Li'l Rhody Runaround

Li’l Rhody has had a hold on me right from the very start. It was, in 2012, the first race I ran after moving to Rhode Island, and it’s still the one I most look forward to. I can’t put my finger on the reason for this attachment. I think it’s partly the race’s history (this would be its 30^th year); you don’t hear of many trail races with that kind of staying power. It’s also the novelty of the course, with its unique mix of dirt road, single-track, plank bridges, technical rocky sections, and a fast road finish. And of course it has something to do with its local venue and roots – it serves as the premier race put on by the WTAC. Whatever the reason, and despite a heavy recent race schedule, I’d long ago circled the date of Li’l Rhody on the calendar to make sure I would be able to make it to the event for the first time since 2018.

Given that I’d been running relatively well lately, my main goal was to PR, which would mean beating my 47:01 from the famously fast 2014 edition of the race. Trail conditions would have a lot to do with my ability to meet this goal, and with some recent rain, I knew the course would run at least a little slower than it had that year. The other goal was to win, though that would depend entirely on the field; you race who shows up, as they say. Still, I wanted that ‘W’.

The weather was great on race day – cool and sunny – and I was feeling good for the first time all week after getting a booster vaccine the Monday prior. Up until the day before, I wasn’t even sure I’d be able to race, but miraculously everything cleared up by the time the race rolled around. This would mark the end of an unprecedented stretch of good health, though I didn’t yet know my luck was about to run out. More on the in future posts…but let’s stay focused.

I got in a nice warmup with a few of the WTAC crew and learned that Jason Reilly would be running. Jason and I had a great battle atthe Pumpkins race a couple of years ago, and I expected today would be similar. He’s a much better runner than I am, but the trails seem to balance the scales. With this in mind, given the relatively smoothness of the first half of the course, I anticipated needing to make up some ground in the second half if I wanted a shot at the victory.

Shortly after the start, surrounded by some of the usual suspects. (Pic by Jana)

The race got underway, and the beginning played out roughly as I’d expected. Jason was quickly out to the lead (temporarily behind a 4-mile racer), and I was next, as we left Sanctuary Rd for the campground. I was focused less on him than I was on the pace. I’d wanted to run roughly 5:40 during the opening mile and came awfully close to that (5:43). He was 10-15 seconds ahead when we departed the campground roads for the first trail section, which is a fast, flat, smooth single-track. He maintained his lead and might have even put a few more seconds on me here.

I wasn’t able to make up any ground on the bog bridges, which were slippery and include several sharp turns that require careful navigation. (I’ll spare you the Mario Kart analogy, which I’ve made too many times before, but that’s still what I think of over this section.)

The final part of the first half is my favorite part of the course. The trail starts getting more challenging, with several short hills, tight corners, and some rocks and roots. I could see Jason ahead in several places, and, with all of the cutting and thrashing, it almost felt like we were in a movie’s chase scene.

But just as you get into a rhythm on this part of the trail, it dumps you out onto the short Buckeye Brook road section. The mayhem of the trail becomes a jarring peacefulness. It reminds me of that scene in Blades of Glory where Will Arnett is trying to catch Will Ferrell on ice skates when they suddenly end up on an escalator, ice skates stuck in the treads, and have to quietly wait to reach the top to resume their mad dash. Here, our escalator ended at next trail entrance, where the chase was on again.

I hadn’t narrowed that gap at all yet, but the challenging section was just about to begin. I was still feeling strong, however Jason looked as smooth as ever up ahead. After losing sight of him a couple of times, I found myself unexpectedly close to him after rounding a blind turn. I later learned he’d taken a spill, which allowed me to chop into his lead just by staying on my feet.

I tried to stay within myself, very slowly chipping away until I was a step or two behind. Time was of the essence; if I waited too long to make a move, I’d have very little trail left to make it stick and would have to go head-to-head on his turf – the roads. With this in mind, I immediately went by him, gave some encouragement to stay with me, and pushed the pace as much as I was comfortable doing so far from the finish (still 2.5 miles to go).

He stuck right on me, and I summoned every bit motivation I could, imagining I was Greg Hammett, Mike Galoob, or other Li’l Rhody legends who had run so impressively, so fearlessly, on these trails in years past. Jason’s footsteps started to fade ever so gradually, but it wasn’t enough. I pushed on, trying to break away enough that he’d start worrying more about who was behind him than who was in front. When I finally reach the road, ¾ mile from the finish, I attempted to go into another gear but discovered I’d already maxed out. It was a scary feeling and one I haven’t had in a very long time, as my conservative racing usually leaves me enough in the tank at this point to mount a big kick. I was grateful that the road was mostly downhill, and tried to let gravity do its thing. I didn’t look back, though I really wanted to. It was a great feeling to get to the park entrance, greeted as always by Mike B, and know I’d had just enough left to maintain the lead. At long last, I’d won Li’l Rhody. It might never happen again, and that’s ok. I’ll always have 2021. Making it extra special was having my sister and brother-in-law in attendance, on a rare trip to Rhode Island for the two Texans.

Mustering a smile at the finish. (Pic by Jin Nguyen)

Posing with my sis immediately afterwards. (Pic by Jin)

Post script: With a time of 46:31 (full results here), I was 30 seconds clear of my previous best on the course. Jason was a mere 18 seconds back, which sounds like more than it was. He ran a great race, and we’re now 1-and-1 in our epic trail battles. He’s also just a little over a year out from joining the masters ranks, so I expect we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other in the future.

Finally, thanks to Jeff and all of the WTAC volunteers for making this race live up to the big expectations we all have for it!