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SRRC Race Reports

Backyard Burn: Hemlock Overlook, Clifton, VA—June 5, 2005
by Stefan Raab

I was having a hard time working out a good race schedule for this year, and Xterra East Sport (Sprint) was one of the few races that fit perfectly, so I got out my mountain bike and headed over to the Difficult Run trail in Reston. Wow, I had forgotten how much fun that was. I only went 4 miles, but it wasn't too bad, so I went home and signed up for the Sport version of Xterra East. I wasn't too worried about the trail run--after all I grew up running around the Colorado Mountains and am still pretty good at picking my way through trails. I figured the best way to learn about trail running was to find a race, so I signed up for the Backyard Burn 5 mile Fun Run at Hemlock Overlook in Clifton. Sidenote: When did 5 miles become a fun run? I conned neighbor and fraternity brother Matt (different Matt than the lake swim) into running with me. This worked out perfectly, our wives and kids could sleep in a bit, and then the race was a play date.

We arrived to find a very well organized race--parking was easy, the path to check-in was well marked, and check-in was fast and easy. There were about 300 people running, which was a nice size. The race director gave a course preview and warned us that this was the toughest of the three Backyard Burn courses, this worried me a little. He also informed us that they had thrown in a bonus .3 miles to make the race 5.3 miles. He went on to tell us there were only 3 real hills and one down tree. Only three hills? No Problem.

The race starts off with about 3/4 of a mile on gravel road and then comes to an abrupt stop while everyone crosses the first creek. If you didn't find your proper pace group, there isn't much space to do so beyond this point. Immediately you start up a hill and back to the race start area. Once through the start area you are off into the woods for your first taste of "single-track." There are a lot of ups and downs, logs in the path, and roots to climb. In the first mile, I saw what I thought were three hills. It wasn't until I hit the first hill that I realized hills in trail running are something entirely different from hills on the road. Training locally we don't see too many hills, but my first half marathon was in San Francisco, so I thought I knew what hills were. In trail running hills are inclines so steep that they require reinforcement to protect against erosion and usually long enough that you can't see the top of them. The way you really know you have hit a hill is when everyone is walking. I am sure at the front of the pack they run them, but mid to back of the pack everyone has to walk, and they still wear you out more than the running.

Sticking with the subject of hills, in any loop course you have to have a net zero elevation change so what goes up must come down, and down can be as bad as up. One specific down hill on the course is basically running down a big rock. The big rock was also covered in lots of little rocks. Somewhere around half way down I met one of the little rocks who wanted to go for a ride, and my butt got to meet the big rock up close and personal. The hill was so steep that getting up was easy, and I kept on running.

Moving on to the subject of butts, your gluts take on a whole new role in trail running. You really would do well to spend some time running stairs if you are training for a trail run because there are so many times that you need to climb something, be it roots, rocks or fallen trees. The one thing I learned was that you need to learn to climb these obstacles with both legs. I started out always leading with my right leg and by the half way point my right glut really wasn't happy with me. It is funny how you don't really think about it, but leading with my left leg was a pretty tough thing to do.

Beyond the hills the course was great, there are times where you run along Bull Run and around a lake. It is quiet and peaceful, so much so that sometimes you forget it is a race. There are orange flags hanging from the trees every 100 feet or so you don't forget for too long. The whole course was well marked and easy to follow and included just about every surface you can think of from asphalt to boardwalk. It ends at the top of a hill, I mean gentle incline. For me it ended in 1:01:22.

June 2005

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