ROLLING RAMPAGE 07!
June 17, 2007
I competed in my fifth consecutive Rolling Rampage International 10k road race in Toronto Ontario yesterday. I finally broke into the prize money as I captured my best finish to date at this world class international event (4th in a time of 36:08).
The top 3 including the winner, multiple world record holder and now four time champion of this race Santiago Sans from Spain all pulled out in their own pack. The race for the fourth and final prize money spot eventually became a one on one showdown between me and an American from Texas. The early miles of the race saw the American pull away on the early downhill stretches of the 1.7k loop of Queens Park only to be caught by me in the slight but longer climbs of the backstretch. It was shaping up to be a position battle of which man would be in a better position entering the finish line. Since the finish comes after a downhill I knew I had to push the pace and take full advantage of my climbing strengths on the backstretch on each and every lap to try and either give myself enough of a lead so he couldn’t sprint away on the downhill to the finish or to just out right break his will and drop him for good.
Thankfully this tactic succeed and I opened up a large gap about half way through the race, eventually pulling away and dropping him to the point he could not be seen behind me any further. It was a great feeling and it gave me a huge sense of pride to know that I would be taking home the largest pay day of my running career, by running my race and not only beating him physically but out smarting him as well. The early laps when he was in the lead I just kept close enough to stay with him and by watching what lines he took through the course I learned a lot and watched him go wide, so I countered by hugging the curb of the street going the least distance as possible.
I am very pleased by this result and am encouraged for the rest of my season. I compete at the Ontario Championships next weekend in Sarnia Ontario and then the Canadian Championships the weekend of July 12th in Windsor, the very track I train on!
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