Iron Knee Race Report

I was reminded of the start of the 2003 Hawaiian Ironman Race as i began the Run the North Shore's Iron Knee trail race last Sunday. Back in 2003, i happened to be in Hawaii the week of the race, so naturally i had to go watch the race live. Just as they started the countdown to the swim start, a pod of dolphins surfaced about 50 meters in front of the athletes. It was almost as if they were there to lead out the triathletes, appearing as if by magic. It could not have been choreographed any better.
Well, this past weekend, as the 500 athletes began the 22km trail run from Grouse mountain to Deep Cove, we were greeted a chorus of wolf howls as we did a lap of the Grouse Mountain parking lot to help spread out the field. The wolf pack live in captivity at the base of the skyride. I had seen them before but never had i heard them all howling together. The race was barely 15 seconds old and already i wanted to stop to enjoy the moment.

Of course there was no stopping, we had about 2 km of wide trail before we reached the single track. Unfortunately my HR monitor was picking up stray signals, as it was reading 230 bpm. So i just had to go on how i felt. Once we trail narrowed, we had some climbing to do. It was hard to pass in this section, so i just focused on trying to maintain my position. The trail was quite wet but my shoes seemed to provide the necessary traction for all of the bridge crossings and stairs we crossed. After about 5.5 km the first descent began, and for the next 8km it was almost all downhill. I had spent some time on the North shore but had never really traveled these trails much, so i was amazed at how much terrain there is here. After about 3.5 km , we eventually came out at Lynn Canyon and i expected the big hill climb of the day was about to begin, but instead it was another 2.8 km of flat running followed by another few km of descent. Finally at 12.3 km the Big climb began. I normally dread the hill climbs and this one was no different except for the fact that a team of volunteers from the Mountain Madness Running group had decorated the entire climb with inspirational signs. Every 10 feet or so they had a sheet of paper on the side of the trail with a racers name and either a joke or comment, or something funny to take your mind of the climb. I must say it sure helped. as we rounded a bend and saw the aid station i asked a fellow runner and we figured we were maybe half way up. but once we hit the aid station we were at the top. And what an aid station. They had everything you could possibly want. including a chocolate cake. and of course they had to carry it all up the same hill we just climbed.

Once at the top it was almost all downhill. I had run this downhill section back to the finish as part of a club fat ass event i did in December, so i knew my way back from here. But when i ran it in december there was snow patching on it. This time with all of the rain, it was like running down a creek bed. The amount of water flowing down the trail was crazy. there was no point trying anymore to step around the puddles as it was everywhere. THis however did not take away from the fun. As we reached deep cove, you could hear the Race announcer in the distance, so you knew you were near. but apparently sound can travel pretty far. we still had 2km to go, and the last 2 km has a whole bunch of up and down over a bunch of stairs.

In the end my time was about 2hr 41 min. not the fastest time, but i was not disappointed with it. It is a good eyeopener for the rest of the season as i have a trail marathon in 3 weeks over much of the same trails, and i know i need to really focus on my hill climbing.

Thanks to all the great volunteers and all the athletes out on the course.