Event: Powerline Pass Trail Run
Location: Near Indian, AK, between Anchorage and Girdwood
When: June 4, 2006 10am
Supports: U. of Alaska Anchorage Ski Team
Weather: About 50F at lower elevations, cooler and windy above treeline
(hands got numb while taking pictures)
Objectives: explore new trails, scope the trail for running the race in
the future, see how wet feet survive for a few hours.
Summary: What a beautiful day for a hike. 🙂 🙂 I did actually run
across the finish line as well as quite a bit near the start, and the
downhills on the “up”.😉 A+ weather and gorgeous scenery. 1:41:55 for
4mi, 3000ft. http://home.att.net/~akrunning/Powerline2006/index.html
(Topo and elevation profile are at the end. I only linked the last 3
images to full images since they might need to be enlarged to see detail.)
The summary and pictures really say it all, but I've included some of my
usual discussion anyway.
Course layout: This was originally a point-to-point race with about 3500
ft “up” in the first 5 miles, then continuing about 8 miles above
treeline and dropping about 2000 ft. However, late-lying snow in the
pass had them change it to an uphill only race. Finish was at the false
summit, not the true summit, so it was only 3000 ft up in about 4 miles.
While that averages to about 14%, realities were closer to 8% for the
first 2 miles (to stream crossing on map) and 27% for mile 4, which also
had a lot of soft snow fields, although there were some well trodden
footsteps to follow. They may consider changing this back to the full
traverse and have it later in the summer or keeping it early and just an
uphill run.
My usual blathering:
Race started pretty much right at 10am. I was planning (hoping) to run
some of the beginning, but fully expected to be hiking a lot of the
trail, esp. at upper end. I think I probably ran less than I intended,
but everyone within eye sight in front of me and behind me was hiking
most of the time. I also knew from various things I’d tried in training,
that I could probably hike those slopes as fast as running, and it made
more sense energy wise to hike. I was immediately behind a few people at
the start, and I hesitated to pass, but it didn’t seem like they were
faster than me but holding back at start. I didn’t want a repeat of my
last race, so passed as soon as it seemed like they might be slower than
me.😉 (Good decision - they came in 20-30 min after me.) One wasn’t too
far behind for awhile, but once I hit the downhill leading to the stream
crossing, which I ran, I never heard anyone behind me. I was being
cautious, since my usual mtn starts steep, wipes you out by half way,
and continues on. This started gentle, then had the steep stuff at the
top so I was being very respectful.
When we were below treeline, the wide open trail was basking in the sun,
almost making me regret wearing long pants. About the time I hit tree
line, the snow and wind, I was very happy to have long pants on. This
also confirmed my original plans for what to take on the longer run
(which would probably have 3+ hr above treeline) - including hat,
mittens, and kitchen sink.
I knew there was at least one downhill section on the up, but was
surprised at its length. Just before the descent, you could see the
“runners” headed straight up the other side (see photos and topo; the
uphill is the straight part after the switchbacks). Gulp. As I started
the descent, I could hear the roar of the creek, which I was pretty sure
did not have a bridge. However, when I got there, the trail crossed in a
relatively flat part (lower gradient) and had a good rock bed for
crossing - the sound was much worse than the actual crossing, which was
minor. (Picture was supposed to contrast the crossing and the upstream
gradient and big rocks, but didn't really capture either very well.)
Since this was only 36 min into race, and I had close to 3 hr after that
by the time I got down, it was a good test of the Ultimax liners under
Smartwools for not getting sore feet when wet, which has been a problem
in the past (and may still need further modifications). However, the
taping I use on ankles loosened, but still worked ok. (need to fix this
in the future)
The snowpatches in the last mile were an energy sucker since they were
fairly soft except on well trodden foot steps. Misstep and you slid or
fell into someone’s post hole. However, as I hit them, after 1 hr into
the race, a bunch of the faster runners were coming back down - running,
glissading, butt sliding, and sometimes from 2 directions (some on trail
and some cutting a switchback). Trying to find my best route and avoid
downhillers (most gave me right of way) and not twist something in the
post holes resulted in fairly slow progress. One of the photos gives you
an idea of the longest snowfield and it's steepness that we had to get
up. (and in my case, while bunches of others were coming down) Those are
the only stretches where I had any let up in relentless forward motion,
and even then it was those quickie 5 sec breaks just to get oriented,
and only a couple times - much better than my one hike up our local mtn
this spring. The last mile looks like it took me about 40-45 min, about
the same as one of my local hills. But I ran across the finish line.
