Post by richcheese on Nov 27, 2006 21:23:42 GMT -5
The Wauhatchie Trail Run is a hilly 6.7 miles of gravel/dirt roads and rough trails on the lower slopes of Lookout Mountain (Chattanooga, TN). The elevation change between low point (the start/finish) and high point of the course is 410 feet.
chattanoogatrackclub.org/races.cfm?contentID=eventDetail&recid=90
The most interesting thing about this event is the age / sex handicapped start. 25 to 29 Males are considered the fastest group and start at time “zero.” All other groups receive a head start. For example, a 50 YO female gets a 13:15 head start.
See last year's results for other handicap examples:
archives.chattanoogatrackclub.org/WauhatchieTrail/6.7m/WTR2005.htm
A 2005 race report:
Short version:
Chattanooga, TN in Eastern time zone; runner starts late; has fun anyway.
Long version:
Being the planning guy I am, I allowed for a 2 1/2 hour drive, removed 1 hour for the time zone change and otherwise planned to arrive well in advance of my age group start. Unfortunately Chattanooga is in the Eastern time zone and I stepped out of my car (after some fumbling around at the last major turn) just as the 20-29 year-old men started. In the few seconds it took me to get to over to the start, I realized that the race started in the Eastern standard time zone.
I hastily passed my entry and cash to the folks at the start and did the quick-change thing on the spot. I lost about 3 minutes to the fastest group on top of my lost age group differential. The first mile or so is super flat, so I slowly warmed-up as I ran it. I worried that I'd be lost without someone to follow who knew the way, however the course was very well marked including mile markers. I finally met someone who had slowed to a walk because he wasn't feeling too well. We talked for a short while and I continued. Ten minutes later he zipped past me telling me I help him convince himself that he wasn't felling that bad after all. In time, I eventually passed some other folks [injured, maimed, first-timers]. I managed somehow to get to about the 5th percentile overall.
The finish was warm, with plenty of food and, of course, a trophy for everyone. My new one was the Shapiro book: Meditations from the Breakdown Lane. It's an oldie, but I haven't read it, so it's "new" to me. I met Sally and Marty and then introduced them to my "handlers" [no autographs, please]. Got a photo of the course map; I hope it turns out OK.
I'll try to be back next year. Maybe even start on time!
chattanoogatrackclub.org/races.cfm?contentID=eventDetail&recid=90
The most interesting thing about this event is the age / sex handicapped start. 25 to 29 Males are considered the fastest group and start at time “zero.” All other groups receive a head start. For example, a 50 YO female gets a 13:15 head start.
See last year's results for other handicap examples:
archives.chattanoogatrackclub.org/WauhatchieTrail/6.7m/WTR2005.htm
A 2005 race report:
richcheese said:
Race report - Wauhatchie Trail Run (6.7 Miles):Short version:
Chattanooga, TN in Eastern time zone; runner starts late; has fun anyway.
Long version:
Being the planning guy I am, I allowed for a 2 1/2 hour drive, removed 1 hour for the time zone change and otherwise planned to arrive well in advance of my age group start. Unfortunately Chattanooga is in the Eastern time zone and I stepped out of my car (after some fumbling around at the last major turn) just as the 20-29 year-old men started. In the few seconds it took me to get to over to the start, I realized that the race started in the Eastern standard time zone.
I hastily passed my entry and cash to the folks at the start and did the quick-change thing on the spot. I lost about 3 minutes to the fastest group on top of my lost age group differential. The first mile or so is super flat, so I slowly warmed-up as I ran it. I worried that I'd be lost without someone to follow who knew the way, however the course was very well marked including mile markers. I finally met someone who had slowed to a walk because he wasn't feeling too well. We talked for a short while and I continued. Ten minutes later he zipped past me telling me I help him convince himself that he wasn't felling that bad after all. In time, I eventually passed some other folks [injured, maimed, first-timers]. I managed somehow to get to about the 5th percentile overall.
The finish was warm, with plenty of food and, of course, a trophy for everyone. My new one was the Shapiro book: Meditations from the Breakdown Lane. It's an oldie, but I haven't read it, so it's "new" to me. I met Sally and Marty and then introduced them to my "handlers" [no autographs, please]. Got a photo of the course map; I hope it turns out OK.
I'll try to be back next year. Maybe even start on time!