Buck Hales

Saturday morning my buddy Steve and I drove 75 miles from Chicago to Lake Geneva, WI for the 13th annual running of the 25K and marathon. Much to my chagrin I was only entered in the 25K. It was a perfect day. Cool and sunny, such a relief compared to the 22/30 days of rain we'd had. There was a very big turnout for the race this year, some 300 marathoners and maybe 1000 other runners. The boat horn sounded the start at 8:05 AM. We got pinned in and ran a slow first mile, ~10+ before we started to break loose. We continued to pass people until the crowd thinned out about mile 4 where we settled in to a steady 8:30-8:40 canter. As the sun rose in the sky the mercury climbed to the 70's. The water stops were located about every 3 or 4 miles, which seemed a little too far apart, even early on. The second water stop actually had cheese and cranberry cocktail (keep in mind this race was in cheesehead land). I passed on the cheese. We were going strong, keeping up a good pace as we rounded our way through Zenda. A car appeared on horizon. There was nothing as far as the eye could see but the road, the runners and a few distant farmhouses. Then out of the car popped our friend Janet who stood on the hood holding a sign cheering us on. After we ran past her she would drive ahead three or so miles, cheer on Al, wait for us, and cheer us again. It was quite a fun diversion having such great personal support. The only other people on the course were the few waterstop volunteers. And they were few and far between. The defining moment of the race is the "big" hill at mile 10. I like to press up the hill and try and maintain a steady pace, then let gravity carry me faster down the back. This hill attack strategy has much improved my distance running in the past few years, and helps to avoid the intimidation. We got water at mile 11, and Steve cramped up. I gave him some magic electrolyte pills, took a couple myself, and ran on without him. I felt great. I picked up the pace and caught the runners in front of me. I was holding close to 8:30 pace but was getting dehydrated. A little bit of tunnel vision and very dry mouth got me worried. I pressed on. At mile 12 water stop they had super concentrated exceed, I took one sip and dropped my cup-- yuck! I drank three cups of water instead. Al reported later that he drank the stuff and ended up puking. But I managed to get enough water in me to finish. Mile 14 was a big down hill and I sailed down it. The course joined the road around the lake and there was one sharp hill at mile 15. I chugged up it and then when I crested it let my self go to the end. A big kick and I sprinted across the finish line under 2:18 (2:17: 51)= 8:54 pace. This was my fastest LG 25K, so I was happy with my time. I felt strong and relaxed, no pain or soreness in my legs, and after I hydrated, I felt pretty good. Steve (2:20) and Al (sub 2:00) had really miserable experiences in the last few miles.