Berryman Offroad 6 Hour Duathlon

The weather for this Bonk Hard race could not have been any nicer. Well, I can't lie, I was a little hot a few times. Maybe next year the highs can only be about 72 instead of 80. Ok, KIDDING. August in Missouri and the high was only around 82 with low humidity. It was great.
It was nice being casual about getting ready in the morning for the 9 am start. Marc and I agreed that it sure beats these 4:30 am wake ups, and 5:30 pre-race meetings that we always have in adventure races, not to mention the last minute scramble to make sure we have all of our mandatory gear, maps, cluesheets, passports, etc. We got up early, cooked some breakfast, tooled around, and got ready to line up for the race. You can choose which leg you do first, bike or run. Marc and I both chose to do the bike leg first. It seemed more people chose to do the running loop first.
We lined up, and I made sure to be out front and found the 'hole-shot' into the woods right off of the bat. I wanted to get up front on this bike leg and stay there. Immediately onto the trail I was reminded of the extreme technical nature of this trail. Roots and LOTS of rocks. Big ones, small ones, sharp ones, loose gravel, you name it. I was intending to set down a hard pace on this bike leg. It consisted of 8 miles of singletrack on the Berryman trail, then it hit a connecting fire road up to a gravel road which we rode back to the Start/Finish. All told the bike loops were about 12.2 miles or so. One screaming downhill on the gravel had me clocking myself on my cyclocomputer at 35 mph! Yikes.
I stayed out front for this bike leg and came into the transition area, my computer showing me having completed a 1:12 minute lap. I think official race time might have been 1:14 though. It was time to transition to the run.
I transitioned and took off onto the run, knowing it would not be my strength for the day. I just came off of a 50k trail run two weeks ago, and being undertrained already for the run, coupled with fatigue from the 50k still (yes, I know, sad isn't it?) I wasn't counting on setting any records for the run. I took it at a moderate pace. The run had alot of doubletrack climbing towards the end, like some seriously long hills.
There was a cut-off time where you had to come back in to Race HQ under the 5 hour mark or you would not be allowed to go back out for another lap. I came in under it and transitioned again to go out for the final lap. I was told by Jason and Laura that two of the guys ahead of me pretty much just went out for their final laps also, one on the bike and one on the run. I had some work to do if I wanted a top 5 finish. I didn't see Marc at that time but I later found out that he had come in after 2 laps just over the cut-off so he was held back from doing a 3rd lap. He completed 2 laps in 5 hrs 19 minutes. Nice job Marc!
I went back out for lap 3 knowing I had to catch one of the guys on the bike. I finally caught him about 5 minutes from the end, so I hit the transition area, laced up my shoes, and took off knowing I had a fight going on with me and this guy. I was concerned because earlier on one of the laps this same guy went blazing by me on the running loop, so I figured he was a stronger runner than I. I also had the motivation of knowing that the other guy ahead of me was out on the bike and only minutes ahead of me.
So here I go, leaving Race HQ knowing I was in no worse than 4th but needing to fight to stay there, and possibly shooting for 3rd place. When I did this final run I swear I looked over my shoulder 50 times, thinking he would be fast approaching. It got to be a bit dangerous as it isn't too wise to turn around and take your eyes off of a rocky trail, but I couldn't help it.
I came to the long doubletrack climbing section and slowed it down some, still looking back, still seeing nobody. I ate a final AccelGel packet for the final push, pulled my hydration hose up and sucked for some water but it was EMPTY! No big deal rally since I was close to the finish, but I had a mouth full of gel that was thick and no water to wash it back. Anyway,I wondered what had happened to the guy giving chase? I was only a few minutes ahead of him when we left Race HQ, and I really thought he would catch me early. Well I kept pushing along, finally hitting the gravel road which takes you back to Race HQ/Finish. This meant about .6 miles left. I knew when I looked back then that if I didn't see him coming, I could hold my lead over him for that short remaining distance. As I was running this final portion, a guy came by on the bike (the end of each loop shared some of the gravel road) and I didn't know for sure since many different divisions were racing, but I had a feeling that it was the other guy who was minutes ahead of me.
When I came into the finish, I was told I secured 4th place in the 6 hour solo division, with a race time of 7 hrs 5 minutes, and sure enough, the bike that had just gone by was 3rd place, beating me by about 2 minutes. It turned out that the guy who was running that final lap that I kept looking over my should for finished 15 minutes back.
It was a fun time, pushing your body hard always is, and with great company and great weather, what more could you ask for? I had a great time talking and camping with my ace Marc Fisher, Jeff and Carrie Sona, Jason and Laura Elsenraat, Todd Holtman, Dathan Atchison, Jim and Wendy Davis, etc etc. I love this sport and all of the people who go along with it. The course was super fun, although I have to admit that by the 3rd lap I was really beginning to hate the rocks and found myself longing for some hardpacked singletrack like my hometown Klaus Park trail, or the Canal Loop trail at Kentucky Lake. The Berryman has a way of beating you up on a hardtail, but that's what makes it soooo fun. Like I have said before, to do these types of races, you have to like to suffer..... 37 miles on the mountaibn bike, half marathon trail run, and like minded people=A good day to be alive.
Post by Bryan Greaser