I went into this race with high expectations given that I have been running about 70 Miles a week for the last two months and have been training specifically on trails. I knew I was in good shape as the week prior to the 50 Mile I ran the Wilmington Half Marathon in Wilmington, MA and finished in 1:19:31, despite losing almost a full minute on a missed turn.
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| Race Bib! Lucky #2182 |
4:00 AM. Race Day. I slowly made my way out of bed and surveyed the gear and food I had laid out
the night before. Everything appeared to be in order. After a light breakfast, I headed down to the main campus to pick up Charlotte and Victoria, who had once again graciously agreed to help crew me for this race. I know college students who would still be awake at 4:00 AM on a Saturday morning, so the fact that they had agreed to help me out once again and get up hours before the sun rose on a Saturday was just really special. We set off for Carlisle, MA at around 4:45 AM and arrived at Great Brook Farm State Park right around 5:15 AM.
The TARC Fall Classic 50M features five laps traversing the trails of the mostly runnable State Park. I knew this course and I had run it before, but I was a bit nervous before the start of the race for a few reasons. Firstly, when I ran the 50k at the race last year I went off course twice on the first lap, losing over ten minutes and it was just demoralizing. I wasn’t in nearly as good of shape last year and it hurt losing those valuable minutes. Secondly, the competition, based on UltraSignup results, was supposed to be pretty strong. There were numerous runners who have run in the 14 -18-hour range for 100 Mile races. Finally, 50 Miles is a long race. It would be the second farthest I had ever run behind only my 100k.
6:00 AM. The race begins. I was smarter this year and actually bought a headlamp instead of just using the flashlight on my phone since the sun doesn’t rise until about 40 minutes into the race. I started the race in 4th place for the first few miles while I tried to settle into a rhythm. At about Mile 2, I was caught by another runner named Brian. We decided to stick together since we had around the same time goals and we would both be running Ghost Train in a few weeks. One thing about this race that was surprising to me was how fast runners started out the first lap. I know I can be guilty of the same thing, but I knew better than to try that the first five miles of a 50 Mile race. I was running in about 8th place by the time I was about an hour into the race, but 50 Miles is a long race, so I wasn’t worried yet. The best way I could think of to mentally handle each lap was to split it into thirds. The first third, was relatively flat and runnable fire trails until you reach the first aid station. The next third included mostly winding trails and my favorite section of the race where there is an open trail where you can see about a quarter mile ahead of you. The final third of the race, after passing the aid station for the second time, is the toughest. Three of the four major hills are in this section and it is also the most technical and difficult to run. Overall, I was feeling pretty strong by the time I reached the wide-open field the last half mile, which we would run around to reach the start line and aid station before beginning the next lap.
Loop One: 1:38:15 (9:49 Pace), 7th Place. Total Time: 1:38:15 (9:49 Pace)
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20 Miles In!
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I reached the end of the first lap in about 1:36 and only spent two minutes refueling, taking off a layer, and dropping off my headlamp. For fuel, I was carrying an 18oz bottle of water mixed with Nuun Performance, and eating snack bag with about 250 calories of cookies and potato chips that I could stuff into a pocket on my water bottle. I’m honestly not a huge fan at all of running ultras with energy gels or similar products as I really can’t stomach the taste and the sugary feeling. I would take real food any day, and it has never given me any problems. At the start of the second lap, I lost Brian, who I had been running with the entirety of the first lap. I wasn’t too sure if he had left the aid station before me and had gotten ahead or if I had left before. Now that I was warmed up and had dropped my extra layer I felt strong but wanted to be careful not to run too overzealously. The temperature was still relatively cool for this lap so I felt pretty relaxed. For the most part, I ran this loop by myself, but I did hang on with one of the top women running the 50k for almost an hour. I was passed by a few more people in the 50k, which I expected, but I did not see anyone from the 50 Mile outside of one person that I passed towards the middle of the lap. Finishing up the loop around the field, I still felt strong, which was a far cry from how I felt during this race last year, even though I was only running the 50k then. I reached the aid station, and stripped off my last top layer and began refueling. I was lucky to have my crew prepare my water and Nuun mixture beforehand each lap, and I already had assembled a snack pack the day before so I did a good job of getting out of the aid station fairly quickly. After this lap, I also ate a slice of pizza I had cooked the night before, and it was honestly one of the best decisions I made with my race fueling.
Loop Two:1:34:30 (9:27 Pace), 6th Place. Total Time: 3:12:45 (9:38 Pace)
Loop Two:1:34:30 (9:27 Pace), 6th Place. Total Time: 3:12:45 (9:38 Pace)
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| Thinking about Pizza |
Lap three and four are always big laps for me. I am generally a pretty strong finisher, so it's these
middle laps that make or break my race, whether I let my pace slow or hang strong. I felt like I was making significant ground on some of the people ahead of me, and I passed another runner about four or five miles into this lap. I hit the halfway mark, 25 Miles, in about 3:59, which put me right under an eight-hour finishing time, although I knew I had no shot at that given the difficulty in negative or even splitting ultramarathons. Still, I felt good and was moving well. It was now getting much hotter than the previous two laps and I was definitely drinking my water faster than before. I probably should have stopped at the second aid station for more water on this lap, but I plowed ahead as I had another runner in the 50 Mile in my sights. I passed this runner going through the last technical section of the trail and opened up a bit of a gap over the last two miles. I came through to the aid station where my crew told me that I was about 15 minutes behind second place at this point. I once again refueled my bottle and had another slice of pizza, which was definitely my favorite part of completing each lap. My crew told me I looked pretty good and I actually felt pretty good too! 30 Miles down, 20 to go.
