This was my first Ultramarathon since the 60 Miler at Ghost
Train last October, and it felt great to be back! I signed up for this race
only a few days prior after receiving a promotional code from a friend and
learning that a few other friends were running. I had wanted to run this race last
year, but at the time, it did not fit into my schedule, so I was excited to
give it a shot! Truthfully, I went into this race a bit more ambitiously than
I should have. I had not done the proper hill training and had been taking it
relatively easy since my 2:52:16 (a new PR!) at the Boston Marathon in April.
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| Course Map! |
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| Elevation Profile |
My day began with my alarm going off at 4:00 AM to drive an
1:15 to the race. I was shocked when I arrived at 6:00 AM and almost no one was
there yet. As people gradually started to roll in, I picked up my bib number, and
met up with my friends who were going to be racing their first ultra! Pretty
soon, we were on the start line, mentally preparing for the 700ft climb in the
first two miles.
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| Before the Summit at Mile 6 |
The race began, and we were immediately going up. It took a
few minutes to settle in as we were on a single-track trail for the first half
mile with everyone jockeying for position. We opened onto a larger fire road
which allowed me to get into a better rhythm. I was trying to be relatively
cautious for the first few miles but was pretty surprised to see my heart rate
hovering in the high 170s for these first two miles. For the next three or four
miles, we were heading slightly downhill before preparing for the first summit
to the top of Wachusett Mountain. This was course was extremely technical, even
more so than the Middlesex Fells at some points. I don’t consider myself that
strong of a technical downhill runner so it was irritating to feel like I was
losing time in these places. The course was also pretty wet and at Mile 6 I
went down straight into the mud, covering my shoes. I was caught by my friends
Pete and Mitch at about Mile 7 right as we began the first summit. This was one
of the most technical climbs that I had ever done. I was literally on my hands
summiting the 20-25% grade. At one point, we climbed almost 150ft feet in only
a tenth of a mile. However, there was something quite exhilarating about it,
especially when you reached the summit to see all the spectators who had taken
up the chair lift! I reached the first checkpoint at Mile 7.1 in 10th
Place in 1:13:01 (10:17 Pace).
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| After the Second Summit at Mile 10 |
I began my fueling by using Tailwind mixed with water, and
Mitch was kind enough to give me another one of his packets, but after that I
was stuck relying on Hammer Nutrition for the rest of the day, which was not
great, to say the least. I was a bit disappointed in the food selection at the
aid stations. This was my first time running an ultra without some form of a loop, so I was at the mercy of the aid stations. All I really wanted was my
Cape Cod 40% Reduced Fat potato chips! After the first summit, we took an
equally technical downhill before looping back and attacking the climb once
again. It certainly was not easier the second time. I crested the top for the
second time with Pete and Mitch right behind me. I must have spent longer than
I thought at the aid station as Mitch was out of sight by the time I left. At
the second summit at Mile 9.4, I was still in 10th Place in 1:43:24
(11:00 Pace).
Pete and I left the aid station and we ran the next few
miles together. It was certainly a relief to get some less technical downhills
for the first time all race! At the next aid station, we were told that we had
a few people that were only 3-4 minutes ahead, so we focused on closing some
distance on them. I lost Pete shortly after, and I was on my own for the rest
of the race. For me, the unexpected thorn in my side was the trail that traversed
between Wachusett and Leominster State Forest. I still felt strong on this
section and had passed two people, but I was acutely aware that there were
going to be some very tough climbs when we came back this way towards the
finish. This section was also very technical and had some rock climbs similar
to what the summit ascents were like. I came into the next aid station at Mile
16.4 in 8th Place in 3:05:42 (11:19 Pace).
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| Wachusett to Leominster Traverse at Mile 15 |
At this point, I entered the easiest part of the course,
which was about a five-mile loop on open fire trails. After a moderately sized
climb, I was greeted with flat, fast, open downhill. This was my quickest mile
of the race at 8:00, but again, I definitely need to work on my downhill and
technical running. I was passed at this point by a guy going at least 6:30-6:45
pace during this section. During this loop, I also started to see more 50 Mile
racers who had started their day two hours earlier at 5:00 AM. It was great to
be able to cheer each other on, but it was also good for me to have something
to focus on ahead of me. I reached the next aid station and refueled with more
Hammer and grabbed half a peanut butter sandwich. I could definitely feel the
temperature picking up and it felt scorching whenever I was in the sun. As I
left this aid station, a woman there told me the next one would be in five
miles. Since I was only carrying a 16oz handheld, I knew it would almost an
hour before I reached the next aid station, which was not a good sign.
I must have misunderstood the course map, as I expected that
we would complete the fire trail loop a second time, but instead, we followed
another very technical single-track trail. At Mile 20 I could tell that I was
starting to struggle due to the heat. My legs felt fine, but I just could not
get my heart rate down. I was only a mile into this loop and I had already
taken half of my water. My mile times started to creep up into the 12-13-minute
range. All told, this felt like one of the longest hours of my life. I finally,
came out of the trail as the course looped back to a previous aid station. I
ended up reaching the 25.7 Mile checkpoint in 7th Place in 4:51:29
(11:21 Pace). I spent a bit longer at this aid station then previous ones as I
desperately needed more water. I gave up on the Hammer mix for the last few
miles and switched solely to iced water. Leaving this aid station and again
following the traverse from Leominster State Forest to Wachusett Mountain, I
hit (to me) the most brutal uphill of the course, which was a technical 400ft
climb. This was the point in the race where I was completely reduced to walking
as I couldn’t run because my head was spinning so hard. This was by far the
slowest and most painful mile of my race at just over 20 minutes. I had one guy
go by me during this time, pushing me down to 8th, and I expected
more to follow him, but no one ever did. I figured the heat must have really
been hurting people.
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| Leominster to Wachusett Traverse at Mile 26 |
After this mile, I was finally able to switch back to
running. Taking the time to get my heart rate and breathing back under control paid
off. Feeling much better now, I actually caught up to and passed the guy who
had breezed right by me just two miles before. Now back in 7th
place, and with three miles to go, I felt much stronger and wanted to put some
distance between myself and the 4-5 runners I assumed were right on my tail.
With about a mile and a half to go, the course opened up to
a rolling fire road before dropping down to the finish. I quickly stopped at
the last aid station about a mile before the finish to grab water and to check
to see if anyone was behind me. During the last few miles, I kept expecting the
course to finally start dropping downhill to the finish, but it never really
did until the last half mile, which went straight downhill. Finally, I crossed
the Finish Line in 7th Overall in 6:04:14 (11:50 Pace)!
I truly underestimated just how hard this course would be. I
had the technical experience with the TARC Winter Fells Ultra, but not the
elevation experience. I definitely have a lot of things to improve on going
forward if I want to be more competitive, especially my technical downhill
running. Right now, I have a few events on my schedule over the few months,
mainly the TARC Summer Classic 40 Mile in August, the TARC Fall Classic 50 Mile
in September, and the Ghost Train Trail Race 100 Mile in October. However, I
jumped into this race on a whim, so who knows, I may just do it again!
I also want to give a shout out to my friends, Mitch Graves
(6th, 6:00:24) and Pete Taglino (31st, 7:07:19) for
finishing their first ultramarathons!
Finally, I have made my activity public on Garmin Connect in case anyone is interested in looking at splits, elevation etc. https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/3728051685
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| Finish! |