(See picture of finish line to appreciate that statement.) The finish
line workers would use the shelter of the big rock to get out of the
wind. When the next runners came into sight, they'd get to their posts
again.
Something I should have clarified, if it wasn’t obvious, in my statement
to Doug the other day when he asked about running some of these mtns,
and I said the better runners can actually run these. The implied rest
of the story is that back of packers do hike them.😉
I hung around and took pictures on top until my hands were numb in about
5-10 min, then took a lot of the downhill. The camera didn’t do justice
to some of the views. The downhill wasn’t part of the race, although
most people ran most of it - including lots of glissading, butt sliding,
etc coming down the snowfields.
On the way down, I caught up with a guy whose legs were cramping and we
leapfrogged a little as he massaged then took off again, then when we
hit some of the gentler areas were able to talk and run. I ran some of
the steeper downhills somewhat hard, just so I could get some strength
training as well as fast leg turnover work. I was able to run the “ups”
on the way down, which was a good sign. We took a scenic detour, and
added about 1 mi to the return trip. That worked out well though. On my
training on local mtn that’s about 3000 ft in 2.2 mi, I usually almost
collapse in a heap at the bottom, and legs just don’t want to run flat.
I was pleasantly surprised to find I could still run at the bottom of
this mountain, which was about the same amount of descent as my local
mountain, but not as steep overall. A good sign.
When we got back, a few people were spread out on the grass eating
lunch, and I joined them. Turned out they were waiting for their slower
friends, the ladies I had passed near the start. They had gone over to
the real summit while they were on top and just took their time coming
down. As it turned out, the four ladies (including me) sitting there
were the last of the 50-59 and the one 60 yr old - plus a couple guys
(husband and son?). So was an interesting group to chat with. ‘Twas
pleasant sitting there in the warm sun and capping an A+ day.
What was right: Most things went about like I anticipated in a general
sense, based on where I felt I was trainingwise (which wasn’t that
great, but it is what it is). Gear and time estimates seem reasonable
(certainly not too conservative) for the full traverse, if they have it
again. What was surprising was that I could run across the finish line
(coming off a 27% slope, although it flattened for a few steps there), I
could run ups on the way down and flats at the bottom (usually my legs
are trashed on my own mtn), I’m not as sore Monday as I expected (can
walk up and down stairs), considering how hard I hit a couple of the
downhills (deliberately, for training effect).
What do I need to fix: Need to do something about Coach athletic tape
coming loose in water. Need more training, but I knew that. Left to my
own devices without ice and trail closures, I feel I’m on the right
track or have a good idea of modifications to make.
Numbers trivia:
I was 4th in age group (out of 6; first in ag was 1:09:20), and I think
4 people finished after me, and one person turned around before reaching
the top.
Approximate splits and slopes:
2 mi 818 ft 8% 36 min (stream crossing 1)
3 mi 723 ft 14% 24 min (crossing 2, which was dry)
4 mi 1426ft 27% 45 min (finish)
These were estimated by matching landmark “laps” on my hrm with topo
map. What I used for mile 3 was the 2nd crossing since I could find it
on map and it looked about 3 mi from start. 5 min later there was a sign
“1 mi to go”, but not sure of its accuracy. IOW, mile 3 might be a
little longer and mile 4 a little shorter, but that’s not consistent
with my normal times.
The two winners had raced the state road 5k championship the previous
day. She won female state champ, and he was 4th male. An interesting
comparison of times:
4mi hill 5k ratio
Male: 43:20 15:40 2.77
Female: 50:13 17:52 2.81
To do it or not to do it:
If you remember, even though I’d been training for this and looking
forward to the challenge of the 13 mi traverse, I was a little hesitant
about doing the thing when it was a full traverse considering all the
snow this year and my not achieving my training goals because of ice and
trail closures. But I agreed with Anders, I was never going to know
until I tried. And who knows what will happen to these relatively new
races. When they switched it to an uphill only, it became a no-brainer.
I can do that, no problem, and it will give me a chance to at least see
the first portion. Who knows what will happen next summer. And there's
no races of interest to me until late July and late August.
Thanks for reading.
Dot
--
"Success is different things to different people"
-Bernd Heinrich in Racing the Antelope