Eagle Park 5M - Sammamish WA

I had to go to Seattle anyway this week. So flew up to Seattle the morning of the race. After landing at 8:45 I drove to the site of the race in Sammamish, arriving just before race start. The ground was covered in snow, and the trail seemed to promise a muddy slippery escapade. Race Director Eric Bone promised no course records today.

There were 10 mile and 5 mile courses all starting at the same time. I had done the 10 miler last year in 1:24. 1:30 as a goal seemed reasonable under the conditions.

As we started out, it was in fact like skiing down every rolling decline. And there were puddles all over the course. It was pointless to avoid them and everyone quickly got their legs completely encrusted in mud. After several near falls, I decided that it would be prudent to just do five miles today and not risk injury for several bigger races coming up. At the aid station I turned around and tried to go catch the leader. I finished in second place again this weekend in 41 minutes and change. Surprisingly under the conditions this would have been the course record for previous years.