We drove down and Mel joined us, as he was also running the 50 miler. I must've really annoyed them, because I stopped about 3 times to use the bathroom in the hour drive there. I guess I hydrated well on the way down. We got there about an hour early.
It wasn't a big race, so signing in was easy. We were still kind of rushing around before the start. Luckily, it's an ultra, so it was running behind. Wayne, who was also running the 50 miler, set up a tent and tarp by the finish. It was a perfect place to drop our bags. There was a whole group of people, since some were running the 50k too.
I was very grateful for the race weather. It was pretty much perfect conditions. It wasn't too hot. At times, it was cloudy with some light rain. I wore compression shorts with a short sleeve shirt. I wanted to wear a singlet, but it was too cold. That was especially the case in the beginning. I brought along a lot of extra gear.This is a relatively flat and easy trail run through Pennypack Park. That's great for a first 50 miler, but that can also make it dangerous as it is easy to blowup. I could've trained better before this, but I really didn't start training until about 3 weeks out. Angie only began training after the Boston Marathon was over.
We started near the back. Angie, Mel and I ran together. My plan was to just stick with Angie. I was in no rush. I don't run fast on trails anyway. The course was so crowded in the beginning that you could only go so fast anyway. Mel dropped back quite early on.
We cruised around. The course is a figure 8 loop with 3 aid stations. Two of them are actually the same one. You get to it in each direction.
A lot of the first part of the loop is flat. It's along the creek. It didn't seem too long until we were at the first aid station. I grabbed a few things to eat, but Angie wasn't crazy about wasting time at aid stations, so we kept going.
At one point, I had to go to the bathroom, so I went along the trail. Angie kept going. I figured that she would wait for me. Instead, I got stuck behind a lot of people on a singletrack section. One woman there was talking about the Rocky 50k. I knew her name because I almost went to it last year.
Eventually, when I got a chance, I passed them. I wasn't crazy about running fast, but I wanted to catch up to Angie. I saw her, but she was so far ahead. Eventually, I caught her after a creek crossing.
This next section was my least favorite of the course. It was along the creek, but it had loose stones and they were fairly big. It wasn't as bad on this first loop.
I was happy to make it out to aid station 2, but that seemed like forever. Again, we cruised through it. I saw my friend Aaron at this aid station. He was running the 50k and doing well. The leaders were crazy fast. After the aid station, there is a paved road section. That isn't much fun. I was at least able to convince Angie to walk up the hills. I knew I wasn't going to get her to slow down or watch much else.
After the pavement, it was another section of trail and then some more pavement and then more trail. Angie and I were talking and she nearly missed a turn. Luckily, I saw it. The course was well marked and pretty easy to follow.
The first 10 miles seemed like forever. I realized that we were on a pretty killer pace at this point. I wanted to slow down. I was in a tough spot. It was either push more than I'd like and run with Angie or run by myself. I found the company was a huge help, so I kept going.
At least I could get her to walk uphills. I couldn't get her to slow down much of anywhere else. We chatted with a guy briefly. Then, there was this singletrack section that goes in and out. It is kind of fun, but also annoying. Angie starting pushing on ahead of me.
I let her go at this point. I did still have her in my sights at times. We had to run an extra short loop that the other races didn't. I wanted to make sure to at least be close enough to Angie to finish the first loop around her.
I came in shortly after her and we stopped briefly. By now, I knew I couldn't keep up her pace. It wasn't so much the running pace, but the overall pace. I needed more rest breaks. I blew up at my first 50k and didn't want that to happen again. I was also developing minor soreness.
I stopped at the aid station and my friends Gayle and Diana were there. That helped a lot. I chatted with them briefly and was on my way. I quickly went to the bathroom.With this stop, Rebecca ended up ahead of me. There were two marathon maniacs that she was chatting with and another guy that was doing the 50k. It was fun for a bit. I didn't say much.
I couldn't keep running like they did, so I walked some. They were long gone. I did catch back up with them at the aid station. I tried to eat a lot at these and keep walking after them.
As we went through the terrible stone section, I chatted with Rebecca a bit. We talked about a lot of races and such. That helped get through this terrible stretch. Again, they were running too much for my liking. I was hoping this race would have more walking and more people struggling. I felt like I was falling behind.
I lost everyone and was on my own. I did pass a couple guys on the pavement. I was running and walking. I couldn't believe I was only about halfway done. I sure didn't feel terrible, but I wasn't great either.
I cruised along on my own and it was kind of lonely. There was this open field section and for some reason, I felt good through it. It was a big boost. Eventually, I got back to the singletrack section and one of the marathon maniacs was struggling. I was surprised to see that. He told me his friends were up ahead, but I didn't believe them. I shortly caught back up to Rebecca and one of the other guys.
