Morning Monkeys! I finished my 50K foot race this weekend in pretty good time. My goal for the 31 mile course was 6.5 hours and I finished in 06:29:42 with 18 seconds to spare! The weather was not as bad as it could have been, I stayed dry until mile nine and ran the rest of the race wet. The worst was that we got lost BEFORE the race and ended up starting 15 minutes late!!! Thankfully we received 15 minute credits at the finish.
As I mentioned in prior posts, this is a fast course run primarily on logging roads. The only question I had was a 3 mile section they called the Tank Traps. This section is an old logging road that was causing erosion problems. To fix this the section was bulldozed in about 20 locations allowing for streams and natural drainage. Each drain area consisted of two dirt mounds from 12 to 18 feet high separated by a small stream. The original road was built into the side of a mountain and is heavily wooded on either side. You were not allowed to go off course. The road is now totally covered with saplings, vines, shrubs and fallen trees. There is NO trail, only a faint path where the others had gone before you. Following these footsteps was not always wise because they often went nowhere or spit into Ys. I can't really describe how difficult this 3 mile climb was but we hit about 20 tank traps (some you had to slide on your butt down and crawl back out of) 100 or more fallen trees and one pretty large steam that was 20 feet across and 18 inches deep. I scrambled over logs, crawled under logs, waded in water to my knees and sludged in mud past my ankles. Going up this 3 mile section took 75 minutes, going back down took 60 minutes. Of my 6.5 hours I spent 2 hours and 15 minutes to go just 6 miles!!! The worst part of these tank traps where the saplings and vines. Eye protection was required it was bushwacking all the way! And wet. Screw the rain the dew on leaves soaked us within 10 minutes. I shouldnt complain this is what makes each ultra fun and different from the last.
The tank traps were easy to get lost in and two runners did. As we were leaving, after the race, search and rescue was just setting up. I ran with my usual ultra running partner until we came out of the Tank Traps for the second time, at that point we had nine miles to go. We agreed that I was running a little stronger and that the danger of getting lost was nil so I took off for the last 9 miles on my own. Not terribly eventful but I was able to pick off on more runner. I was also able to pick up my pace and gain 9 minutes on my bud in nine miles.
All in all I am pretty satisfied with my first Ultra-marathon season. My goal was at least one in under 6.5 hours. It took me 5 to get there but I did. Next year I am planning on 9 events of 50K or more.
As I mentioned in prior posts, this is a fast course run primarily on logging roads. The only question I had was a 3 mile section they called the Tank Traps. This section is an old logging road that was causing erosion problems. To fix this the section was bulldozed in about 20 locations allowing for streams and natural drainage. Each drain area consisted of two dirt mounds from 12 to 18 feet high separated by a small stream. The original road was built into the side of a mountain and is heavily wooded on either side. You were not allowed to go off course. The road is now totally covered with saplings, vines, shrubs and fallen trees. There is NO trail, only a faint path where the others had gone before you. Following these footsteps was not always wise because they often went nowhere or spit into Ys. I can't really describe how difficult this 3 mile climb was but we hit about 20 tank traps (some you had to slide on your butt down and crawl back out of) 100 or more fallen trees and one pretty large steam that was 20 feet across and 18 inches deep. I scrambled over logs, crawled under logs, waded in water to my knees and sludged in mud past my ankles. Going up this 3 mile section took 75 minutes, going back down took 60 minutes. Of my 6.5 hours I spent 2 hours and 15 minutes to go just 6 miles!!! The worst part of these tank traps where the saplings and vines. Eye protection was required it was bushwacking all the way! And wet. Screw the rain the dew on leaves soaked us within 10 minutes. I shouldnt complain this is what makes each ultra fun and different from the last.
The tank traps were easy to get lost in and two runners did. As we were leaving, after the race, search and rescue was just setting up. I ran with my usual ultra running partner until we came out of the Tank Traps for the second time, at that point we had nine miles to go. We agreed that I was running a little stronger and that the danger of getting lost was nil so I took off for the last 9 miles on my own. Not terribly eventful but I was able to pick off on more runner. I was also able to pick up my pace and gain 9 minutes on my bud in nine miles.
All in all I am pretty satisfied with my first Ultra-marathon season. My goal was at least one in under 6.5 hours. It took me 5 to get there but I did. Next year I am planning on 9 events of 50K or more.
