Mescherbergloop

I haven't missed the Mescherbergloop cross race in the three years I've been stationed in the Netherlands.  After all, why would anyone miss it.  Cross country, trails, hills, mud (or in last year's race - snow), stairs, and good competition.

After about a half mile of running on the road, the only flat portion of the course, we turned left into a pasture (picture above) and the runners began to establish their positions.  I was somewhere around 10th place at this point. 

Climbing the first steady hill my British colleague Charlie (white and blue) and I caught a couple of runners, including the Dutch guy wearing blue and red to the right of the picture. At about 1.5 miles we crested the hill and began a descent of about 600 meters. The blue/red runner caught back up to us on the downhill, but Charlie and I would eventually lose him for good on the second climb. 

We had already passed another Dutch runner and approaching the stairs which this race is well known for.  I should mention that at this point I already knew that I wouldn't be able to get away from Charlie or vice versa, even though I would put a 10 meter gap on him on the hills or stairs.  Up ahead about 200 meters there was a Belgian runner who at one point I thought we could catch. That thought and the Belgian eventually faded away.

Charlie and I climbing yet another hill.  Not at all planned, we were glad to accompany and push each other, especially in the latter part of the race.  I remember with about 2K left in the race, Charlie was trailing me and could sense that I started to let up on the pace.  He encouraged me to push on, and we both motored our way side by side to the finish in a joint 6th place.  Here are the results and Dutch news coverage of the race.

I had a blast for the third year in a row at the Mescherbergloop and I'm sure going to miss it next year.  Here is a comparison of my three Mescherbergloop races.

Year	Time	Place	Remarks
2010	56:45	6th	muddy course
2009	1:01:50	9th	snowy course
2008	56:41	6th	racing flats on xc/trails

14 - 20 Dec

On Sunday I did a trail/XC race (Mescherbergloop 15K) in the snow, which was a first and by far the most difficult and fun race of the year. It's the same race I did last year in which I wore road racing shoes on the muddy course. I certainly did not make the same mistake. This time around I wore the La Sportiva Crosslite, which I highly suggest if you're looking for a lightweight trail or XC shoe that gives excellent traction.

The course itself was grueling with lots of steep uphills and downhills, uneven surfaces (plowed farmlands) and 180 wooden stairs to climb. Throw in the snow and you could only imagine how difficult the run was. I ended up running 5 minutes slower (1:01:50) than I did last year (56:41) and placed 9th overall in what was a very strong field of runners.  The race got the best of my quads and now I'm spending these next few days doing easy running to recover.

Here's the training summary for the week of 14-20 Dec.

Mon: 10M easy

Tues: Noon - 5M easy; PM - 9M including 15 x 300 w/ 100 rec.

Wed: 10M easy

Thur: 10M easy

Fri: 9M with the last mile at half-marathon effort

Sat: 7M easy

Sun: 15K trail/XC race in the snow; 13M total

Weekly Total: 73 miles

Disappointment

Lesson learned! DO NOT wear road racing shoes for a trail or cross country race. It was a dumb and rookie decision on my part. It certainly cost me at least a minute, a couple overall places and prize money in the open category. Before the race my friend and I did a warmup running about 2.5 miles of the course, which is about 80% dirt (mud in most cases). It was my first taste of what I was about to experience. During the slow warmup I used my Asics training shoes (which I intended to race in) and was already having some difficulty with the footing. When I went to change into my racing clothes I decided to change my shoes as well to the Saucony Fastwitch 2. I honestly thought I could get away with it.

At the starting line, my hopes of a good race started to dwindle when I looked around to see what shoes all the other runners were wearing. It was obvious they ran this race before and knew what the course was like. Almost all runners wore cross country shoes (rubber spikes) or trail shoes. When we were waiting for the gun to go off my friend from the running club (AV Unitas) asked me if I had trail shoes. "Yeah, there at home." I really wanted to laugh.

I felt good in the first 1/4 mile of the race as this was one of the few parts of the course that was on pavement. As soon as we turned into the trails the slipping and sliding began for me. I literally was looking for the little rocks so that I can push off and get some traction and momentum going. About 3k into the race I could not help but watch the leaders slowly increase their lead. All I kept thinking about was why in the hell did I not bring my Nike waffle cross shoes. I ran alone for the next 5 kilometers with a couple runners in sight about 50-75 meters ahead. However, I was making up some ground on them each time we'd come across the hills. The toughest part of the course (that's an understatement because the entire course is tough) is the 9th kilometer, where there are a couple hills followed by a steep wooden stairway (about 180 steps). It was during this part of the course that I caught and passed the two runners I had in sight. On a downhill with mud one of the runners I caught quickly opened a 25 meter lead while I was focused on just trying to stay on my feet. I stayed in that position, which I later found out was 5th overall and 3rd in the open category, until another downhill (around the 13.5 km mark) when the second runner I passed flew by me. There was no way to respond as I continued to slip and slide and tried everything possible again to stay on my feet. I finished 6th overall in 56:41. You can view the results here (click on Uitslagen on the left and then Uitslagen Mescherbergloop).

All in all, it was a disappointing race for me. I probably needed a bad race though, because I learned something from it. Preparation! I need to do a better job of preparing for my races, knowing the course and terrain and choosing the right gear (shoes in today's case).