The Edge of Hell

I have claimed to all that are willing to hear that “I am not a runner!”

But I probably “am a runner.”

For the past few years, the only race I was willing to enter was Bloomsday. Because it’s Bloomsday. I mean seriously, Bloomsday.

But this year, in light of the pitiful snow that we’ve been getting in the mountains, I entered the “Edge of Hell” trail race, organized by the Seaport Striders. I’ve biked the trails many times and I’m quite comfortable with the layout of Hells Gate State Park. While it’s full of tire-eating weeds, it’s not a particularly challenging environment.

The Edge of Hell leverages the site well, as a four mile loop starting at the visitor center, running out to the far end of the park, then back along some scenic rolling trail that parallels the Snake River. Runners have the option of running the four mile loop and finishing, or they can turn around and run another four miles in reverse.

I ran four miles. “Eight miles is half a mile further than I’m willing to run.”

I didn’t run particularly fast, mind. My pace, around 9:30 a mile was reasonably quick, but not fast. Still, it was good enough to finish 20th of 131 contenders. Not bad.

I started in the middle of the pack, but moved up fairly quickly in the initial trail, then hit single track and was unable to pass for a while. I was frustrated, but in retrospect this was probably a good thing. It forced me to maintain a slower pace and saved some energy for later. Once the single-track opened back up into multiple parallel tracks though, I moved forward a few places once again. Eventually I found a spot where I stabilized; I could not gain on the runner in front of me, but wasn’t falling back either. It remained this way through the rollers (which I must say are more fun on a bike, but I did enjoy them on foot too). As expected, the sand pits at mile 3 were brutal, but the Brooks Pure Grit 2 handled them as well as could be expected and I was out quickly enough.

Then it got hard. I was tired. I was frustrated. The 8-mile runners were starting to come back, which made navigating the narrow trail just a little more challenging. But hey, one mile to go. I can do this. “Just one more little climb.” OK, “just this has to be the last one!”.

Eventually, that one last climb really was. Finish in sight, I sped up as much as I could, passed two people on the descent, and finished. 36 minutes and 52 seconds after the gun went off, I was done.

Running around Hells Gate State Park may not have been my favorite way to spend a morning, but I enjoyed it just the same. Perhaps it was the friends that I was sharing the morning with (though I saw little of them during the race). Perhaps it was the challenge of something new. Perhaps it was the weather. Perhaps it was the way we invaded the Riverport Brewing post-race in masse.

Whatever the reason, I had fun. And having fun is good enough for me.