My run last night concluded this morning at 2:50am. Tired, soaked, and sore, I was happy to have arrived at the finish line of the 14th Annual
Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 miler.
The race description from the event website:
MARATHONERS BEWARE:
This is not your normal marathon. This is all rural, not a city marathon. The course is not certified. You will be in the middle of nowhere all the time with no porta-potties, no splits, no mile markers, no spectators, and late in the run possibly even no other runners. There are only 6 houses on the course and they have dogs. Aid stops are over 5 miles apart, so you will need to carry a water bottle. If you decide to quit, there are no pick-up vans, so you will either have to walk to the aid station or hitch a ride with somebody. The race will start at 6 pm and the temperature will probably be about 85 degrees with little shade. Darkness comes about 9 pm and there are no street lights. You will need a light for the reasons cited in the waiver. If you need to be catered to every couple of miles along the course or worry running in the dark, perhaps you should not come. We really have seen everything listed in the waiver
except the polecats and they are there too. The drop out rate among veteran 50-milers is usually 40% or so. Think long and hard before you enter this event. If Lao-tzu were to give advice about this event he would say, "Come with no expectations and you will not be disappointed."
So with that, here's my report...
5:00pm: Arrived at the race start at Bethel Baptist Church in Ellerbe, NC (120 miles SW of Durham). I quickly picked up my race packet and changed into my running clothes. Shortly after I parked my car, the entertaining Ray K., whom I met at the
NC Fat Ass 50k in January, parked beside me. Now in his 50s, he told me he's ramping up his training to 120-150 miles per week as an experiment to see if he can beat his best running times from his 20s and 30s (in 1981, he ran a 100k in 7:05:52). Good luck Ray!
Parked beside Ray was Mauricio Moncada, who traveled from Cali, Colombia for the race. I'm not a coffee drinker, but when he offered me a bag of fresh Columbian coffee beans, I snapped up the offer. I knew Adrienne would enjoy it, and she'll never be able to say she never got anything out of my running hobby.
After my coffee score, I ran into Bill Johncock, whom I also met at the Fat Ass 50, and he gave me some tips for the course. Bill failed to finish the previous two years, but his insight was no less valuable. Including myself, 5 of the 9 starters in this year's Fat Ass event were entered in the Boogie; in the starting area, I couldn't help myself from staring at one of them, Bill Keane. He's in his early 60s, has the upper body of man in his 50s, and has the legs of a 20 year old Olympian. Nothing but muscle. I wish I had a picture because it just looked so darn strange. And the guy is a machine; he runs one ultra after another. Update: I found a picture...
5:30pm: If seeing guys like Bill Keane isn't inspiration enough, the oldest competitor in the race at 78 years young came strolling by as he completed his first 10 mile loop (he started early so he would be able to finish).
5:50pm: I caught up with my friend Teddy from a local running group here in Durham. He had run the 50 miler before, but yesterday he opted for the marathon distance. Like me, he also has a young daughter, so we talked about the wonders of a good jogging stroller- truly one of the best investments I've ever made. We only spoke briefly, however, because the pre-race meeting and prayer were soon held, and before I knew it, we were ready to start.
6:00pm Mile 0: Sunny and 90 degrees. Fifty-three runners started the 50 miler and 65 were registered for the marathon (I'm not sure how many actually started). The course consisted of a six mile loop back to the church, and a four mile out-and-back, repeated five times. The church had a full aid-station, and some generous volunteers added a bonus station at the halfway point of the six mile loop; so for each 10 mile loop, there were effectively aid stations at miles three, six, and ten. It's worth noting that I would be passing my car nine times before reaching the finish; talk about temptation...
Mile 2-4: I've learned that if you meet someone from Charlotte, there's a good chance they work for Bank of America. Sure enough, this was the case with Tom, whom I met early in the race. We talked trading and triathlons, which made a few miles pass quickly.
Miles 5-9: I was running for several miles near a lady with a terrific coif. A true show of hair feathering mastery. Part mullet, part horse mane, all magic.
Mile 10: First lap completed in 1:37. Probably faster than I should have run during the hottest part of the race, but I felt good and my heart-rate stayed low. For fuel, I was drinking Cytomax along with ample electrolyte supplement pills; at most of the aid-station stops, I ate bananas, drank water, and had the occasional Ritz cracker with peanut butter.
