This year's Batawa Fat Ass/ Bad Ass races were held on November 13. This is a low cost trail race put on by our local running store (http://www.triandrunsports.com/) in Trenton. They do a really good job of making this a fun event, with multiple distances. There's a kids' 1K race, 4km, 7.5km, 10km, 17.5km, 25km, and the 6 Hour Bad Ass, which is a 6.5km loop around the Batawa Ski Hill.
I ran the 25km event a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The 25km event starts off with the 7.5km loop (which is the same as the Bad Ass loop except with an additional 1km loop tagged on at the beginning), then the 10km loop (which is my favourite parts of the Batawa trails, and then the 7.5km loop 1 more time.
This year, Altra joined on as a sponsor, so I definitely wanted to run it again. I was tossed up between doing the 25km again, and doing the Bad Ass. Initially I wasn't too excited about doing the 6.5km loop over and over again, but I decided that since I'm now in training for the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile, the Bad Ass would serve as a good training run.
It was a perfect day for a trail race- it was sunny, with minimal wind (well, maybe a bit more than minimal) and nice & cool. At the start (7:30am) it was just above freezing, and it warmed up to close to 10° by the end. As the race started, I took it nice and easy. Almost immediately the course winds up the side of the ski hill, and there was no way I was planning on running up that. I took off at a good hiking pace, and at the top of the first climb found I was in 3rd place. Being less than a km in to the race, I didn't really care about placement, but by the time we were halfway through the first loop, I pulled into 2nd, and then part way through the 2nd loop I caught up to the first place guy. He was another local guy that I knew of, but had never officially met, and we had a great time chatting and laughing over the next few loops.
I ran the 25km event a few years ago and really enjoyed it. The 25km event starts off with the 7.5km loop (which is the same as the Bad Ass loop except with an additional 1km loop tagged on at the beginning), then the 10km loop (which is my favourite parts of the Batawa trails, and then the 7.5km loop 1 more time.
This year, Altra joined on as a sponsor, so I definitely wanted to run it again. I was tossed up between doing the 25km again, and doing the Bad Ass. Initially I wasn't too excited about doing the 6.5km loop over and over again, but I decided that since I'm now in training for the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile, the Bad Ass would serve as a good training run.
It was a perfect day for a trail race- it was sunny, with minimal wind (well, maybe a bit more than minimal) and nice & cool. At the start (7:30am) it was just above freezing, and it warmed up to close to 10° by the end. As the race started, I took it nice and easy. Almost immediately the course winds up the side of the ski hill, and there was no way I was planning on running up that. I took off at a good hiking pace, and at the top of the first climb found I was in 3rd place. Being less than a km in to the race, I didn't really care about placement, but by the time we were halfway through the first loop, I pulled into 2nd, and then part way through the 2nd loop I caught up to the first place guy. He was another local guy that I knew of, but had never officially met, and we had a great time chatting and laughing over the next few loops.
For the first few loops I was wearing a pair of almost new Altra Lone Peak 3.0s, which felt great, but I think may not have been quite broken in enough. After I think the 4th or 4th loop I was starting to feel a touch of a hot spot, so I stopped at my drop bag and pulled out my trusty old Altra Olympus 2.0s. I love those shoes. I put of a bit of body glide on my feet, pulled my shoes on and off I went.
Shortly before this point, Lee (the guy I had been running with) started to have stomach issues, and had to slow down, so I carried on by myself. I kept on ticking off the loops and was feeling good. One of my main concerns in Ultra distance races is my stomach, but I was feeling okay. I had been taking Endurance Tap gels, Lemon Lime Nuun, eating boiled potatoes off the table, and having the occasional cup of Coke. That worked well until the final aid station, which was just 1km from the start/ finish line. I think it was just bad timing- I had just gulped down a gel, drank a bunch of Nuun, and then drank a coke, all in the space of a few minutes, and my stomach almost instantly turned when I drank the coke. By that point, I was pretty sure that the 2nd place guy was pretty far behind me, so I just had to keep moving forward and finish it off. I came up over the back of the ski hill, then down the ski run and into the finish line in 5:29- not enough time to go out for another loop, so I was done, with a distance of 52km.
I was really happy with how that went. Other than the slight stomach glitch, it went really well. My gear worked great, my feet felt fine, and my pace stayed pretty good. This race gave me a good confidence boost that my training is going well and makes me feel slightly less trepidatious about my lead up to my first 100 mile race.
I was really happy with how that went. Other than the slight stomach glitch, it went really well. My gear worked great, my feet felt fine, and my pace stayed pretty good. This race gave me a good confidence boost that my training is going well and makes me feel slightly less trepidatious about my lead up to my first 100 mile race.