Making history at Blue Lake

Left to right: Ryan Misjan, Brad Doering, Kirk Sutherland, Karl Dickman, Alex Kurt, Alden Roy, and friend of the team Jared Smith (doing his best to blend in) pose on the starting line. Photo by Ashley Meahger.

Heavy rains threatened leading up to the weekend of Stumptown Cross #3 at Blue Lake Park. But when the day arrived, the storm blew through earlier than forecast. Just when it was time to warm up for the race, the rain ceased, the sky cleared, and the fall colors brightened in the sunlight.

The morning’s rain had left the ground soft but not muddy, with puddles on some of the road crossings. Due to the softness, the course ran slower than last year, but with hardly any elevation gain it was still the fastest course of the season.

When the gun was fired, the women’s team got out well again. Kayla Richardson established a position just behind the leaders and Lizzie Harmon and Erica Doering were working together not far behind Kayla. Sara Bea Myre caught the tail of a pack that included fellow ultra runner Leah Brown of Team Red Lizard. Training partners Laura Thomas and Rachel Wysocki rounded out the squad, pacing each other like they always do.

Lizzie Harmon (4444), Kayla Richardson (4437), and Erica Doering establish positions near the front early in the race. Photo by Izzy Berenson.

Written by Karl Dickman, edited by Chris Smith

As the race progressed the field strung out more and more. Kayla, Lizzie, and Erica were increasingly isolated from their competitors ahead and behind, forced to push through the dreaded “no man’s land.” The three of them finished one after the other with a spread of less than a minute, earning, respectively, 3, 4, and 5 points for the team.

Despite taking 3 of the top 5 places, Rose City still trailed Team Red Lizard by one point when Erica crossed the line. And then, after inching up on her throughout the race, Bea kicked past Leah with 500 m to go. Making use of her speed from track, Bea opened up a 15 second gap by the time she crossed the finish line and clinched the team title, the first #1 team finish in program history. The margin of victory was narrow, 19 points to Team Red Lizard’s 20. Their W/L record for the season stands at 6-2.

Sara Bea Myre (4438) bides her time within striking distance of several competitors. Photo by Izzy Berenson.

Reflecting on her race, Bea says:

I remembered becoming mentally disengaged while crossing the bridge at the far end of the Blue Lake course last year. Standing at the start line of the same event this year that memory was still fresh. This time through I made it a goal to stay positive and keep my mind connected to the race. I wanted to practice telling myself that I am doing well even if it feels like I'm drowning.

As the race started, I fell in with a strong pack. I often run longer trail races where there is time to ease the pace, calm my fears, catch back up later. Here, I only had around 25 minutes. No time to disengage and rally later. I needed to stay in visual contact with that pack. I needed to trust that my pace was doable and sustainable despite pangs of fatigue.

By the time my feet hit that bridge on the second lap I was drowning any negative self-talk in affirmations. I was still in the back of the pack but I told myself “you’re doing fantastic.” I sped up to pass a competitor and wondered if I could hold my pace, so I told myself “yes.” There is a fierce brevity to cross country. I found so much benefit in simply telling myself “yes you can” to every move I made. Before I knew it I was heading back to the finish line, reeling myself in by picking off members of that pack. Staying engaged and positive through that last lap gave me a 36 second PR over last year. I am very proud of the way that race felt. I felt brave and strong.

Lizzie Harmon, who is in a marathon training block as she prepares to race CIM in six weeks, had this to say:

I’m glad I joined! I hadn’t raced or scored with a team in XC since college so to not only put up a full squad but to win with the RCTC ladies was so cool! It was also the perfect way to break up the monotony of marathon training, and I would definitely encourage other XC skeptics to give it a try!

Kayla, Lizzie, Erica, Bea, and LT bring home the first team win in program history. Photos by Izzy Berenson.

Before the race, several team members participated in a “secret witch” gift exchange. Throughout the morning, little packages appeared: chocolate, other treats, and words of encouragement. The team spirit was higher than ever at this meet, and these small acts of mutual support surely played a role.

Gifts and words of encouragement exchanged between teammates at Blue Lake.

The men’s team stepped to the line not yet knowing that their teammates had won the women’s race, but nonetheless determined to bring home glory. The men’s team finished in third place, getting 36 points and losing to Los Lobos on the tiebreaker of the fifth runner.

Kirk Sutherland came out in the middle of his build for the Honolulu Marathon and ran the race as part of his long run. Kirk says:

It was wonderful to avoid the atmospheric river and very fun to line [up] with the boys at the start. I went into the race with just 2 objectives: have fun and not get hurt. I ended up incorporating the 6k into my long run for the week as the workout portion, and boy was it a workout indeed. I went out at 6:20 pace and after the first mile the voice in my head told me to slow down, relax and just take the remaining miles easier. A race like this on week 8 of a 16 week marathon build was a fun challenge, so I locked in at just about marathon pace and enjoyed the soggy uneven ground as much as I could. The team cheering me on took me out of the pain cave and I ended up having a really good time (even though I couldn’t see).

Harry Holzgang enjoyed the scenery, saying, “Really liked the course and going through the trees. Decided to run watchless after being a little disappointed in how I raced Tabor Tar ’n’ Trail and felt that paid off well running this course at a faster average pace than I ran Lents.”

Alden Roy (4419) leads Robert MacLauchlan (4403) and Jake Stout (4072) early in the race. Photo by Izzy Berenson.

Brad Doering made his debut with Rose City at Blue Lake, picking people off throughout the race. He was Rose City’s fourth and final scorer in the men’s race. Brad says:

Every part of the race day made me realize just how much I missed being a part of a running community. Walking the course as a team, warming up together, cheering on the girls, toeing the line together, running with teammates for parts of the race, running my fastest mile of the race in the last mile because I was just focused on trying to close the gap with the hope that maybe I could pick off one or two people ahead of me to help the team score… and then cooling down as a group. I’m grateful for all of it.

Alex Kurt and Ryan Misjan continued a season of productive teamwork, finishing just three seconds apart. Alex says, “My parents were in town this weekend, so they drove out to the race with us. I'm sure it really took them back to 2007 to watch me finish in the middle of the pack, several minutes behind the leaders.” XC parenting is apparently a lifelong commitment.

Alden Roy, coming off a great Rose City debut at Linfield the week before, went out in the front for a rematch with Robert MacLauchlan of Jacuzzi Boys. Alden says, “I went into Blue Lake with a little more mileage to try and peak at Fernhill in two weeks. It ended up being a really hard fought 4th place. Side stitches the whole race, a questionable hamstring, and my first rescue inhaler in six months left a lot to be desired, but still a very good experience for growth!”

Alden, Alex, Ryan, Brad, Harry, Karl, and Kirk kick it in. Photos by Izzy Berenson.

Rose City performed well at Blue Lake, both as a team and as individuals. The women’s team got their first win in program history. Many individuals had their best race of the season so far, an accomplishment reflected in the team scores. But more importantly than individual performances, the XC squad is cohering as a team. More than any meet so far this season, everyone was excited to race together, for each other. Brad summed up the spirit of the day, saying, “It could have been really easy to not show up or to show up and just give a solid effort based on the weather and the soggy course. Seeing everyone out there being positive about the circumstances and excited to go out there and give it their all out on the course made it really easy for me to give it my all.”