Choosing to Race the 2021 Breakneck Point Trail Marathon with coach Ben Nephew
I had some significant concerns going in to Breakneck Point Trail Marathon this year. Although I had increased my running volume and was back to more typical training, my last race, my only race in 2020, was a crash and burn 50k and my last Breakneck in 2019 was no better. At the same time, while I was looking forward to racing again, I was more excited about running with other humans, particularly my MPF RNR teammate humans. On the social front, the race day started with a first, a carpool with Wayne Chan, a fellow trail runner who lives in my same town. It was a fun, relaxing trip to the start, but we were both a bit rusty on race day prep. We managed to make it to our starts on time, but not by much.
The race started with a runner with poles charging up the first hill. I knew from my brief warmup that my legs were feeling good, and although the pace was slightly aggressive, I was able to keep touch without an intense effort. Most of the rest of the field was hanging back further than expected, and it felt like I had to choose between racing and running. The front runner started to back off, and I thought the field might regroup, but Byron Critchfield soon took over the lead and took off. He looked strong, and I made the call to go after him.
RD Ian Golden marking the course.
Byron threw in some robust surges as we ran the ridge towards the Breakneck climb despite the fact that I was trying to give him some room and avoid invoking such bursts. I thought about backing off and waiting for Jay Lemos a couple of times, and let Byron go by the time we hit the base of the wall of Breakneck. This was a particularly interesting climb, as there was substantial traffic and it had started to rain. I was happy it wasn’t too wet, but there were a couple moments where I was bouldering and my hands were slipping in spots where a fall would have been rather uncomfortable.
I could barely see Byron up ahead by the top of the climb, and was alone on the next descent and climb. I started to think that I would be running solo all day, but decided to keep my foot on the gas and see what things looked like at the out and back at halfway. To my surprise, he must have been just out of sight for miles, as I wasn’t far behind. The following good and bad news was that Andy Vermilyea was not far back in third.
Since I had backed off in the first half, knowing how arduous the second half of this course always is, I felt good enough to push the climbs and try to reel in Byron. It would seem like I was catching him, or running a faster pace, but it was mostly just deception due to his long, slow stride. I was almost to the top of the brutal 2 mile climb after halfway when I heard an animal in the trees ahead, and was surprised to see Byron.
Racing up Breakneck during the 2015 race.
He was starting to feel the cumulative effort, noting he went through half in a PR and this was his first time doing the full marathon, but his pace was still strong and I hung back and let him lead. In hindsight, this may have been a mistake given that Andy was reeling us both in. Andy caught us at 17 miles, and took off in nice Andy fashion, complaining how tough the course is as he fires down the trail. Like getting punched in the face by someone smiling at you.
Byron had entered damage control mode at this point, and I was feeling relatively rested from the easier pace. I latched on to Andy, knowing that staying with him going uphill was a different animal than chasing him down technical descents. Andy rolls downhill like a ninja wrecking ball. Figuring out where you are in the course in this section is incredibly confusing, and my watch had died miles ago. I knew I had to get some space on Andy before the flying downhill finish, but could not figure out how far we were out.
We were both struggling on the climbs, and my hamstrings started to twinge on the harder sections. Going early was not a feasible option, but Andy then rolled his ankle on a slick, off-camber downhill and told me to go on. I expected he would limp it into the finish, and was a bit surprised when he came storming back about a mile later. I threw down over the next mile of tight and technical ridge singletrack, but could not shake him.
Caution went out the back door when we started down the wet, eroded, rock strewn descent, but even with the sore ankle, Andy started to pull away. When I tried to reel him back in on the flatter sections, both my calves started to cramp, and that was it. I backed off as briefly as possible, but that was all Andy needed to build a gap that could not be closed. I thought he would put more time on me than he did, and was happy to only be 45 seconds back at the finish.
While the course has changed over the years, this was the same as in 2019, and I ran 20 minutes faster this year and 17 minutes faster than in any other year. That doesn’t happen all that often at my age, so I could not complain about the loss too much. I ran in my old Inov-8 Terraultra g260’s, and was wishing for Orocs in a few spots due to the slick course, but overall was glad to have the greater lightness and comfort of the Terraultras. The grip is as close to spikes as you can get, and spikes would not have allowed me to magically chase Andy down. It is undoubtedly time to retire this pair at this point, which is a bit sad given how many great runs I’ve had in them. Due to the amount of wear testing I do, it is not common for me to get attached to specific pairs.
Andy definitely had one of his good days, which I’m familiar with, and he is hard to beat when that happens. Byron hung on for a solid time in third, and both Jay and Devang finished in the top 10. Part of me regretted not making it more of a social experience during the race, but soon enough I won’t have that choice, and it felt good to run hard and put it out there. There was plenty of time to catch up with friends old and new after the race as well. Thanks to Ian and the massive volunteer crew for making it happen in a pandemic. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so many folks so excited and happy about racing, and that is a common occurrence at RNR events.