Race Recap: Hagg Lake 25K, 2014 Hagg Lake Mud Runs

Hagg Lake 25K, February 16, 2014

Race Basics

Course: 25K loop around Hagg Lake on the trail.  Starting at the Sain Creek Pavilion there is a 1.5 mile out and back on a gravel road with an elevation gain of about 250 ft.  Then onto the single track trail around the lake, with a few small sections on the road, including where you cross the dam. This is called a mud run for a good reason, as it is held in Oregon in February.  The loop around the lake is never flat, you are always going up or down.

No Flat Spots (From RunningAHEAD.com)

Start/Finish Area and Food:  The Sain Creek Pavilion, in the park, is the start/finish hub.  There were plenty of heaters to stand under, lots of room in case of foul weather, and pre-race beverage provisions available.  By the time you finish the race, there is a ton of food available.  Hot Dogs, Meatless Dogs, Gooey Grilled Cheese (my personal favorite, and it was the perfect thing to warm the insides post race.  I had seconds), Vegetable Soup, Chicken Noodle Soup, Trail mix, Pretzels, water and probably more that I didn't get to.

Pre-race at the Pavilion. I was a little early.

Parking: Parking is about 1/4 mile from the start, which is a nice little walk along the trail, unless you are in a special category.  VIP runners, for a small charitable donation, get a little extra schwag, including wine and extra socks, a parking place at the start and a VIP Porta Potty.... which in most events might be better than close parking.

Entrants:  There were about 300 people running the 25K.  Some of them had run the 50K the day before. I might refer to them as "a bit crazy".

Schwag: With your entry fee you get a nice short sleeve technical t-shirt.  Upon completing the race you get a finisher medal and socks from FitSok with the Hagg Lake logo. These are so comfy and warm.  If you run the race 5 times, you are inducted into the Hall of Mud, and receive a pint glass and in the past, a belt buckle.  For the "a bit crazy", if you run the 50K on Saturday and the 25K on Sunday, you get a Growler of Lucky Labrador IPA too. There are also raffle drawings from the sponsors.

My Race (Run)

This is my third year running this race.  The first was extremely muddy, and I ran 3:07:32, which at the time felt pretty slow.  Last year was much drier, but still muddy, and I improved to 2:57:34.  Going into this year, I am not in as good physical condition.  My training has been quite sporadic, so I had a goal to finish around the 3 hour mark, I joked to my friend who ran with me, that I really did not want a pace slower than 15 min/mile, and that we would call this a "fun run".

One week prior to the race, Oregon got it's dose of winter, and 18" of snow fell on the trail, followed by 50 degree weather, and then 1" of rain the day before, during the 50K.  The trail reports coming from the 50K runners on Facebook included descriptions of "Epic trail conditions"  I was thinking, this will be hard but lots of fun.

I woke up early on Sunday, got a hot coffee, and headed out of town 20 minutes to the lake.  I met my friend and we headed to the start to get our bibs.  The weather was pretty "warm" at 42 degrees.  A quick walk back to the car to don my race clothing and Camelback, loaded with a few Honey Stinger bars and gels, arm warmers, chap-stick and water.  I wore capris, long wool socks, a tank top, Thin over shirt, wind breaker, hat and thin gloves.

Beautiful Morning at the Lake

The race started on time after a few brief race directions, including "just make sure the lake is on your left".  I knew the 1.5 mile out and back was first, and that little hill seems to take the wind right out of the sails, so I started at an easy pace, not wanting to waste my energy there.  Then back and down to the trail.  The mud began almost immediately.  Remember the 50K runners had run two laps the previous day, and already done their damage.  Plus additional rain the night before.  My friend and I were moving at a decent pace and feeling pretty good.  running along the undulating trail.  We had to stop after about 3 miles, and remove the jacket, gloves and hat, then back to it.  We were running through slippery mud and some sticky mud, and the low points of the trail were either large puddles, or creeks running down the actual trail.

A small puddle, and only slightly muddy trail.

In the past when I have tried to explain the mud on this trail to other runners, I say "who knew that there were at least 7 different types of mud around Hagg lake".  There is gooey mud, sticky mud, slippery mud, suck your shoe off mud, squishy but not quite wet mud, mud covered grass, deep mud under the water, and so many more.  This race probably added a few more types of mud this year.

At abut 7 miles you pop off the trail and up onto the road, so you can run across the dam.  The sun was out it was warm, I was snapping pictures and feeling pretty good. I glanced at my watch, and thought, wow, we are making really good time. The 1st aid station was just on the other side of the dam.  When I got there I had a PB&J, some pretzels, and M&Ms.  They also had a gummy bears, chips, gels, and a porta potty.

Crossing the dam on the road

This may be where things started going down hill for me.  The back side of the lake was wetter, if that was even possible.  It was taking more and more effort for me to stay stable on my legs.  I quite enjoyed skiing sown the slippery hills, and the sloshing through the large puddles cooled my feet, which felt good.  By mile 11 I was feeling very slow, having to walk a bunch, and slowing my friend down, who was kind enough to tough it out at my pace.  In retrospect, I am sure a lot of the fatigue in the legs had to do with not training enough to have a good running base.   I struggled through the next 4 miles, and didn't take pictures thinking it would slow me down.  Funny, I was already going slow.  I don't think the pictures I took did the mud much justice, but Jason Leman (who ran both the 50K and 25K) had a GoPro with him on the 25K and made this VIDEO.  Thank You Jason.  It shows the Mud really well.

About 1/4 mile from the finish, you run across the parking lot, by your parked car.  This year I thought, should I just collapse there?  But decided better of it, and was determined to finish that last 1/4 mile running. How hard could it be? It's the same trail to walk to the start.  As I left the paved parking area and dropped back onto the trail, the race photographer Paul Nelson, was right there.  He surprised me and then....

Some of the best Race Photos ever taken of me.  Credit Paul Nelson

I just fell.  It was so funny and so slow motion.  This was not my only fall of this run.  I had fallen a ways back, and would do so again two more times before the finish.  Then through the finish, got my blanket, finishers medal, and very important finishers socks!

A little cold, but race completed, and socks in hand.

This year I would finish in 3:49:45 my slowest pace of any race.  I walked directly to the hot food and had that Gooey Grilled cheese (X2), a hot dog and some veggie soup.  My legs were completely spent.  But I was smiling.  I had a few moments in the race that were bringing me down, but I just love this race.  It is always challenging, and every year I can't wait to do it again.

The Mud and the Bling

See You next year!!!