Bowdoin Park Racing Tips?

The course goes from flat to gradually upward for about 1.2 miles, then gets steep from 1.2 to 1.5. you then start heading downward, almost the same way back. The final 1k is flat, with a little bump about .1 from finish. There is a tight bridge crossing at .25, especially with 200+ kids charging at it. Some of the path on the way out is tight.

Its been about 20 years...

Raced there three times - one invitational and two NYS Fed meets.

Never ran great there bc I couldn't get out fast enough. A quarter mile or less from the start it narrows down. It becomes a race for the 30-40 runners that made it to through the gap and another race for the 200 that didn't make it through fast enough.

About 1200m into the race there's a long gradual uphill and it eventually loops back down the hill. Last 800m is pretty flat and fast.

It has a few tight turns going out and once you cross the road the second time to head up the hill, it's tough to pass anyone in those narrow woods. The same on the way back down, especially because of those tight curves. Once you head back down the dirt road it's pretty quick, but you do have a ways to go to the finish.

When I ran Feds my senior year, I got stuck behind kids going up that hill, that ended up hurting my time.

The comments are all correct but if you've never trained to go out aggressively and you "sprint" the first 400 you'll blow up. You have to race the way you've trained.

Ideal course for the patient runner who likes to finish hard. Overly aggressive start can hurt. Slow runners can watch the finish line action.