Pere Marquette Endurance Trail Run

"the toughest & most grueling race in the Midwest!"

http://www.teamgodzilla.org/html/ClubRacing/PereMarquette/index.htm

Tips for a faster race:

• Warm up properly: Some might be tempted to warm up on the course. That is a bad idea if you want to run fast. A few minutes running about ten minutes before your wave starts will help keep your heart rate down a while longer into the race.
• Pace: An even paced race starts with a realistic goal pace. Do some home work and see if the available results suggest a finish time. As the race starts, get comfortable. Run the first climb and relax on the downhill. Resist the urge to race until after mile three. At this point there are two remaining climbs and 99% of the field is just running to finish. Now it's time to move up.
• Shorten the Race: This is one long 7.5 miles race. Break the race up in your mind and it will be easier to handle. There are either four or five hills, depending on how you look at it. By waiting to race until mile four, half of the climbing is over. Now it is time to race. Don't worry about what happens after mile seven. It's all downhill. So leave it all out there getting thru seven miles.
• Screw Shoes: These help. A lot. http://www.skyrunner.com/screwshoe.htm I think an old pair of light trainers work pretty well. After the race they'll either be ready to be thrown away or used for winter running.
• Run Hills: Run 800m hill repeats. Find a 400m hill and start the repeat at a comfortable pace. After 400m you will not be comfortable, continue on the flat running with a high cadence for another 400m. Jog the 800m recovery to the start and repeat. Build up to 6 repeats. This will be a total of 8 miles with a 1 mile w/u and c/d. Running the hill gets you to lactic threshold quickly and that extra 400m will put the pounce in the cat.
• That's enough: Run well grasshopper.