Stone Tower 15K: The Battle of the Running Lunatics

What happens when a guy who recently ran two marathons in a week race against another guy who recently pulled a hamstring, ran a marathon (BONKS) and runs a XC in a week? Well they go 1-2 in the Stone Tower 15K Trail Race this weekend, that's what.

NETTers Chris Smith and Paul Young--who we're all agreed should both be committed for their running pursuits of late--matched up for one last hurrah at Lynn Woods this weekend and here's how it played out.

"We started out at a comfortable pace," Chris says (most of us know Chris has never started at a "comfortable pace" in his life, right?) "Paul and I were swapping off the lead. I pushed on a couple of the climbs but there was no loosing that pesky Paul. I was first to the Under Cliff single track and Paul was stuck behind me as my pace slowed. Once out of the single track and back on the carriage road Paul was off like a scalded rabbit. The gap opened so fast I thought he may have taken a wrong turn. I came across the parking lot to the finish and there he was, drat. I paid those course marshals good money! grrr."

Paul reports that "Chris's account of the race is accurate. We both took turns at the front in the early miles. At around 37-40mins Chris had opened up a good gap on me. Thankfully there is more technical single track in during the second half and I was able to reel him in. The two sections of downhill running at the end played into my strength but I was seriously in the hurt zone for the last 3-4 minutes of running and never would have run as fast without Chirs out there pushing me. Great race put on by a group of very nice people."

This was the umpteenth time these two master blasters matched up in Lynn Woods this year, with pretty mixed results. Nice to know two guys can compete that often against each other and still fling more compliments around than mud! Class acts, both for sure.

But we still think they should both be put in a state institution.