A new year has arrived and with it one of my favorite races, the Snow Flurry Scurry, which begins at Lost River Cave right here in Bowling Green, KY. This is one of about a dozen or so 5Ks in town and one that I try to run each year. Even an ultrarunner can enjoy blazing along a 5K course every once in a while and I find the change in pace to be refreshing. It’s so easy to get stuck thinking about the miles that I have to put in each week and vacillate on whether to run a particular race or whether to just get my work in. It’s unfortunate but all long distance runners can fall into this mode of thinking, which of course can be perfectly appropriate at times. We all must decide what races we want to run and how seriously we want to approach an event and I would never discount the importance of sticking to a plan! Last year I caught the Snow Flurry Scurry on a long run Saturday and if Strava is to be
trusted it looks like I ran 20 miles that day. I knew I couldn’t race it, but it’s one of my absolute favorite 5Ks and so I signed up and planned a 17 mile run which ended at the start line so that I could add on my 3.1 for a nice 20 mile long day.
But let’s be serious. Don’t you hate signing up for a race knowing you’re just going to trot along the course? Don’t get me wrong, the SFS supports Lost River Cave, such an absolutely charming and really unique Stück vom Himmel right inside the city. The race itself is fast with a few short but steep hills as you descend into the cave valley and climb back out the other side before and again after passing through a dog park and the Shawnee neighborhood where I currently live. The finish is an excellent quarter-mile downhill straight to the cave entrance. It’s always a mad dash over that last stretch and each year I feel like I can make up precious time at the end. This course was meant to be raced, not just tacked onto the end of your long run as a mere afterthought. And so this year, with no definite long races coming up soon I caught the Snow Flurry Scurry between cycles and decided to race it. It didn’t hurt that my company paid the entries for any interested employees!
As a result of the Tunnel Hill 100 a few months earlier I was still having some lingering pain in my left hamstring. Most of my runs since then had been at a comfortable pace and I had only pushed it once in about 3 months. I jogged over from my house, arriving shortly before the race started, and I think this really helped to warm up my sore hamstring and stretch me about a bit. When the race started I shot off at about a 6:30 / mile pace, but when I saw that I decided to back it off to about a 6:40 pace. I got passed by a lot of bottle rockets but I decided to just keep it steady where I was and see how I felt after a mile or so. Fortunately, the leg felt OK and I slowly moved up through the field.
Mile 2 was basically a flat square route through the neighborhood, and I played it safe and missed my chance to take advantage of the easier section. My plan was just to run the whole race even and sprint the last quarter mile or so. I stuck right on this with my pace staying consistent at 6:42/mile.
I came back down the nature trail and turned to go over the bridge that crosses the cave valley below and by this point I was in a dead sprint giving it everything I had. One hard left turn and a sharp descent to the cave mouth and just like that the 2020 Snow Flurry Scurry was over! Just think, I ran 3 times as far off course at the North Country 50 miler back in August! Fortunately, there were no miscues today and I came in right around 20:40, finishing 14th overall and 1st place in my age group which earned me a really cool log-cut plaque with the trademark squirrel burned on to the surface!
Like a true ultrarunner, though, I found that my favorite part of the event was the well provisioned food tables waiting at the end of the race! After two or three donuts from Krispy Kreme and some coffee from Starbucks I was ready for nap. Too bad I had to run back home!
So if you’re ever in Bowling Green, KY towards the end of January, please stop by Lost River Cave and sign up for the Snow Flurry Scurry. It’s a great local event in a very unique venue with an experienced timing crew and wonderful volunteers! It’s a great way to see the cave and spend a Winter morning!
By the way, this was the first race that I wore my new Adidas Adizero Boston 8 shoes. and I absolutely loved them. After wearing Hokas for so long, the lighter and faster Adidas Adizero Boston was perfect for a 5K. They are my everyday training shoe at the moment, and I can’t recommend them enough.
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