Tuesday is Stage 3: a 30 kilometre cross country run.
Whether you ran one lap or 7, this is a strong test on the journey to the title “One Tough Runner.” Huge thanks to the water crew, the pacers (even the surprise ones), the massage team, the family, friends, and cheer squads, the food team, and everyone on the course for the much needed support.
Results
today’s results | cumulative after stage 3
For a day that sees Josh and Robyn maintain gold, lots happened below the surface to make this a dynamic Stage.
Robyn increased the overall lead to 23:54 over Catherine who moves into 2nd place. 2-4 (Catherine, Valery, Rebecca) within 3:35.
In the men’s race, Robert notches his first Stage win of 2019 by 44 seconds, and pulls within 1:53 of overall leader Josh.
Ultimates vs Themselves:
Aidan R- 10:42 faster than 2018 on Stage 3; now cumulatively 20:04 ahead of last year. Put another way, he is 15:18 behind Rob (who is also faster this year), where last year he was 31:11 back after 3 Stages
Ian G- 5:25 faster than 2018 on Stage 3; now cumulatively 12:27 ahead of last year
Jack K- still on pace for fastest ENDURrun since 2010; today was only 13s off of his fastest Stage 3 performance (2013)
Rebecca K- 2:57 faster than 2018 on Stage 3; now cumulatively 6:24 ahead of last year
Chris L- 4:08 faster than 2018 on Stage 3; now cumulatively 16:54 ahead of last year
Mark I- 11:34 faster than 2018 on Stage 3; now cumulatively 19:50 ahead of last year
Will S- 17:36 faster than 2013 on Stage 3; now cumulatively 44:12 ahead of his previous best Ultimate
Den A- on pace for fastest ENDURrun since 2011; up 42:02 over his 2018 Ultimate
Sara B- fastest ever Stage 3 (out of 7) by 40s
Historical context
Josh 6:08 behind the men’s ultimate record pace
Robyn 1:45 behind the women’s ultimate record pace; 6:37 ahead of women’s masters record
Robin 9:14 behind men’s masters record
H+P Men’s A currently 3:19 ahead of relay record pace, and have passed their 2018 time
H+P Women’s A currently 1:13 ahead of the women’s relay record pace
H+P Masters Men A currently 7:33 ahead of the masters relay record pace
In their own words
You spent as much time on course at Stage 3 as 1 and 2 combined, so, how did you handle the six loop grind?
I had to finish so I could stop moving and be in the shade. – Ty
Wow, after lap 3, felt really hot and just drank as much water and Gatorade as i could get my hands on. – Chris Be
I think I developed a piriformis glitch within 3 km and had to ride it out – I was just enjoying being able to run at a slow pace and try to loosen it up during the run. Love the shade in the tree area of the route and didn’t mind the sun ’cause I remember February. I will wake up and stretch in the moring, take it easy then need to work a little. – Bob
My teammate Ian kept me going. We worked together. – Robyn
It was the desire to break the 7:00 pace barrier. – Ron
I had a small group of family and friends on the course today. That helped me keep me going, in addition to the many awesome volunteers and others cheering along the way. – Mitch
All the puppies out on course. Dogs are always just so happy. I just channel that pure unabashed happiness. – Chris M
To say the truth, we create for ourselves some rivalry… 2 of them kept me going: 1) this guy behind be putting in jeopardy my the overall master ranking; and the phantom of a younger myself, the one when I was a rookie here 7 years ago. I kept fighting to stay ahead of both. – Robin
The awesomeness of running together with Catherine – spotlight one of our returning ‘out of towners’ – and just the camaraderie at EndurRun in general. So many people from H+P and Rarebits were jumping in to pace teammates – it was amazing. – Rebecca
More humid than expected, and I struggled with that….but I’m too proud to give up! I missed my goal by 4 minutes but at least I didn’t experience injury. – Merlin
Stage 3 comes with the perk of a morning off. What are you doing before the evening Stage 4?
Buying new socks to help my sore feet. – Ty
I’m working until 11, then massage and lunch and then rest up for 10miler. – Chris Be
I just want to sleep all day tomorrow. – Robyn
An hour or two in the hot tub with a pot of coffee then BLTs for breakfast then I will do as little as possible , may spend some time in the “Ham Shack”. – Ron
I am hoping tomorrow I will be able to sleep in a little bit and mostly take it easy. Probably a nice walk and some light stretching. And a trip to the store for some chocolate milk. – Mitch
Climbing a bunch of stairs for training. Hmmmm, perhaps it’s a bit too late for that. I’ll just shave my head and hope it makes me faster. – Chris M
I drove to Camp Heidelberg to visualise stage 4 this afternoon; so I won’t do much tomorrow, especially in the morning. I will wake up after 6:00 and take a real breakfast for the first time in the last 4 days. After that, you can find me sitting at a table in Starbucks vaguely working on the lesson I have to give in class a 8:00 on Monday 19th. Don’t be shy to come if you want to talk, I don’t feel much like working for real! – Robin
I will laze around….and stretch/relax my hip muscles – they seem to be the weak link this year. – Merlin
It’s starting to dawn on us that this will be over in less than FIVE days. How has this week lived up to your expectations so far?
The week is exceeding expectations and nice to expect to finish, albeit a little slower than last year. – Bob
This week has as challenging as I thought it would be. I’ve really enjoyed the atmosphere around the races too. Very friendly and supportive. – Ty
The venues , volunteers and participants are amazing I am fortunate to be able to be a part of the event. My times are a little slower then last year but I am Ok with that. I have more or less given it a 100% effort and ran with a pretty consistent effort….that is how I gauge my personal success. – Ron
The week is going pretty good so far. The longer runs are my biggest challenge. I am feeling it today. – Mitch
Well I’ll tell you the food has been amazing! Somebody tells me the Running Rarebits are doing it all? Man, those guys and gals are something else! – Chris M
That is a toughh one, since my expectations were so low when I registered a year ago. Then, I have been in a roller coster of running capacities. Very recently, I started feeling better (i.e. injuries are less of a limitation) so I thought I had a shot at my Endurrun PB… I don’t. But I am fiercely competing my rookie year in 2012. – Robin
Meeting my expectations? My goal this year is to see how I compare with my previous years performance….and at this point I am down by 4:25…so I still have work to do!!! I’m praying for favorable conditions at Chicopee! – Merlin
Tomorrow
Stage 4 is a relatively short race – 10 miles – but don’t let that deceive you. Runners are treated to a brilliant sunset, but the August evening weather has been hot and humid in the past. This is the hilliest road we have in Waterloo Region, and runners have extra recovery before (morning off) and after (rest day) to use as they see fit. See you at Camp Heidelberg tomorrow.
Charity participants
Stay tuned for our piece later today on Chris Mintz and #makemintzsweat for KidsAbility.
It was amazing to see Sharon’s relay team today. Yesterday we profiled Sharon’s campaign for GWWICC.