My Butler 20K Experience

It took me a long time to decide whether or not I would do the Bulter 20K. It was not as easy a decision to make as when I decided to try my first 15K on June 1st. Before that, I had only run 9 miles once before and as a new runner,most people believed that I shouldn't push myself so hard at such an early stage. But I did it anyway and finished the race in 1hr 32mins. The Bulter on the other hand was another story. This race is famed as one of the hardest races in Trinidad because of its undulating course and the three steep hills at the end .

Gradient map for Bulter's 20K copy

I had heard stories of persons who made attempts at running this race and fainted before they got to the finish line and someone told me that the race was so hard that after running it I would never want to run again.

But after much deliberation I decided to try it. The race was only a couple weeks after the 15K and I decided that I would try to do as much preparation as possible.

I managed to run as much as 12.6 miles at least once before the race but I was still doubtful about whether or not I was prepared for those hills at the end. But despite my doubt, I must admit that as race day grew closer I began to get excited and anxious and the night before that faithful day, I must confess that I had so much butterflies in my stomach that I couldn't sleep properly.

On the morning of June 19th after a long journey to San Fernando, I assembled with everyone else at the starting line and at the blast of the horn, I set out on my journey to Fyzabad.Things started really well. The plan was to run my own race and pace myself, gradually increasing speed after every 3 miles or so. The weather was perfect. No rain, no hot sun. And I was no longer nervous. I was confident that I would finish this race despite all the horror stories I had heard.

But after the 5th Km, when I wanted to increase my speed, an injury from which I thought I had fully recovered resurfaced to haunt me. Earlier that week, I experienced a dull pain underneath me left foot, just before my heel. I had decided to rest it and didn't do any running for about four days before the race. The pain went away and I thought that everything was fine but at the Butler 20K, the pain came back and with every step it hurt much more than it did earlier in the week. The pain moved towards my instep just before my toes and I felt as though someone was trying to break the bones in my feet with a stick.

I began to panic. The last thing I wanted was to reach the finish line in an ambulance. I had travelled from far. I had been thinking about this race all week. I had to finish this race and I decided that despite the pain, even if I had to run slowly for the next 15Kms, I was going to cross the finish line running. But eventually my muscles warmed up and the pain went away and for the next 10Kms, I ran with all my heart and soul.

Eventually, I met up a contender from the 15K, a middle aged East Indian man, whose technique amazes me. He plays mind games with his competers and I had fallen for the trick at the 15K and fell for it again at the Butler. Whenever he catches up with you he runs just in front of you, so close you could almost reach out and touch him. When he hears you coming closer to him he speeds up to make you feel that he's trying to outrun you, then he lets you overtake him, making you feel like you've suceeded at passing him out in the race. Then about a couple miles before you reach the finishline, when you forget all about him. He surprises you by racing past you so fast that you are unable to catch up with him.

About 5Kms before the finish line, he caught up with me. At that point the pain that I faced early in the race had returned and the hills were getting steeper with each mile. I was disappointed in myself for falling for his trick twice in a row and even more disturbed by the fact that I was in too much pain to even try to catch up with him.

Folks, the hills at the end of this race are hard. I had seen a map of the gradient of the course beforehand but I didn't visualise that it was going to be so steep. And the worst of it all was that you face these hills at the end, after your legs have been stressed out for 9 miles. 

But nevertheless, I faced each one at a time and was determined to run all the way to the finish line. For the last couple 100 yards I had some help from a friend who had finished before me. She ran with me almost to the end and I was moved because at that point I really needed it. I was in alot of pain.When I crossed the finish line the clock said 2hrs 11mins and I felt good. This was a respectable time given my circumstances.

Inspite of the pain I would do it again in a heart beat. Next year, I am going to run this race again for sure. And the second time around I will be prepared for those hills and my East Indian friend and his mind games.

<a title="hits counter" href="http://www.statcounter.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://c.statcounter.com/4023118/0/03f717b3/0/" alt="hits counter" border="0">