Friday, November 29, 2019

Razorback Running Revival – A Tough, Slow Day


November 9
Final approach into Fayetteville

I enticed Martha to join me for another ultra marathon adventure.  We flew to Fayetteville, Arkansas yesterday afternoon and had a nice Italian dinner in town before driving to the bed and breakfast in Winslow.  This in the inaugural event for this race, and the race director lives in Colorado where he directs several other races.  The course is an out and back with a lollipop loop at the far end.  Also, since the course is so remote, crews are not allowed to visit any of the aid stations.  So, Martha drives me the 10 minutes to the start and snaps my picture before I am off in the pre-dawn twilight with 36 of my fellow runners.  The temperature is in the low 30s, but is supposed to rise into the high 50s.  I start the race with shorts, long and short sleeve shirts, stocking hat, and gloves.

Mile 8.7      2:11:54 (15:10 avg./mile) Old Locke #1

Darin before the start
I run very carefully for the first couple of miles while the daylight is making its full presence in this beautiful fall day.  About three miles into the race, we have our first river crossing.  This one is pretty wide and then within a quarter mile there is another (but less wide) river crossing.  The water is swiftly moving, but only a little over knee deep.  I am chatting with JP and Matt as we arrive at the first aid station.  My first thought is that this is 10 miles, but then I recall that it is 8 something.  By rough calculation, I figure I have run right around 15 minutes per mile.  All of us share a common goal it seems—finish before dark, which would be less than 12 hours.  This translates into faster than 15 minutes per mile.  I guess I will have to pick up the pace if I am going to finish before dark.  This first section was rather technical with plenty of rocks and such.  And, the first two miles were run in the dark, so I figure I can make better time now as I hope the trail will become smoother, and I am not warmed up.  At the aid station, I grab several quesadilla wedges to eat on the way.

Mile 16.3    2:09:55 (17:06 avg./mile) White Rock #1

I make my way to the White Rock aid station feeling good and thinking that my position is solid.  However, the cut-off for this aid station is 4.5 hours, and I am at 4:20, which means I only have 10 minutes on the cut-off at this point.  I grab some more quesadilla wedges while chatting with the nice aid station workers.  They say the next aid station is not far—only 3.5 miles.  JP and I change our shoes at this point, and I take off my long-sleeve shirt.  I trade my hat for a buff, and I am ready to roll.
Sunrise in the Ozarks

Mile 19.8    1:13:11 (20:55 avg./mile) Potato Knob

The “short 3.5 miles” is nearly all uphill, and I think it might be a tad farther than the advertised distance.  The last mile up to the knob is a good steep climb.  I am working hard, but as can be seen, I have not been able to pick up the pace yet.  At the aid station, I grab a healthy handful of potato chips and eat a pickle before heading down the trail.  I have some time to make up, and I plan to push the next section reasonably hard.  I had refilled my Camelbak at White Rock so I didn’t figure I needed to do that again so soon.

Mile 27.3    2:11:58 (17:36 avg./mile) Shores Lake

The steep downhill coming out of Potato Knob doesn’t allow for striding out due to the steepness and the technical trail.  I am running mostly with Matt and doing well, except I run out of water about 45 minutes before I get to the aid station.  These 7.5 miles seem like a forever section as the aid station just will not get here.  As hard as I am pushing it, I am sure that there is an extra mile in this section.  This is later confirmed by other runners with GPS as well as the race director himself.  At the aid station, I eat a few PB&J sandwich quarters before drinking a cup of Coke.  Matt and I are right on the cut-off, and we have 1:15 to get back to White Rock to meet the final hard cut-off before the finish.  The Coke should help me run faster at this point in the race.

Mile 32.4    1:49:50 (21:32 avg./mile) White Rock #2

Matt and I run almost the whole section up and down along the stream that we get to cross twice.  The second time we cross the stream, we catch up to Steve, who Matt knows from the area.  As we begin the uphill climb heading towards White Rock, the realization that we will get timed out sets into our minds.  We start seeing runners coming back down from the aid station, and the first ones say they were the last runner to make it out under the cut-off.  Then we see a few more runners, and they say they are the last runners that were let to slide out of the aid station a few minutes past the cut-off.  We finally make our way back our way into the aid station a mere 36 minutes over the cut-off.

Official Finishing Time          DNF – Timed Out

36 starters, 18 finishers

At the aid station after we each grab a bite or two, the 10 or so timed out runners ask the aid station captain what the plan is for getting us back to the start/finish line.  The answer is that they have a couple of seats for two or three of us.  Then he asks if we have a buddy we can call.  I borrow a cell phone and call Martha.  She says she will be there in an hour as that is how long it will take on the back-road, dirt-roads in the Ozarks.  In the meantime, we all hang out catching up on the college football games while we try to keep from getting too cold.  These 32+ miles were a good tune up for my next race regardless of the fact that the race director (or anyone else apparently) did not actually run the course to see how challenging and slow it would be.  The race director quickly announces that the cut-off next year will be two hours longer.  This is the first time in my 83 ultra-race career that I have actually been timed out at an aid station.  My next race is the 17th running of the Hellgate 100k on December 14 in southwestern Virginia.  Until then…

Never stop running,

Darin


Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Stump Jump 50k - A beautiful day for the family!


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