Miles 10-20: The race really started to spread out at this point. In reality, I pretty much ran the rest of the race on my own from mile 15 onward. I felt good during this second lap and finished it in 1:42. The hills on this course, whether going up or down, were extremely long. Not exceptionally high and certainly not excessively steep, but some climbs were close to two miles in length. By mile 20, it was time to grab my headlamp from my car. I only turned on my headlamp when a vehicle was approaching, which was a rare occurrence, so I probably had the light on for a total three minutes the entire night. There was just enough light out to see the trees and the white stripe on the road that I was following.
Mile 22: Started to feel not so great. Although the temperature was finally starting to fall, the fact that I had 28 miles remaining was a bit daunting. I think this is probably the most difficult point in an ultra because you know you've already run a really long distance, but you also know you have even further to go. I didn't feel terrible by any stretch, but I certainly could have felt better.
Mile 26: Felt a little better because I knew I was past half-way. Unfortunately, it started to rain a bit during this portion.
Mile 28: Near the midway point of the four mile out-and-back was a group of trees next to a river. These trees were
full of lightning bugs. I've never seen anything like it. It was beautiful.
Mile 30: The rain stopped without getting me all that wet. I finished the third lap in a slower 1:53. At the aid station, I changed out of my Injiji socks and into my standard dual-layer socks. Injiji socks have individual toes, just like the ones worn by hippies, less the rainbow colors and patchouli scent. Many an ultra runner swear by them to prevent blisters, and they did just that for me. Unfortunately, they also pull a bit between my toes, so I can only wear them for so long before they actually start to hurt. I just knew you were interested in my sock choices.
Mile 30.5: It started to rain. It was raining pretty darn good, too. Everything was soaked.
Mile 32: I got passed the only time all night. I assume it was the eventual winner because he was
flying. And in case you didn't notice, this means he was at mile 42. I wonder what it's like to run that fast.
Mile 34: The rain stopped and I started looking forward to changing into a dry shirt, shoes, and socks at the mile 36 aid station.
Mile 34.5: It started to pour. And I mean pour. Absolutely saturated me to my core. Fortunately for me, I really enjoy running in the rain. I could have done without the full monsoon, but I just considered it part of the adventure. There was a lot of heat lighting and thunder in the distance, which didn't bother me except for repeatedly ruining my night vision; it took me a few seconds before I could see where I was going.
Mile 36: All the people at the aid-station were in the back of a box truck singing
Row, Row, Row Your Boat as the downpour worsened.
Mile 40: Finished the fourth lap in 1:53. With only one lap to go, I was feeling good. At the aid-station, I decided to have a hamburger. Not the best burger in the world, or even a decent burger for that matter, but what a difference it made for me. Within a mile I was thinking much more clearly and my mood was lifted considerably.
Mile 43: I sailed past the aid-station and thanked them for being out there all night. Talk about endurance.
Mile 46: I sailed past the church because I knew I just had the out-and-back to go. At that point, I knew I could break nine hours, so I just wanted to keep my momentum.
Miles 47.25-50: An agonizingly long uphill. I just kept on running and knew the finish line was near.
Mile 50: Finished in 7th place with a time of 8:50:19 - nearly 40 minutes better than my first 50 mile run. Turns out that only 30 of the 53 that started the race reached the finish line. I managed to complete the last lap in 1:43. It's amazing that, despite being able to run for that long, as soon as I stopped, my calves, which had been tight for the latter portion of the race, totally tightened up and I was reduced to stumbling. At the finish line the race director congratulated me and handed me my finisher's award, a hand-thrown mug.
Along with the mug, I also got this technical training shirt...
(front)
(back)
After the race, I moved at a snail's pace, but I eventually made it inside one of the church buildings for some food. Ascending the three steps that led up to the door was torture. All I felt like eating were some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. There were a few other runners in the room and I overheard them mention that the aforementioned coif from miles five through nine did not fare too well in the rain. I was sorry to hear that. At that point, it was getting close to 3:30 am, and I still had to drive two hours home to Durham. I said my goodbyes, thanked the race director, and headed on my way.
The drive home was an endurance event in its own right. I thought I might have to pull over for a nap, but the Ipod saved the day. A steady mix of Social Distortion, Doug E. Fresh, The Beastie Boys, Franz Ferdinand, and the like played at a very high volume kept me going to the finish line in Durham. I arrived at 5:30am, took a shower, and crawled into bed. Four hours later I got up to enjoy what turned out to be a great Father's Day. A report on that from Adrienne or me should be coming shortly.
For the geeks that care, here's the altitude and heart rate data from the race...
