The fourth event in the PAUSATF Cross Country Grand Prix series commences this Saturday, September 26, at Garin Regional Park in Hayward. This fifth annual presentation of the event is hosted by West Valley Track Club (WVTC) and consists of two 5 kilometer races, one for women that begins at 9:00am, and another for men with a 10:00am start.
A watering hole at Garin Regional Park, during a greener time of the year.
Both races are 5 kilometers, but there are hills of various degrees of incline to be negotiated, so don't expect a fast time. Based on calculations from past years, the course adds at least one minute to the time of the fastest athletes and best hill runners, and closer to two minutes for the slower participants.
The races begin on a grassy meadow, pocked with gopher holes so the footing is dodgy. The meadow empties onto a trail, that partially circles a picturesque pond, then begins to make its way up into the hills. The initial uphill sections aren't too bad, but just as you begin to think you can handle it, the course turns a bend and launches into a direct assault up the steep side of the hill you'd been circumambulating. The lovely part about one of these rises is that you can't tell how much further there is to the top, as you climb higher, new aspects of the ascent ahead come into view. I will tell you that once you've reached the top of this one, almost all of the rest of the race is downhill.
For those of you who aren't expert at hill running, listen carefully. You don't attack an uphill at the same pace you were racing on the flat. Instead, your stride should shorten in relation to the degree of incline you're climbing. Ideally, your leg speed remains the same. Your breathing remains the same. Strive for shorter strides, with the same degree of fatigue you felt on the flat. The inexperienced hill runners go too fast, get too tired, and wind up walking, or losing their head of steam for the remainder of the race. Keep your feeling of tiredness even, but then just 15-20 seconds from the top, go ahead and let loose. Bust over the top. Even though you'll be moving fast down the other side, you can't run downhill so fast on these trails that you won't also be able to catch your breath from that last bit of surge over the top of the hill.
Three races into the season Transport Adidas is leading the open men's team standings, despite losing to the Asics Aggies in the most recent meet. The Impalas are leading the open women, despite victories by the Aggies in two out of three of the events. In the masters team standings, the Aggies lead Tamalpa for men, and the Impalas lead West Valley Joggers and Striders for the women. The seniors men standings is lead by West Valley Joggers and Striders, due in part to non-optimal team selection by Tamalpa. Tamalpa does lead the seniors and super-seniors women. West Valley Joggers and Striders and Tamalpa are tied for first in the men's super-senior standings.
In individual standings Linda Somers Smith leads the open division, while trailing Christine Kennedy in the masters division. This, due to the fact that Smith has raced in only two races (150 points each), but no open division woman has placed highly enough in three races to surpass her score. On the other hand, Kennedy has placed second in all three races (135 points each), giving her far more points than Smith has accumulated with two victories (405 to 300). Kennedy also leads the women's senior standings, while JoAnne Rowland leads the super-seniors, and Katie Martin leads the veterans.
For the individual men, Jonathan Charlesworth leads the standings, without a single victory. Of the three race victors, Chris Chavez is the only to return for another and he is currently in second place in the standings. Most notable of the victors in the three races so far, was Golden Gate winner, Phillip Reid, who followed up that performance with an eighth place in last weekends USATF National 5K Championships in Providence, Rhode Island.
In the masters division, Chris Schille has won all three times so far this season and enjoys a comfortable lead in the standings over Jeff Hongo. Tom O'Reilly has taken advantage of the absence of early season favorite, Brian Pilcher, from one race, giving O'Reilly a slight lead over Brian Davis. Pilcher is currently in fourth. Bill Dunn leads the super-senior division, while Carl Petersen leads the veterans division.
Check back Saturday afternoon for news, results and photos of the race.
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