May 24, 2009
Today is a big day. I'm "running" in a 50 kilometer race. Why is "running" in quotation marks? Because of recent injuries and health problems, I was not able to properly train for this race. I did what I could with lots of biking and hiking, but was just unable to do anything with high impact such as running.
A few days before the race, Lynn made the following comment, "You should go for a run after work on Friday that way you will have at least run once before the race."
Turns out that I wasn't able to do even that, so I have a feeling I will be walking a lot of this race. I don't consider myself a runner and never have. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now, my only goal is to finish this race whether I'm running, walking, or crawling. I have one thing really working in my favor. There are actually four races that will occur today. One of them is a 50 miler. As a result the finish line for all races will remain open until 7:00 p.m. That gives me 11 hours for this race, an exceptionally long time for a 50k. I should be able to do that even if I have to walk the entire thing. Another plus is the amount of aid stations. I would never have to go more than 2-3 miles between stations, so all I needed to carry was a water bottle.
Here I am pointing to my race.
I got a good laugh as I looked at the schedule. The award ceremony for my race would be held at 2:00 p.m. Ha, I had no doubt that I would still be out on the course. Lynn came today, so I knew I had one fan supporting me.
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I also had my ultrarunning friends Sue and Jim who would be routing for me from way out west.
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Time to move up to the starting line.
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Here I am: stunned and confused.
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Receiving instructions before the race
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I was out of my league and knew it. Look at all these lean, fit runners.
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And we're off.
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I did my best not to be swept along in the swift current of runners. A slow, slow pace was what I needed. The first aid station came up way to quick. Most of the runners including myself went right by. Why was the station so close? It also doubled as station number #5. Also, I will be running a 25k course twice so I will pass by this station a total of 4 times.
I was feeling a lot better than expected. A couple miles in, I found out that the course was marked every 5 kilometers. It was great to see the 5k sign. I was 10% done already. I soon began having delusions of grandeur. Maybe I will finish by 2:00 and be able to make the race ceremony. This isn't so bad. Next year maybe I will enter the 50 miler instead. These thoughts would quickly fade.
On to aid station #2 which was also #3 and #4 as the course kept looping back mostly through beautiful green fields. This course is definitely built for honest runners. It would be so easy to cut off huge sections by just walking past some caution tape. But every knows you would only be cheating yourself. Ten miles in, the course returns to the starting area. Lynn was there cheering me on.
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I still felt great. I would say I ran 90% of the first ten miles and was actually on pace for a 6 hour finish, but I knew better. I was beginning to show signs of slowing down. I mentioned that there were 3 other races going on today. One was a 4k canicross (human runner with a dog). Lynn got a few photos.
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Lynn had fun watching the start and finish of this race. The cost was only $15 so she may enter with Madison next year and walk the race. I didn't see the dogs but I sure could hear them. As I heard all the barking, I felt like a fugitive on the run from the law being chased by a pack of dogs.
By the 20 kilometer mark, I needed to start mixing in some more walking. Parts of my body were hurting that never hurt in my life. I was beginning to wonder why I was putting myself through this type of abuse. The lack of running in my training was becoming quite evident. At the 25 kilometer mark (approximately 15.5 miles) the course again returned to the starting area. It was great that I got to see Lynn so much. I had one lap to go. Couldn't I just run down to the finish line and say I did two loops? I guess that would be a little to obvious. Lynn was able to find the next aid station where she met me and took a couple photos.
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Aid station volunteers.
I reached the 5 kilometer sign that I passed on lap #1. Great, now I have to do math. What's 25 + 5? Oh yeah 30. By kilometer #35 my knee which I had injured on the A.T. was beginning to feel stressed. I had plenty of time to finish this race, so I decided I needed to behave myself so that I wouldn't risk reinjuring it. Plus I didn't want to overdo because tomorrow I have a hike of the northern Presidentials. I know, bookending this race with a hike on each end isn't a good idea, but hey, I love hiking a lot more than running. I wanted to run in this race but not at the expense of having to give up my hikes on this long Memorial Day Weekend. I met Lynn for the last time back at that starting area. The award ceremony for my race was just starting. How ironic! Unfortunately, I still had five more miles to go. Back out I went.
It was sort of a nice feeling that no one passed me during those last five miles, but the real reason was that pretty much everyone in the race was already ahead of me or had finished. I was hoping to beat my time from my only other ultra. I ran at Capon Valley two years ago. My time there was 6:59. That wasn't going to happen. I came to the last aid station and everyone cheered me on. They do such a great job at the stations. They make each runner feel like they are doing so well. I knew I was either in last place or close to last but they made me feel like I was in first. I wanted to finish strong so I jogged around the last field before nearing the finish line. Lynn caught a picture of me a few yards from the finish line.
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I finished in 7 hours, 20 minutes, and 12 seconds. Roughly twice the time of the winner, but I was more than happy with just finishing the race. We enjoyed the cookout and relaxed. I then realized I didn't get a picture of the finish line. Here's the finish line about 30 minutes after I crossed it.
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So how did I do. I was clearly near the bottom of the pack. When I first checked the results online I finished #100 out of 108 finishers. I just checked again and I was #99 out of 107. Apparently there was either some type of error or someone was disqualified. I should keep checking. If enough people are disqualified, I might just win this thing. 
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