WUOC ~ Long Race Report & looking forward to the sprint.

The long distance race was held in Alicante, Spain today (Tuesday). Damian, Will, Robbie, Eric, and Louise were running for Team Canada.

Will's map - check out all those contours!

Will was fairly happy with his race, saying "It looks like there was some fitness there today because I gained places near the end but it would be nice to be faster on the shorter navigation legs." Robbie said "The first two thirds were good but the race fell apart in the end. Was surprised to find myself running through a gas station at an international race" (leg 20 - 21 with route choice by the highway). Louise reported that the terrain was tricky, saying that "all the shrubs were so close together that you trip on small tufts of grass - even the open was lumpy.  Some of the forest was actually better running than the open / semi-open areas." Damian said "The 27C heat combined with 9.8km and 690m climb made today's long distance the toughest race I have ever competed in." You can read more of Damian's race report on his blog. 


Watch to see what Eric Kemp had to say on his race:

So with those reports, what of the results? Of the 86 men who completed the course, Will placed 33rd, Robbie placed 54th, Eric placed 72nd, and Damian placed 78th. You can view a full list of results and the split times. Louise placed 48th out of 65 runners; here are the full results and splits for the women. 

Here's Eric finishing up his race ~ he looks kinda tired!

Tomorrow is the sprint race. Again, there is no qualification, so there's only 1 race. Starts are from 4-6:30pm local time, so hopefully it'll be a little cooler! The map is on the hillside of a mountain with steep slopes, with a mixture of urban areas and parks. The roads and paths are a network of city roads and pedestrian areas. Sounds like it'll be fun! Running for Canada are Damian, Jeff, Robbie, Will, and Louise. Here's what they have to say about tomorrow:

Louise: "Excited for the cool castle, and the underpasses and such in the terrain surrounding it."

Jeff: "I've spent a number of hours on google maps looking at the area. It looks like a unique area with the possibility for some tricky legs. Looking forward to seeing what they throw at us!"

Damian: "Will be my first time taking an elevator to the start of a race, as well as finishing by a beach on the Mediterranean."

Will: "I think it's going to be both rocket fast downhill and leg burning uphill. The guys that do well are the ones who can stay in control on the downhills and have the legs to hammer back up."

Tune in tomorrow for athlete feedback on the race and more race analysis!