October
12
 |
| Nathan and Darin before the start |
My wife, Martha, doesn’t usually accompany me for many of my races, but
this is an exception because our son, Nathan, is also running the race. She missed seeing him last month, so here she
is to greet us at each aid station. Martha
and I drove over from Huntsville to Chattanooga last night and got a good night
sleep in a hotel in town. Nathan, on the
other hand, didn’t leave Jacksonville until 9pm due to work. So, he made it to the race start in time to
get an hour or two of sleep in the back of his vehicle. This is the first official 50k that he and I
are running together. The weather is
close to perfect with the high temperature supposed to be close to 70 degrees.
Mile
4.9 1:00:09 (12:16 avg./mile) Edwards
Point
This
race had almost 300 runners in the 50k, and Nathan and I got split up as we
jockeyed for position early in the race.
I was slightly disappointed that we weren’t able to stay together for
the early miles, but I will see him later.
I cruise easily through the opening miles getting into a decent position
with the other runners. No crew at this
aid station, so I quickly grab some potato chips and am off down the trail.
Mile
8.2 46:00 (13:56 avg./mile) Mushroom
Rock #1
This
section was a little more uphill than the first section, which is my excuse for
running a little slower. I was also
thinking that I should slow down a little to see if Nathan can catch up. When I get to the aid station, it is packed
like a tourist attraction. Some runners
are posing for pictures, which I totally do not understand at this point in the
race. Heck, we are only a quarter of the
way through the race. Slightly irritated,
I push through the aid station quickly passing at least a half a dozen other
runners milling about.
Mile
14.2 1:32:18 (15:23 avg./mile) Indian
Rock House
 |
| Indian Rock House |
A
good downhill followed by (of course) an uphill section. I am still moving well and feeling
great. I am not trying to set any speed
records at this point. About halfway
through this section, I am chatting with the runner behind me when another guy
catches up to us—and it is Nathan! I am
glad he caught up with me. Hopefully, we
can put a few miles in together. At this
aid station, Martha is here to greet us.
I grab some chocolate milk from her, and boy does it taste great!
Mile
16.7 38:43 (15:29 avg./mile) Snoopers
Rock
I hold up a little to let Nathan catch back up to
after the aid station. We run most of
this section together. I am moving nice
and easy. So far, I have no complaints
about the day, the course, or the volunteers.
As I am now halfway through the race, the crowd of runners has thinned
out and is no longer a problem, not like it was ever much of a problem.
Mile
19.4 53:03 (19:39 avg./mile) Haley Road
After
leaving Snoopers Rock, I press ahead leaving Nathan a little behind. He is still moving well, but I want to make
sure I push myself. This course is not
as much climbing as I was expecting, and for the most part, it is not very
technical. However, this section is a
little technical, and at one point I catch my toe on a rock and tumble to the
ground. Picking myself up, I first check
behind me to see if Nathan is catching back up, but I don’t see him. I get into the aid station in not too bad of
shape. I grab a couple of PB&J
sandwich quarters for the trail as I get my Camelbak topped off.
Mile
22.8 48:23 (14:14 avg./mile) Mullins
Cove Parking
 |
| Leaving Mullins Cove |
Compared
to the previous section, this stretch is much smoother and better for making
good time. There are a couple of ladies
around me, and we are pushing each other as we make our way towards the
finish. I feel like I could pick the
pace up a little, but after my tumble on the last section, I am content to run
slightly cautiously. I twisted my ankle
on a training run one week ago, and it is still not steady. I have tested/tweaked a couple of times
today, and I don’t want to do more harm to it.
At this aid station, Martha is here as she only had to walk a few
hundred yards from the Indian Rock House aid station. I drink some more chocolate milk and tell her
that Nathan should only be about 10-15 minutes behind me.
Mile
29.3 1:57:09 (18:01 avg./mile) Mushroom
Rock #2
This
was a nice hard section on the way out, and so it is on the way back. I am running with a guy who is running his
first or second ultra. He asks me how
this compares in difficulty with other 50k races, and I say it is about
average. As we are hiking up the last
climb back up to this aid station, he asks me again if it is only about
average. Yes, it is only about average
as this climb is not much more than a mile.
Granted we had two climbs on this section, but neither climb was too bad
relative to some races. I grab a small
up of Coke at the aid station before pressing forward towards the finish.
Mile
31.2 16:50 (8:52 avg./mile) FINISH
 |
| Darin eating after the finish |
Some
races save the long sections with a little extra mileage in the last few miles—not
this race! The website says this section
was actually 2.6 miles, but I shortened it here as that would have meant I ran
sub-7-minute miles coming in. Even as it
is, I doubt this section is anywhere close to two miles. I wasn’t five minutes out of the last aid
station when I started hearing the music at the finish line.
Official
Finishing Time 7:52:30
109th
out of 298 starters (6th of M50-59)
 |
| Nathan nearing the finish line |
Not a bad day
all in all. I got a very good 50k trail
effort in; got to run with Nathan some; and the weather was nearly
perfect. To top things off, all
finishers get a burrito and beer to help replenish a few calories. I have my food consumed when Nathan finishes
about 30 minutes after me. He had two
comments. First, he says the sleep deprivation
affected his speed on the technical trail more than his lack of hill training
as he lives in flat Jacksonville, Florida.
Second, he says that the runners around him talked more when he was with
me and I was talking to them. Otherwise,
he said the other runners didn’t talk much.
There must be a common denominator in there somewhere. My next race is going to be the inaugural
running of the Razorback Running Revival on November 9th in
northwest Arkansas. Until then…
Never stop
running,
Darin
Return to Darin’s Running Page.
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