November
7
I was looking for a 50k or 50 mile race on November 8, which is five
weeks before Hellgate. There was one in
Huntsville, but there was also one in Greenville, SC. Our best friends from the Marine Corps just
happen to live in Greenville. A quick
email confirmed that they were going to be free and invited us on over—road
trip!
Of course, for us, road trip means driving five miles to the Madison
County airport, flying 1.5 hours east, and getting picked up at the downtown
Greenville airport by Bradun and Elise.
We had a nice tailwind and perfect weather—fall beauty at its
height. We stopped by Paris Mountain
State Park and picked up my race packet and then spent a wonderful evening with
the Dunbars eating pizza and catching up.
November
8
Since the Dunbars live less than 15 minutes from the start and the race
doesn’t start until 8am, I sleep in until almost 6am. I have a bowl of homemade granola with heavy
cream, and then Bradun and I drive to Paris Mountain State Park, arriving a
little after 7am. I quickly realize that
I do not have my race bid with me, so we drive back to their house and then
back to the park, arriving for a second time around 7:40am. The race is small with less than 50 runners
divided between the 50k, 50m, and 50m relay.
After a few final words from the race director, we are off.
Mile
7.5 1:20:06 (10:41 avg./mile)
Start/Finish area
Right
after the start, Byron Backer says something to me as we have seen each other
at many ultra races in Virginia, but had never really talked before now. So, for the first couple of miles, I stay
close behind him as we chat about Hellgate and other races that are coming
up. Then I let him go on ahead as he is
running faster than I care to at this point in the race. This course is a fairly simple lollipop loop
course. We run out a mile or two, and
then go around a loop that is several miles long before rejoining the out
portion back to the start/finish line.
Going out is all uphill, becoming steeply uphill for the last mile
before topping out and heading back downhill.
I think each loop has about 1,400 feet of climb and descent. The first loop climb doesn’t feel hard at
all, but I figure it will still be a good workout for me. All is going well—I feel full of energy and
the legs are fresh—until less than a half mile from the end of the first
section when I roll my right ankle. My right
ankle is chronically weak for me as I typically twist it several times a year,
often a couple of times in a race.
However, I hadn’t twisted it badly in quite a number of months. This is a bad twist. I go down not wanting to do any further
damage by trying to save from hitting the dirt.
The slide is mostly on dirt (Pete Rose would be proud). I only scrape the heel of my left palm, and
my right knee. But, the significant pain
is in my right ankle. I hobble into the
aid station, wondering if maybe I should call it a day. I quickly push that idea out of my mind,
drink some of my chocolate milk, and head out for the second loop after
shedding my outer layer of a long sleeve shirt.
Mile
15.0 1:38:52 (13:11 avg./mile)
Start/Finish area
It
takes the better part of this second loop before the pain deadens in my
ankle. Then I can carefully run
decently. I feel like my ankle has
caused the majority of the time slowdown from the first loop. Even so, I finish the second loop—almost halfway
done—in a little under 3 hours. I drink
some more chocolate milk and trade out my Camelbak for a full one.
Mile
22.5 1:43:19 (13:47 avg./mile)
Start/Finish area
Starting
the third loop, I am sure that I am making better time now that my ankle is not
hurting as badly. However, I reach the
top of the climb one minute slower than I did on the previous loop. The slowdown continues as I complete the
loop. I am feeling okay, other than the
ankle, but I am obviously slowing down.
Oh well, there is only one more loop, and I am leaving the aid station
before Bradun, Elise, and Martha have shown up to see the finish. Have I mentioned that the weather is
absolutely perfect? The temperature
started around 40 degrees, and it has gradually warmed up into the 50s. I was thinking earlier that I might take my
t-shirt off for the final lap, but wisely decide to leave it on.
Mile
30.0 1:47:39 (14:21 avg./mile)
Start/Finish area
The climb on this final loop seems to have gotten
steeper! There are many hikers out in
the park on this beautiful day, and I have to work my way around each of them on
the single track trail. I finally reach
the top of the climb and start heading across the ridge when I meet Bradun
walking towards me. They got to the park
just after I started this loop and have driven to the top to see me halfway
through my final loop. It is motivating
to see them, and it is all downhill from here.
I catch two people on the way down the hill. One of them is a lapped runner, and the other
runner was in fourth place. I get into
the start/finish area, drop off my Camelbak, and quickly head out for the last
section of the race—a short loop around the lake.
 |
| Darin with 3rd Place prize |
Mile
31.2 11:32 (9:36 avg./mile) FINISH
Feeling
great now that the finish is almost in sight, I pick the pace up
significantly. I end up sprinting the
last quarter of a mile. It is a good
thing that I did because the guy I passed a couple of miles earlier is only 2
minutes behind me.
Official
Finishing Time 6:41:27 (race
website says 6:29:35)
4th
out of 20 finishers (3rd male)
This was a
really nice, low-key race that made the perfect final tune-up for my next
race. If only I hadn’t twisted my ankle,
it would have been perfect. Fortunately,
I have 5 weeks until my next race, and the ankle should be fine. Finishing 4th was just a bonus,
and I got a “trophy” for being the 3rd place male finisher in the
50k.
The climax of
my running calendar year is the Hellgate 100k race. The 12th running of this special
race will be December 13. The very cool
early fall weather points to a cold race this year, but one never knows what
the weather will be like until a couple of days before. Last year there was snow, drizzle, rain, and
temperatures between 30-34 degrees during the race. I would say it can’t be worse this year, but
I know better.
Never stop
running,
Darin
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