the second half. I was overtaken by 2 guys in the last 5km (one at approx 13km mark and the other at 16km mark) and i just had no extra energy left to chase them. I mustered whatever i had left to ensure i finish hard and well, in 6th place, with a time of 1:27:27, and a total elevation gain of 790m according to my Suunto Ambit watch. (See the move here). The top three finished in 1:17, 1:19 and 1:21 accordingly.
All in all, it has been a great day out in the trail. Though I think i may have done better in my pacing and uphill running, I am pleased with the performance and i look forward to running with these guys again.
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| ME leading the charge in the beginning |
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| The top three runners - who are all part of the Kokoda Racing Spirit team |
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| 2km more to go (i was eventually overtaken by the topless guy behind) |
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| Male (Ben Duffus) and female winner |
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