Hot Town, Fall in the Cities

As is often the case, the weather grabbed the headlines at the Griak Invitational on Saturday at the sun drenched Les Bolstad Golf Course.  Temperatures rising during the day to reach the 80s.  As MTec timer John Magnusson noted there were 40 DNF's in the women's Gold race.  USATF Minnesota president Rick Recker, who regularly officiates at area meets, including the Griak, said he'd never seen so many runners felled by the climate in the finish area.

The start of the first race of the day, the women's Gold DIII. Photo by
Jim Ferstle

The hardest working volunteers were the medical personnel who had to deal with the impact of the heat on runners who weren't acclimated to the sudden burst of hot weather than enveloped the Twin Cities after a long spell of more typical cool Fall weather.  Don Timm, a Gopher All American steeplechaser who coaches at Coon Rapids HS, noted it was kind of a "perfect storm" for potential heat injuries.  The loss of heat acclimation from a mild summer and an early cold front. Combined that with a course that encourages teams to go out fast for the first quarter mile as the wide start area narrows quickly into a narrow path leading to the back of the golf course.

Shelby Houlihan(32), Emma Bates(57), and Crystal Nelson(184) dual early
in the race. Photo by Gene Niemi

As race after race indicated, those who went out too hard paid a price.  Arizona State's Shelby Houlihan, the defending champion in the Women's DI Gold race has learned, having run the Griak five times, is that even on less challenging days, the Griak course tests you and rewards patience.  "I learned I had to be patient," Houlihan, who won her second consecutive title on Saturday in 20:35 for 6K, the same time she ran in 2013, said.  "If you're not patient on this course, it will hurt you."  The rolling hills, the turns, and the narrowing of the course at the beginning make experience running the course a definite advantage.  As well as respect for what the weather can do to you.

Despite being from a hot climate and well acclimated to the conditions she faced, Houlihan, who was running her first race of the season, had a plan to run with the lead pack until three or four kilometers.  On Saturday, she surged and opened a lead around 3.5K.  The win kept alive her desire to go undefeated in XC this year and to win the NCAA title.  The South Dakota native said she worked hard over the summer to build up her endurance. "I know I'm fit enough to win (the NCAA's)," she said.  She had some proof of that as 2013 NCAA DI runner-up Emma Bates was also in the Griak race and finished sixth.  Bates was philosophical about her loss.  The Elk River grad had family and friends at the event wearing orange shirts with "We (heart) Emma Bates" written on them in ink.

While Bates wasn't happy about her performance, her objectives this year are at the end of the season, not now, she said.  Houlihan has a similar plan and says she approached the Griak race much as she will the rest of the races this season.  That's simply: "to run my own race.  Concentrate on what I can control, rather than worry about anybody else in the race."  Both Houlihan and Bates are also looking beyond college.  "It's always been a goal of mine," said Houlihan.  "To make an Olympic team.  To be one of the best in the world."
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Gopher women's coach Sarah Hopkins drove past the team's tent before the start of the race and yelled to the runners: :"You're not going to an execution. It's fun."  It was the opening salvo of her pre-race pep talk, said Hopkins.  Like many of the other women's teams, the Gopher women had cheek temporary tattoos and/or writing on their legs to take care of some of the fun aspect.

Gophers Kaila Urick led the way for the women.
Photo by Gene Niemi

Hopkins was satisfied with the result. The Gopher women finished seventh in a loaded field.  She tongue in cheek thanked her mentor and former Gopher women's coach, Garry Wilson, who was a driving force behind the creation of the Griak meet, for inviting so many top ranked teams to the event. "We didn't have our best day," Hopkins said of the Gopher's results.  There were two freshman in the team's top four finishers and the effort did not take a lot out of the team.

"We can get right back into training because we didn't go into the 'hurt locker' too much," she added.  Next big race where they can earn points for NCAA qualifying is the University of Wisconsin Adidas Invitational on October 17, Hopkins said, calling it, like the Griak meet, "another stepping stone" to the objective of making it to the NCAA championships

Women's Gold DI race results are HERE.