Loop Three: 1:40:10 (10:01 Pace), 4th Place. Total Time: 4:52:55 (9:46 Pace)
Since I had stopped at the aid station for a bit longer than the guy I had just passed, I was back into fifth place for the next two miles before I passed him on a long winding hill. I had been power walking small sections of this incline on previous loops, but I did not want to show any weakness so I kept running and put on a permanent gap this time. By now, the temperature had reached the high 60s and low 70s and the sun was beating down, and I was honestly pretty uncomfortable. I knew this was going to be a tough lap, and I had told my crew to expect slower time than before. This lap was also the first time all race that I stopped at the aid stations and refueled my water bottle. I knew I needed the calories, but I was getting sick of eating and drinking. I finally spotted third place as I entered one of the only open sections of the course. She was about two minutes ahead and moving well, but I managed to catch up by Mile 37 when we both reached the aid station. I left before her and worked hard to increase the gap on the hills the last 3 miles. I actually came in a bit faster than I expected to for the fourth lap, which had surprised me as I felt like my pace had started to suffer. When I reached the aid station for the last time I took a final slice of pizza, refueled my bottle and sped off. My crew told me that 2nd place was 11 minutes ahead and appeared to be hurting. I felt much better and told my crew three simple words: “I’ve got this.”
Loop Three: 1:40:10 (10:01 Pace), 4th Place. Total Time: 4:52:55 (9:46 Pace)
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| 40 Miles Down, 10 to go! |
Loop Four: 1:46:45 (10:40 Pace), 4th Place. Total Time: 6:37:40 (9:56 Pace)
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| Sprint Finish! |
mission. Just like my last ultra at the TARC Winter Fells 40 Mile, I was shocked at how good I felt. I was determined not to stop or slow down outside of at the aid stations. When I reached the first station I refueled my water bottle and asked about 2nd place, but much to my dismay they did not remember 2nd place coming through recently. I kept expecting to round corners and see them up ahead, and I definitely expected to be making progress by the time I reached the open part of the course, but there was nothing. Coming into the aid station for the last time, I refueled with just water as I was so sick of Nuun, and asked again about 2nd place one again. Still nothing, except that they “maybe” left a bit ago. I powered ahead, running up the steep inclines that I had previously walked or power hiked the prior four laps. I finally exited the trails and entered the flat stretch before the last lap around the field. Just as I entered the field, I finally saw her. 2nd place, who I had been chasing for the last 20 miles, was about 1:30 to 2:00 minutes ahead. Seeing 2nd place lit my adrenaline on fire. I sped up and I was closing rapidly; my watch was showing my pace at 5:40-5:45. I had closed the gap to about 20 seconds with less than a quarter mile to go, and I think she could sense it because she finally turned around. I knew then that it was over when she saw me. I closed hard down the stretch and finished 4 seconds behind. In the end, I had closed the last half mile of a 50 Mile race in 3:05! I finished in 3rd Overall with a final time of 8:15:56, or a 9:55 Pace. I spent a long time after the race thinking about where I could have cut off 4-5 seconds off of an eight-hour long race. Could I have left an aid station earlier? Did I really need to stop for water with only 3 miles left? In the end, I made peace with it. One of the scariest things about ultras, but also one of the best things, is that seconds can completely change your race. My entire race could have been different if I spent less time at an aid station or decided to forgo refilling my bottle.
Loop Five: 1:36:16 (9:37 Pace), 4th Place. Total Time: 8:15:56 (9:55 Pace)
Overall, I was really happy with my race. I ran pretty consistent by ultramarathon standards (1:36, 1:38, 1:40, 1:46, 1:38) as there was only a 10-minute split between my fastest and slowest laps. It always difficult to rationalize how you feel at the end of a race when you think about it the next day, but I definitely felt like I could have gone farther. Right now, I am entered into the Ghost Train Ultra in three weeks with the intention of running my first 100-mile race and I am really looking forward to it. Finally, I just want to again thank the race directors and all the volunteers for putting on a great event. None of this would have been possible either without the help of Charlotte and Victoria supporting me. I also want to congratulate Megan, the second-place finisher, who ran an amazing race to take over 35 minutes off the women’s course record. Results for the race can be found at: https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=52483#
Loop Five: 1:36:16 (9:37 Pace), 4th Place. Total Time: 8:15:56 (9:55 Pace)
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| Support Crew: Charlotte & Victoria |
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| Thank you to the Trail Animals Running Club (TARC) for a great race! |
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