Pittsford Wildcat XC 5K

I ran the Pittsford Wildcat XC 5K Saturday. Before the start of the race, it was cool and windy. While running the race over the school's cross country course, the trees blocked out the wind. It started getting warm.

This is one of the toughest cross country courses I have run. It is constantly running up or down. If there is a flat stretch on the course, it doesn't last long. The footing on this course was very good. No large holes or sand to run through. I was gaining on another woman after the mile mark. That momentum stopped when we had to run up a long incline. That woman ended up running away from me. Besides passing a few people at the start of the race, I didn't pass anyone else. Not many people ran this race because of other races being run in the area.

During the second mile, the woman that ran away from me, passed a teen boy. The boy was doing a walk/run mix. My goal was to catch him. I was doing a pretty good job of chasing him down. Around 2.5 miles, the teen was walking 30-40 feet ahead of me. He turned around, looked at how close I was and took off. I was disappointed. I spent the entire second mile going after him and I had him right in front of me. There was no way I could have caught back up to him. He must have saved energy by walking most of the course.

The last stretch of the race is all on an incline. Coming up to the finish line, there are three hills to run up. The last hill isn't too big, but when the entire course has a lot of hills, it looks like a mountain. I was able to run up the hill with a steady pace and to the finish line. I finished the tough course in 30:36. Not my fastest run ever. But on a tough course like this, that time is good for me. I placed second in my age group and won a raspberry pie as a door prize. Not a bad way to start the weekend.