A few people have asked about my goal for this weekend’s Seashore Nature Trail 50K, so I’ve spent a bit of time looking back through stats since 2009 when the race first took place. This year will be my 7th consecutive running of the 50K, which so happens to be the same duration as my Cayman Islands Marathon streak. I keep telling myself one of these years I’ll have to choose between the two events, as it’s getting more and more difficult to recover from the Cayman Marathon in time to “race” the 50K. Maybe next year will be the the right time to pick? We’ll see.
The following table should be self-explanatory and lists my finish times for both events since 2009.
Cayman Marathon/Seashore 50K
| Year | Cayman Marathon | Seashore 50K | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 2:59:05 | 3:56:41 | 6:55:46 |
| 2010 | 2:52:18 | 3:42:18 | 6:36:36 |
| 2011 | 2:57:17 | 3:54:31 | 6:51:48 |
| 2012 | 3:03:38 | 3:40:49 | 6:44:27 |
| 2013 | 2:56:18 | 3:39:03 | 6:35:21 |
| 2014 | 2:56:53 | 3:42:27 | 6:39:20 |
| 2015 | 2:58:20 | ? | ? |
| Average | 2:57:41 | 3:45:54 |
2012 was an odd year – I was suffering with shingles when the marathon took place, but 2 weeks later felt great for the 50K.
My 2 other slowest Cayman Marathon times (2:59:05 and 2:57:17) preceded my slowest 50K finish times (3:56:41 and 3:54:31), so maybe that’s an omen for this year after finishing the marathon last weekend in 2:58:20? It could be another tough race…
Anyway, despite analysing the stats to death, I’m really looking forward to the race and not stressing at all about the outcome, although I do have several goals in mind:
- Finish the race to keep my Cayman Marathon/Seashore 50K streak going
- Finish in under 4 hours to keep my Seashore 50K sub-4 streak going
- Finish in under 3:45:54 to keep my Seashore 50K average under 3:45:54
Anything else would be a bonus, and I’m just looking forward to sharing the trail with so many friends from the local running community. Race well, everyone. See you out there!
Update
Well, the race went pretty well and I managed to achieve each of the 3 goals listed above with a finish time of 3:44:45. The first loop was a fairly comfortable effort with Michael Leech, Mike Wolfe and a few other guys for company, but with the 2 raceleaders 15 and 12 minutes ahead at the turnaround, I decided to make a bit of a move in an attempt to gain some ground. I knew chances were slim of catching the leader/course record holder, Danny Tepovich, but wasn’t sure about the 2nd place guy who’d also gone out pretty fast.
I managed to move into, then hold, 3rd place for a while, but after a swift loop of the rooty Osmanthus Trail, my legs got heavy and with 6+ miles to go I focused more on holding onto 4th place than trying to regain 3rd. There was a brief glimmer of hope when I actually caught Steve D at the final aid station with 1.6 miles to go, but his 25-year-old legs quickly sped away leaving me stuck solidly in 4th.
So, definitely happy with the end result considering the energy-sapping Cayman Marathon effort just 2 weeks previous, and all things considered I can’t complain about another Masters win and sub-3:45 50K. Next goal is to finish off 2015 with hopefully a new distance record for a year (3,239 miles set in 2014), then start logging some miles in anticipation of another busy race season.
Gear