Cowboy Hazel

My first ultra is in the books. That feels good. I ran the 50 miles in 8 hours, 37 minutes, and two seconds. That got 15th place out of 203 runners. Considering the conditions and the challenges of the trail, I'm very happy with my time.

There was some major talent in the race today. At the start, I was lined up in between Michael Wardian and a kid wearing an Olympic Trials singlet. Talk about feeling outmatched...

At 5am, we all charged off into the darkness with our headlamps on. It was already pretty warm and very humid. But, I suppose that's to be expected in Virginia in June.

I stuck with a big group for a while, but by mile 6 or 7, we had started to spread out quite a bit. I was having some serious stomach issues and had to stop around mile 12 to poop behind a tree. Luckily my friends had reminded me to bring toilet paper on the run. There were some hills here, but the trail was pretty runable other than stops to hop over big fallen trees and a few river crossings. It was muddy in spots. I walked all the steep uphills, trying to conserve my energy.

We hit the Great Falls aid station just after mile 14 and were able to get our drop bags. I ditched my singlet and headlamp, and grabbed a wristband. I had planned to drop off my hat too, but it was feeling comfortable so I left it on.

We did three 7 mile loops between Great Falls and Difficult Run. This was the toughest terrain of the course. I was still feeling pretty good, but my pace slowed considerably just because there were so many spots where running was not possible. I hit the halfway point (on the second loop) at just under four hours. I wasn't happy about the loops when I first saw them on the map, but they were actually really good. It was nice knowing exactly what to expect on the 2nd and 3rd loops. And also it allowed us to see all the other runners. I saw Kino out there a couple times and even got to run with him for a bit.

When we left Great Falls around mile 35 to head back toward the start, the heat had gotten really intense. But I was excited about getting done with the race and didn't spend as long at the aid station as I should have. I filled up my water bottle but didn't drink anything there. Two miles later, I was completely out of water and still had 5 miles to go before the next aid station. I knew I was in trouble. It felt like I was running through a steamy oven. I ended up having to walk a bunch in that stretch and, when I wasn't walking, I was running really slow. I've never been so hot and thirsty before.

Finally, I hit the aid station at mile 42 and I loaded up on food and drinks. I had lots of water, electrolyte drink, potatoes, cookies, a p&b sandwich, and some pretzels. I was so full when I left, but it felt amazing. I started running again and, even though I was in a tremendous amount of pain still, my outlook totally changed and I became really happy at the realization that I was going to finish this thing. Soon.

I had to walk a few more times just because my legs were so toasted, but everyone else was walking too. The heat and distance were taking their tolls on us all.

On my last walk break (around mile 48), I got passed by another 50 mile runner. Knowing we were so close to the finish, I hated giving up that position so I started running again and caught up to him. I hung on his heels for about a quarter mile and then made a move. He let me pass but kept close. I could hear his footsteps right behind me and kept ratcheting up the pace. Still, he was closing on me. Then, with about a half mile to go, I just threw it into a whole different gear, one that I didn't even know I had. We raced into the finish all out and I beat him by four seconds. It still seems crazy to me that an 8+ hour race can come down seconds.

I hung out at the finishers area for a few hours with Marco, who kept throwing up a lot early and ended up with a DNF. Kino finished in just over 12 hours and we left the race about an hour after that. We're somewhere in New Jersey now on our drive back home. My legs are super sore and I'm very tired, but it's more than worth it because now I can finally call myself an ultramarathoner.