Our running group Boise Run Walk has been working on this training for 14 weeks. We ran over the hills, and we fled. We crawled over the hills and crawled down. We hated, we froze, we were bleeding, some were fighting, but some simply disappeared.
This weekend, all this happened at the bottom of the Robie Creek Half Marathon Hill peninsula with more than 2,400 other people. Each trained with a temperature of 35 to 60 degrees in the wind, rain and snow. No one was prepared for what should have happened when Rocky Mountain Sail Toads said “Go” for the start of the 35th annual Robie Creek race. This year the theme was samurai sailing toad - the honor of pain.
At the beginning of the race, standing at 2,756 feet above sea level, there were 2,461 runners who were ready to make friends with the mountains. Mother Nature was ready with an unscrupulous blast furnace to keep these samurai in their words. The temperature during the race was 76 degrees, not the whiff of the wind.
The first two climbed the asphalt very abruptly, as he passed through the well to make subdivisions and curves. The owners of the house had hoses to splash and cool, to greet their favorite runners, and others to fools. The Cujo district gave us a beloved loud cry to greet all of us, I am sure.
Once above Potty Hill, the first portable outhouse was on top of the first hill, it was a straight and long descent to the first relocation of livestock. I was pleasantly surprised to see plywood covering a wide open grill. When you crossed the cattle crossing, you had a mile, plus the end of the sidewalk 3.5 miles in the race. From now on you will have a heavy, heavy packed dirt road under your feet. (In fact, the road gods simply appreciated the road, and there are good-sized stones everywhere).
The road will pass through a hard rocky canyon, reflecting heat like a mirror. Then to an apartment that just teases a little when the road lights up again. Forward and upward are the keywords for this side of the mountain.
Mila three and four will complete the winding through Rocky Canyon and open on a flat area that will have no shade without air. Then the road starts to really turn. In a mile, five runners will cross the second guard of livestock; again covered with plywood. Thanks to the road gods for that; since this watchman swallows the whole runners.
From the guard of livestock the ascent is intensified in its steep rise. There may be patches of flat roads, but they are there to lure you into a false sense of relief. As you take that deep breath, a mile of six approaches quickly, and a hill appears that enhances the intensity of your beliefs or the depth of your shortcomings. A good adage here is to run what you can on the hills, but, if possible, run all the plains. This is your only side of relief. But the heat from the sun on this day is inexorable. You just need to set up the theme “run when you feel better”.
You hit the magic mile seven, only a mile and a half to the summit of the Aldapa Summit. These verses at the top turn runners into clean walkers, with their hands raised on their hips, repelling every bit of energy. With each thread of skeletal muscle and the power you left, you push the top. Some stopped here and now can not move. Mountain won. For others, the struggle between the mental and the physical continues. The road sign says that all this is “Don't stop, Just keep moving.”
When you finally reach the summit, which is at a height of 4,791 feet above sea level, you are full of emotional jubilee, until you wake up, that you have three and a half miles of sharp turns, steep descents, mud spots and contour embankments go down 1000 feet ; and then you still have a 1,1-mile plain to cover after that to the finish.
When runners row the top and start down a mountainside, they are met by a cooling shade that lasts from one and a half to two miles. This temporarily cools the runner’s heat by a few degrees until they control the stud angles of the complex route.
In mile 10 you come out of the gift of God and set off the wall of heat set by the sun. From there to the finish line a hot 84 to 87 degrees will be your running partner. Your calf muscles scream at you, and the muscles on the front of your leg would like to run away from home. Every high step you take on the hamstring muscles on the back of your legs threatens to double the number of knots to pull you to the ground.
This flat, short ride to the finish line looks more like you are climbing a hill again because your muscles are colliding on the slopes of a race. Most runners have very little energy left in the energy reservoirs at this level.
I myself had to plead and grovel to make my body react to nothing, to finish the last five minutes of the race strong, so that I could break the three-hour mark on the first attempt at the Robi Creek, the notorious Half Marathon in the Northwest.
Are you hydrated enough? Do the bodies tell you that it is salt inlaid with your work? When you reel the last mile, you can hear loud cheers from a crowd of well-wishers. You hope that you have enough left in your tank to cross the finish line in good shape for the cameras, to show that you were ready for this race, and that you kicked off her mighty tail sail.
This is a very exciting feeling to cross this finish line and hear these words "Well done." But soon after this, the words “Are you okay?” From a concerned official.
Runners from past years know to get their water, get their T-shirt, pick up their bag for clothes and sit in an icy stream. After a while in the creek, your body recovered enough to get a meal, a drink or two, and recover before you have to stand on an extra-long tire line back to your car.
"Newbies", like me, do not know these rules and learn by mistake, learn by asking a veteran or a well-informed racing official, or simply following the crowd. This year, especially Mother Nature threw her comfortable work into the “Most Heavy Half Marathon in the Northwest,” adding temperature and wind. The temperature on the starting line was 75 degrees. Climbing the mountain was supposed to help, but the temperature at the top was 77 degrees with a short odor breeze. The sun glittered on all the runners for the entire 8.5 miles on the front side and 2.6 miles on the back side. Back temperature to the finish line ranged from 81 to 84 degrees.
Many runners were dehydrated; some of them had to be hydrated from a medical point of view. Many runners were treated by miraculous medical personnel for blisters, twisted ankles, dehydration, road rash, and broken Achilles tendons. Mother Nature worked with her magical fading heat and did not lead science.
All I can say is, I am glad that we held this race on Saturday, and not on Sunday this year. The temperature difference was 10-12 degrees.
As a personal note from the first member of Robie Creek, I was well trained, I was moistened at each water station, I even used the liquid I wore on my hydrating belt, and I was still descending with severe dehydration and at the edge of heat stroke. I have never experienced such a hot, and then still sick. Until today, I have never experienced a racing beat and a caramel colored artery. Today I learned very valuable lessons! You need to be able to read your own body and be ready for anything. It is here that good preparation is invaluable. Thank you Boise Run Walk Coaches for our preparations for this race!
After the race, I was asked if I could run the Robie Creek race again next year. My first answer was “I doubt it.” But then the same person reminded me that the pain from this race was similar to "labor pains at the birth of a child, which soon obeyed." By morning I felt better and began to think about where I had mistaken in my strategic plan.
Next time I will be even more prepared to worship the mountain and honor the pain.
Great Job Robie Creek Rocky Canyon Sailing Toads and Volunteers - Super, Super, Super Job !!
