January 9, 2011 I need to get faster, I hate doing speed work and tempo runs but I have to start. I felt really good and ran a really good race for me and still finished 10th in my age group (out of 17) and 76th overall (out of 162). I was really happy with my time and effort until I saw how many people ran faster, I’m still trying to figure out how I’m not fast enough to be in the top 25%. The trail ended up being 12.5 miles yesterday. I was at 1:06 at the very top (12:00 pace over 5.5 miles) and didn’t get passed on the way up except in the first mile on the flat, but passed several runners myself once we hit the climb (I started toward the middle of the pack), it took me 56 minutes to run the final 7 miles (8:00 pace) and got passed by a handful of gazelles going down and 5 more runners in the last mile when I decided the pain wasn’t worth the prize money I’d lose by being passed. I ran from the mile 6 marker to mile 7 in less than 7 minutes, I was with a few people and it felt like we were flying but I don’t know for a fact the mile markers were correct since the overall course was measured incorrectly and I was only wearing a stop watch and not a gps. The course was awesome, passing was difficult because it was narrow and a lot of trail hung on the side of hills with 50’+ drop offs. I’d love to run it everyday. You can get more information on the XTERRA White Tanks race and the upcoming McDowell Mountain 15 mile race at AZTrailRace.com <<< Back to johnvaupel.com Races & Reports