I had the great opportunity to run the Dauber Dash at Henricus Historical Park today (8/7/10).  Here is the long and short of the race:

• Keep: the course layout, the race format, the historical actors, and the volunteers
• Fix:  the race start time, the water stops
• OMG Kill it with fire!!!: SPIDERS on the course that do not respect the agreement I have with spiders:  don’t touch me and I won’t scream like a 11 year old girl who just got her first iPhone.

This was the second running of the Dauber Dash and based on my experience today it will be a permanent fixture on my race calendar.  The atmosphere at the Henricus settlement is great – though it was a little weird approaching the start line after perusing the settlement and respective gardens and hearing ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’ from Guns N Roses blaring on the sound system near the start line.

There are historical actors on the course and in the settlement itself.  I am based in the Williamsburg so, while I am used to seeing actors in period dress, it was very interesting to see people dressed in 17th century clothes (Colonial Williamsburg focuses on the 18th century).  If you have not visited the Henricus settlement, you should.  It is a rich experience.  For example, though I grew up in Connecticut (which has a rich tobacco tradition), this was the first time I saw live tobacco plants.  Connecticut does not embrace its history like Virginia does.  For a history geek like me, this was a double plus win.

On to the details!

Keep

The race course was great.  Any race in Virginia in August needs to take into account the heat.  The course is all trail and is primarily shaded which helps make the heat more bearable. In addition, the race is not timed which helps stop people from pushing themselves for a good race time (like me!).

There are obstacles throughout the site.  My favorite were the hay bales and hills. I wish there were hay bales every half mile or so on this course.  There were two hills on the course that I enjoyed climbing as well.  Each had a rope to help you up but my Adrenilane Sports training kicked in and I bolted up these hills like a mountain goat.

There were two water hazards on the course.  At the first one, it was possible to run on the beach to avoid any wet shoes.  While I liked this, in the back of my head I was wondering why there would be a water hazard if it did not need to be run through.  The second water hazard did not disappoint however.  It was a muddy, lagoon/swamp mess for about 30 -40 feet that I needed to run through.  I had wet shoes for the last 2 miles after that but that didn’t really matter.

This race had its share of historical actors as well.  In case you don’t know, the Henricus settlement was created in 1611 and during the race, there were actors in period costume at different points.  The most memorable was the solider around the 1 mile mark.  He was just walking down the trail as if he was on patrol.  At the same time, a group of deer was bolting past on a hill near the the trail I was running down.  I actually felt out of place as a modern runner.

Fix

There are two things I would change about the race.  First, the start time for the race was 9 AM.  In August and in Virginia that is too late.  A 7:30 or 8:00 AM start would have been much better. The second issue was bigger.  There were three water stops on the course.  All of these water stops are on the trail.  None of the water stops had a garbage can or bag for the water cups that would be disposed of b the runners.  On the first two water stops I felt horrible taking the water and just tossing the cup onto the trail since I felt like I was polluting a very beautiful and natural trail (even though I am assuming volunteers picked up every cup).  At the third water stop there was a volunteer collecting the cups from the runners but this seemed like an adhoc approach from the volunteers (and I thank them for that!).  Next year there should be trash cans at each water stop.

OMG Kill it with fire!!!

This is more of a personal issue for me.  You see, I have worked hard to forge an iron clad agreement with the spiders around me.  I will let them live as long as they leave me alone.  For example, last week a giant monstrosity of a spider dared to share the walkway in front of my house with me.  However, since he did not make any movements towards me, I was perfectly fine sharing the the 3×5 piece of concrete with him.

The spiders on the Dauber Dash trail were another matter however.  The trail has a lot of trees overhanging the walking/running area.  Since I am taller than the average runner (6’3″), I happened to run into 3 – 4 webs that were perfectly aligned at head level for me.  In addition, I swore one spider tried to jump on me.  Though my first instinct is to squeal when this happens, my “public manliness” kicked in and I muffled any screams of terror I might have otherwise emitted.

Bottom line

This race rocked and next year I hope to bring my whole family with me.  In addition, since the race went through the Henricus settlement, I am now motivated to bring my family just to see the settlement itself (even though I was miffed that their Rosemary plants were doing better than mine!!).

It was a beautiful day for the run.  My wife and middle daughter ran the 1 mile fun run first.  My middle daughter’s running has improved and she finished in 9 minutes.  As for the 5K, after a slow start from the back of the pack, my daughter and I overtook many people.  Near the end she started to pull away but I was able to overtake her in the last 50 meters.  I ended up beating her by 1 second.  This time next year she will probably kick my butt since she is starting to catch the running bug on top of the full blown case of volleyball fever she has come down with over the last year.

During the awards ceremony I did have one moment of anxiety.  In the 30-34 age group, the third place runner had a time of 30 minutes flat.  For a second I thought “Uh oh, they are going to call out my name and time in the 35-39 age group”.   This race is a course where you set your PR since it is so flat.  the majority of runners are pretty fast.  I finished in 24:09.  For some reason I was embarrassed by the slow time.  My wife was completely enjoying this moment of anxiety!  However, the other runners in my age group came through and the third place runner had a time of 21 minutes and change.

After this episode passed, I set my 2010 running goal – a sub 20 minute 5K.  This will serve two purposes.  One, it will get me somewhat close to where I was in terms of speed back in high school and college.  Two, if my daughter trains as well, it will position her to be a top-tier cross country runner as she moves into high school based on the times posted by the top tier female high school runners that ran this race.  We’ll see how it goes.  I do know that I would much rather train for speed over a short distance than grind through another marathon training regimen.

My training so far has been hampered by work since the site I work for (SnagAJob.com) is going through a major overhaul and that has taken a lot out of me. However, I am up to a 11 mile long run and I am clocking about 20 miles a week. I don’t think I will beat my time from last year who knows