Over Hill, Over Dale, and Repeat Ad Nauseum

(This blog entry has plentiful pictures.  Consider yourself warned.)

This past weekend, Steph and I headed back up to Hayward, Wisconsin to take part in the Birkie Trail Run.  Last year, we did the half marathon.  This year we opted for the Marathon Relay, conning four friends to join us.  A blast was had by one and all.

 

I’ll make the race report short and sweet – as a team, we did great (more on that later) and as individuals, nearly all of us beat our expectations.

Considering the nature of the Birkie Trail, that’s not an easy feat.  No matter where you are, you’re either running up or running down.  It’s impossible to settle into a pace.  One leg can’t be compared to another.  Case in point – my 5.6 mile leg was filled with rolling hills and a few sharp rises while Steph’s 3.7 miles didn’t have as many hills but they were nearly all straight up and down.

 

Overall, The Tufted Mazurkas (that’s us) finished 3rd out of 16 teams in the Mixed Division.  I think overall we were 16th out of 63 teams, which is an impressive showing.  You can check out the race results here (click on Relay Team Results, scroll down to 6 person mixed).

The official Birkie results, however, will show that we finished 6th in our division.  This is because the Birkie calculates times using an adjusted scale based on age and sex.  Someone between 20 – 30 counts their full time while someone in their 50s or 60s may count as little as 85% of their time.  Runners younger than 20 also get adjusted times which strikes me as quirky and downright odd.

This meant that the team of 50 – 60 year olds who finished a full 45 minutes behind us was moved ahead of us in the rankings.  That miffed me a bit but considering the prizes were coffee mugs and I don’t drink coffee, my miff-ness is not terribly strong.

Plus we got medals and those are cool.  And we had an awesome time.  What more could you ask for?

Pictures after the break.  Click to enlarge any of them.