Psycho Wyco Night 10K

On August 8th the Trail Nerds put on the much coveted, much looked forward to, much hyped Psycho Wyco Night 10k at Wyandotte County Park. About 70 folks showed up for the 8pm start. It was a nice August night by KC standards - about 85 and the humidity didn't feel too bad.

I was a bit sore still from the SFO marathon last weekend and was coming down with some sort of a cold so I didn't feel like pushing it very hard on this one. I had the "this is going to be a fun run" attitude going into the race.

If you're not familiar with the Wyco course just think of a really rocky, rooty, muddy and extremely hilly trail, then make it hillier. I had helped mark the course on Thurs night and thought the mud was pretty bad - ended up covered in it, actually.

The race started off with the usual speech from Bad Ben about the course and the wildlife and flora you may encounter on the trail. It was pretty funny. Around 8:15 we were sent on our way, across a open grass field, up a hill and into the woods.

Somehow the course wasn't as muddy Friday night as it was the Thursday night before - no clue how. I fell into a nice rhythm, towards the front of the pack, and decided to keep myself there, not pushing too hard, not taking it too easy. I was actually running sans Garmin for the first time in a race in I don't know how long. Don't know what made me not wear it, just didn't feel like it for some reason.

The course was as difficult as it promises, with the hills extracting their toll with each step both uphill and downhill. The .95 miles of the Wyandotte Triangle were as tough as ever with downed trees and sharp turns. Yet, they were fun, as they always seem to be on a trail run.

I finished in 58:25, in 16th place. That is, oddly, a 10k PR for me. Take into account that the last time I ran a 10k was about 4 years ago in Georgia. I don't remember the time exactly but I was over 60 minutes.