Rick Rocks Catoctin
On Saturday, August 2, 2008, Rick Moyer (Reading, PA) lined up in Gambrill State Park on top of Catoctin Mountain for the Catoctin 50K in Frederick, MD. The race is essentially 15.5 miles downhill until the turn-around in Cunningham State Park and climb back to the top of the mountain. In between lies some of the rockiest, rootiest, and roughest single track trail and dirt road one might ever encounter. The race director even warns the participants on the starting line that the course is sparsely marked and that there’s the best chance that you will get lost at some point along the way.
Rick took off running relaxed but strong and taking in fluid, fuel, and electrolytes that he knew would be necessary if he was to climb his way back out after the day’s heat progressed. At the half-way turnaround Rick felt strong until the cool mist that accompanied runners for nearly the first 3 ½ hours gave way to bright sunlight and extreme heat and humidity. Rick was able to continue strong to the finish in 7:13:55 good for 48th place out of 115 finishers and nearly 40 minutes better than last year’s time.
Rick said afterwards that before the extreme heat set in that he felt almost “machine-like” while running strong either uphill or down without extreme effort and maintaining a strong, even pace.
That’s exactly how you should feel, Rick.
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