Well, it isn’t called the RunTex Distance Challenge for nothing. But the Austin Radiological Association 30-K Sunday in the Lost Creek/Barton Creek hills…er, mountains added a new dimension to the toughness of the series.
Any race is a battle against the elements, course and distance. On Sunday morning, more than 850 runners turned out in force to go one-on-one with the hardest road-race course Austin has ever seen…and the course won.
Just how hard was it? Perhaps third-place finisher Michelle Maton summed it up best when she said afterward: "The marathon {AT&T Austin Marathon on February 17th} will seem easy compared with this race."
Indeed. In this 18.6-mile race, there was not a single easy stretch of running. If you weren’t climbing up one monstrous hill after another, you were falling off the cliff down the other side. Toss in a troublesome, blustery wind and some unseasonably warm conditions and the ARA 30-K is a race that will be talked about (and grow in legendary status) for years and years to come.
"It was just crazy running those hills," said Patrick Darragh after finishing fourth. "I mean, those were some of the hardest hills I’ve ever run, but the final ones were just awesome."
The ultimate character test were the last three up-and-down miles back to the start/finish line at Lost Creek and 360. Those behemoths were so steep, so unrelenting that they humbled just about everybody and forced most into walking at least part of the way.
But not Major Joshua Keena. The 33-year-old West Point grad ran every step of the course and on the brutal three-mile gut check back to the finish, he even got up on his toes and accelerated as he passed the stragglers from the accompanying 10-Miler.
Keena had taken over the lead in the third mile from early frontrunner Adam Reiser who was forced to drop out with hamstring troubles. Once Keena took over from Reiser, he extended his lead to the point where he was out of sight of everyone but Craig Ottman of Keller who struggled to keep him within range.
But Keena, who is pursuing his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering at UT, was not to be denied on Sunday. Running in his first Distance Challenge series race, Keena said after winning in 1:53:16: "I thought this was a great course. I loved it."
Winners have a way of stuff like that in the endorphin rush of victory. But the muscular Keena, who likes every bit the military man, said he’d even run it again.
His goal was to run six-minute pace in preparation for the AT&T Austin Marathon which will be his first real 26-miler (he ran San Antonio in the 2:45 range but was injured). "I didn’t run quite as fast as I wanted this morning because the hills took a little bit more out of me than I expected."
Him and everybody else. Other than the closing three-mile torture test, perhaps the hardest stretch was the two-mile, out-and-back section along Southwest Parkway. Compared with the rest of the course, this wasn’t the hilliest section but when a headwind kicked up, it made for some tough sledding and had everyone looking to duck behind a bigger body for protection.
"That wind just kicked my butt," said Paul Pugh, who finished sixth in 2:01:02 and actually walked backward up a couple of the final hills.
Following Keena to the line was Ottman in 1:55:52 with Josh Lee in third in 1:56:25 and Darragh fourth in 1:56:55.
First masters man was the 45-year-old whiz kid--Michael Woo--who placed a superb seventh overall in 2:01:32. "The uphills were unbelievably hard," said Woo, stating the obvious, "but the downhills were so steep some of them were very dangerous." First really old guy was 52-year-old Brad Sprague in 2:18:24.
Finishing right in back of Woo was Wonder Woman herself—Desiree Ficker—who is knee deep into her training for the ’08 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in April. The Iron Woman’s goal was to run 6:30 pace for the 30-K, but, like everyone, she slowed in the concluding three miles, yet was still an easy winner in 2:04:41.
Check that. Nothing was "easy" about this race. "I wanted to run comfortably this morning," said Ficker, the 31-year-old professional triathlete. "I knew it would be hard—and it was—but I thought the course was great in a masochistic kind of way. The beauty of it was I never got bored—even while running on Southwest Parkway. The scenery was constantly changing and I loved that element about it."
Finishing a strong second to Ficker in 2:15:02 was 22-year-old Rachel Collins who ran cross-country at SMU. Collins, who looked like she was out for a jog on Lade Bird Lake, moved steadily up and then was able to get up and over the last three-mile stretch to overhaul Michelle Maton (who had a bathroom break) on the short downhill run-in to the finish.
"It was very tough," said Collins, "so I tried to hold something back. I didn’t want to run too hard too early. I wanted to save something for the end."
Maton, the 39-year-old mother of five, finished third in 2:15:29 but still easily leads the women’s standings in the RunTex series. She has now finished third in three of the races and fourth in the IBM lead-off race.
"This was the longest I have ever run," said Maton, forgetting that she has run the AT&T Austin marathon once. "My legs felt like Jello out there, especially on some of the downhills. I'm just glad I finished."
Carolyn Newman, a postgrad student at UT, finished fourth in 2:20:46 (her best finish in the series) and Jill O’Neal, who has been ill for the past three weeks, gutted out fifth.
Carl Stones, an 18-year-old punk from Round Rock, took the accompanying 10-Miler in 1:11:22 with Cody Smith of Cypress second in 1:13:54 and long-striding Tom Ruthven in third in 1:18:12. Carrie Peterson was the first woman in 1:28:33.
The future of this race will probably rest with the 10-Miler. Chances are pretty good that the race will live on at the same venue (minus Southwest Parkway), but stick with the 10-mile distance. The 30-K will stay remain in next year’s Distance Challenge Series, but look for the course to be shifted to the north, probably to Georgetown.
Next up in the RunTex Distance Challenge series is everyone’s favorite half: The 3M Half Marathon on January 27th.
