I found some pictures on fb from the race. I don't know this person, just followed the links provided. From what I understand I need to give credit to Peter Konrad. Whoever you are, thank you for taking & posting them. Something is better than nothing.
Going into the race I was hoping for a time around 5 hours. I am more than capable of doing that. My 25k time was roughly 2:56, based on that I was then shooting for 6 hours. I was disappointed when I saw my finish time of 6:07:30. I finished 29th out of 48 who completed the 50k. I haven't seen a break down of gender or age group.
The whole day & feel of the race just left me defeated, ashamed, humiliated, etc. I know I have plenty to hold my head high about. I bested my 50k time by 8 minutes, which considering how bad the run was is pretty darn good. Sure I'm capable of doing so much better, but I have nothing to truly hang my head about. Everyone there was very supportive, even people I didn't know. A group of people said they remember me from Wildcat Den and congratulated me on my race. Sure, they could have just been nice, but if you really know (most) runners they are honest & supportive to each other.
Yes, I used my baggies over the feet trick. Mixed feelings on it. I started the race with them on. I didn't want to fuss with getting them on, etc. After a few miles I realized how much I didn't need them. Everything was frozen and the spillway was very easy to cross without getting wet. (I've been told that is not always the case though). While they weren't helping me, they weren't hurting either. The one on my right foot did begin to bunch up a little which bugged me. I made myself wait until I came to the start/finish to take them off. I was going to stop there anyway to fuel up, change my hat, etc. After I took them off and part way through the second loop, then I wish I had them on. I mean, I obviously survived, it wasn't that horrible. There was a lot more mud and puddles to dodge the second loop. Many spots were unavoidable so I just went through them. My shoes were water resistant and have Gore Tex so it was not as bad as it could have been. Anyway, the bags were kind of a fail, but oh well. You live and learn.
I don't have much of an opinion of the race itself. I don't want all my "bad" to label this a bad race. The communications with the director leading up to the race was wonderful! He was very on top of things and posted a lot of details. Packet pickup was very easy, even though we got there with little time to check in and get going. The course was very well marked, but a little confusing at some points. The aid stations were very well stocked and the volunteers very supportive. A large part of the crowd had cleared out by time I finished. Everyone got a finishers medal, if you placed in your age group they just handed that to you. I was only there about 10 minutes before we started and about 30 after I finished (with a good 10 minutes of that in the bathroom getting changed). So it was hard to get a good feel of the race when most of it was spent running.
I probably won't do this race again. Too many variables of the weather this time of year. It makes Howl at the Moon look VERY manageable and easy. At least I speak from experience though. Better to have tried and "failed" than not have tried at all. I didn't lose anything by doing this race, but I gained a whole lot of experience!
Want to know anything else about the race? Just ask, I'll answer it for you!
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