Shelly Ann, Vanessa, Marysol, Gilda, Enid, Darryl, Pete, Wanda, and Firdaus
The Gods must be crazy !!
Well I have been a member of VCTC for about 10 months now and
since the beginning, one race that always came up in our conversations was ‘Soapstone’.
It was always how hard it was, how totally insane it was, how “your times
go out of the window” kind of race it was. So when it came up this year
I set out to prove that it was not such a big deal after all. I could not have
been further away from the truth!The day prior to the race it rained and so
the race was going to be exciting to say the least. A few of us got there on
a crisp cold Sunday morning, we left from Van Cortdland at about 5.30 am (it
should be against the law to be up on a Sunday that early) and being a two and
a half hour ride we got there at about 8 am. Anyway Enid & Wanda did the
right thing by going up there the previous night and getting to the race nice
and fresh.
The race started at 9.15 am and from there on it was brutal. I
guess it lived up to its name – there were ‘stones’ everywhere
and as slippery as ‘soap’ due to the rains. The first couple of mile
is up and down and then you hit a hill about quarter of a mile, which is straight
up and I mean it in the literal sense, it actually goes almost vertically up.
Any steeper and we would be rock climbing! This set the stage for the rest of
the race. I had wisely started in front so as not to get bottled up at the back
and a group of 5 runners, including me, got into a nice rhythm. But that was
a mistake as in a trail run if you get comfortable you will more times then
not get lost. So even though we were five of us we got off course and by the
time we were back on track we had lost a good 3 minutes. This was probably the
most demoralizing moment in the race. Anyway the race went on with runners spreading
out a bit more. We ran through mud, rocks & stones, over tree logs and pretty
much over and under all things found on a rugged trail. The rain had run havoc
with the trails. There was this particular stretch where we were going down
hill on a kind of stream bed with flowing water, totally covered with sharp
rocks at almost break neck speed. What I realized at that point was that to
try and slow down would be more dangerous then to just let go. So I said a mental
prayer and let loose. Thank God I got out of that in one piece with all my toes
intact. The finish was just like the rest of the path, a torturous downhill
followed by an up hill. Now that’s what I call a joy ride. Having said
this I think it is a thrill, a rush that one gets from trail running. It is
not mundane like road races where one can relax into the run. In a trail race
and especially like Soapstone one has to be extremely alert and for the whole
distance at that, which in this case was 14.5 miles. You let your mind waiver
and you could get in trouble.
So after 2 hours and 20 minutes of fun in the sun and mud and
water and stones I crossed the finished line thrilled to have finished and surprisingly
feeling great. My standing - 77 out of the 176 finishers. The wining time for
the men was 1 hour 39 minutes and for the women 2 hours and 54 seconds. I made
a mental note of how I can get better the next time around. What I should/could
have done different. I had a shower, washed my shoes, changed into dry clothes
and got down to some serious eating. The hamburgers were good, the hot dogs
even better and with all the rest of the gang finishing one by one I got to
enjoy a day with friends and strangers alike. The next day someone asked me
about the race and my answer – just the usual stroll in the woods!!
And like in every movie Arnold gives his punch line so did I to the organizers of the race – I’ll be back!! Here I come soapstone 2003.
-Firdaus Dotiwala