Race: Crooked Road 24 Hour
Runner: Mark Cliggett
Date: 11/18/2017
Location: Rocky Mount, VA
Results: 114+ miles, 1st place
Strava Activity Link: https://www.strava.com/activities/1284652652
3 Bests – What aspects of the race did you like the most?
- Winning a race was novel.
- It’s a really well-run event, with great ultra-runner volunteers and organizers
- The ~1.2 mile loop is in a really pretty area, around a lacrosse field with woods all around.
Highlights of your race – What did you do well and enjoy about your race in particular?
I started slowly, mostly at the pace I intended, and let everyone run away from me. Then they got tired, but I didn’t so much.
Lessons for others – Share your pro-tips on the race to help the next runner
- If you are doing a timed event, plan to run for the whole time.
- If you have two goals, one more ambitious than the other, and aim for the less ambitious one, it is very hard to achieve that and then refocus on the harder one. In my case I wanted to win (less ambitious given the competition) and then run 125 miles (probably at the edge of what I was capable of that day). Once I had the win in hand, I focused on protecting it rather than seeing how far I could run.
Competition – Is there a strong field?
Yes and no. There are some very good runners but it’s a local race and the people running it don’t have their pacing strategies completely dialed.
Full race report with photos: https://pointlenana.wordpress.com/2017/12/02/conquer-the-castle-then-take-the-crooked-road/