I cruised along with them. I was in no rush and wanted to save myself. I enjoyed the company. The quads were becoming a problem. The guy turned off at the 50k/50M split. It was just Rebecca and I. She fell at one point. We chatted some more. She was a huge help getting back to finish up the 2nd loop.
I stopped at the tent again. I wasn't doing to bad, so I didn't change gear or anything. Some of the 50k people were leaving. That made it hard to start another loop. These miles seemed to go by so slow. I wasn't crazy about how long each loop was. By now, I wasn't great or terrible. I knew I'd finish unless something major happened. I was past the 50k point and feeling much better than I did during my first 50k.
On the section near the creek, I caught up to Rebecca again. That was good and I ran with her for some time. One thing that was nice was that I have good natural speed. She'd stay steady and I'd run her down after my walk breaks. I needed those to be smart. I was now entering a distance that I had never done before.
We ran to the first aid station. I needed some walking at one point, so she went ahead. I was struggling and walking a lot of flats too. I would walk uphill and walk the flat after it for a bit to recover. Stopping and starting back up was such a challenge. However, the legs got used to it and got better after awhile.
We got to the crappy stone section and I almost caught Rebecca. I hated this section though and needed to walk. Eventually, I passed on guy here. There were a lot of people ahead of us, but I was amazed at how many people were behind us too.Eventually, it was a nicer soft dirt section. I felt good in this part. I caught back up to Rebecca. It was great to have company and someone to chat with. It seemed like forever, but we finally got to aid station 2. Her mom was there, so we stopped and chatted with her for a bit. It was good to be past mile 40.
Now, we were on to the paved section. Most people hated this section, but it stressed my quads differently, so I didn't mind it so much. Still, I was 40 miles into the race and it wasn't easy. My quads were the one main problem area. The lower back had bothered me earlier, but now it wasn't bad.
Rebecca was very encouraging and good company. It was great to get off of pavement and back on to trail. Even better was having an uphill to force you to walk. The miles were clicking off so slowly. It was back onto some pavement, which kind of sucked and was also kind of good for my quads at the same time.
Getting through each little section for the last time was nice. There was one person directing people and we were happy just to see him. There weren't many people out there, other than some walkers in the park.
Eventually, we made it to the last aid station. That was great. There was still a bit to go, but finishing was sort of in the bag. I kind of got a little bitchy as we got closer to the end. I just wanted it to be over. Rebecca was very helpful in that she kept encouraging me to keep going. I walked a lot more that her and would eventually catch back up. I might've been able to pass her and stay in front of her, but there was no point. The company was better than a few extra minutes.
I was happy to get through the open field section. Every memorable landmark section that we crossed was helpful. One thing that sucked is that you could hear German music from the finish line area long before you ever got there. It seemed like forever until we finally could here it.
My quads were awful early on, but didn't get much worse. Now my front right ankle was a problem too. The final two miles were a real struggle for me. My quads really started to feel it. Rebecca kept pushing me to keep running. The switchback section was fun.
Every little uphill killed me. I was looking forward to a section with houses near it. I knew this was in the final mile. Finally, we got to it and I was thrilled. We still had some distance to go though. Hearing the music was great too.
The best part was when I finally saw my car next to the trail. That meant only about 1/4 mile to go. We crossed the creek for the final time and cruised into the finish area. It was a relief to be done. I wasn't emotional, like I thought I might be. Instead, I was exhausted. I let Rebecca finish in front of me. She was a huge help. Without her, I would've still finished, but probably a lot later. I would've walked a lot more. Her experience running ultras was a big plus for me. She ran better than she thought she would and won an award too.
It was great to have company for most of the run, whether it was Angie on the first loop or my new friend Rebecca on the second and third loops. I kept wondering if we'd ever catch Angie, but we never did. Before the race, she was worried that I'd run too fast. I told her it was the opposite and that she'd finish ahead of me. She did so by 20 minutes.Angie won an award and so did Mel. Sitting around trying to stretch out and not cramp up was hard. I forced myself to walk back to my car to get a sweatshirt. Mel finished about an hour after me and it was good to give me some time to recover and be able to drive home.
Gayle paced Angie for the final loop, so that helped her a lot. He hung out at the finish with us, along with Wayne. I'm very appreciative of everyone that was there.
This was a great experience and fun times with good friends. I can't wait to run more ultras in the future. This is what I want to do in the long run. It will be better when my training improves too. I definitely have to work on strengthening my quads. If not for them, I would've done much better. I didn't even cramp up or sweat much. I guess I ate enough and took in enough fluids. Now, it's on to trying to get a BQ, but I look forward to more of these races in the future.
50 miles - 9:34:33 (11:29 pace)
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