I completed my first ultra yesterday, the 50-mile option of the Umstead Endurance Run at the Umstead
state park in Cary, NC (near the Raleigh-Durham airport). An amazing experience. My goal was to
finish uninjured and my estimate was around 12 hours but I was determined not to hurry.
Nevertheless, I finished uninjured and in
10:13.
The course is a 10-mile loop of rolling hills along crushed gravel roads and riding trails in the
park. The park was closed to the public due to recent ice-storm damage, so it was a quiet weekend
and we had the park to ourselves mostly. Elevation change on the course isn't as tough as many of
the famed ultras, as I understand it, but when you're out there around 39 miles and all you can see
ahead of you is a steep 3/4 mile climb, it's tough enough.
Had surprisingly few problems along the way: a torrential rainstorm about 5 hours into the event,
but it passed in 20 minutes or so and left us cooler for a couple of hours. Weather was good most of
the day, with temp around 55F at the 6 a.m. start and a high in the high 70s by mid
afternoon.....only about a mile of the 10-mile loop is continuously exposed to direct sun due to the
tree-lined park trails, so heat was a minor factor. Changed only my socks after the soaking and that
was a good choice, sun dried everything else within an hour.
Second problem was my first and only painful blister at the 8 hour mark, but it happened minutes
from finishing the fourth loop so I was able to apply first aid and continue with no other foot/leg
problems except growing weariness along the way. Took two ibuprofen doses during the day and helped
keep sodium needs regulated by swallowing a couple of Thermotabs each loop and eating some salty
foods (see below).
I slept well the two nights before, did a typical marathon-week diet and slow/short running
sequence, and started the race a little nervous but delighted by the "different" mentality of an
ultra crowd. Lots of amusing dark humor and an uncommon friendliness and sharing of wisdom and
experiences. Because everyone other than the handful of maniac elite ultra runners walks the
uphills, and spends a little extra time in the food stations, you get a chance to meet and talk at
length with different people as you share the road for a while before one of you pulls away.
I made a point of starting literally at the back of the pack of roughly 200 starters, just to lower
expectations and ensure I would pass at least one person in 50 miles. In fact, despite being lapped
(along with nearly everyone else) a couple of times by three or four of the top runners, I did a
fair amount of moving up and actually wasn't passed by anyone after the first 25 miles or so. My
preliminary splits printout from the finishing table said my place was 55th (up from 97th place at
the 10 mile mark), but I frankly don't know if that's 55th overall or 55th among 50-milers. In last
year's Umstead results, my time would have placed 27th among the 104 people in the 50-miler, so it's
difficult for me to figure out until I see online results.
Here are 10-mile splits from my watch, which is pretty close to the official printout but that's
in my still-packed bag somewhere: Mile Elapsed 10 1:58 20 3:58 30 5:59 40 8:06 50 10:13 Basically,
I ran each of the first two 10-mile loops in slightly under 2 hours, so just under 12:00 mile
pace. The third loop at a fraction over 12 minute pace so about 2:01, slowed the most in the 4th
loop (about
10:14), and then was a few seconds faster fifth loop by pushing harder to the finish in the last
couple of miles.
Food and drink: ate and drank an amazing variety of things at the aid stations, including turky
sandwiches, peanut butter crackers, soup, ice cream and M&Ms, cheddar cheese slices, potato chips,
cream cheese danish; drank about half and half water and Allsport the first 20 miles, then switched
to alternating water and Mtn. Dew the rest of the way. Drank a cup of coffee at mile 34 just for fun
since I was having a danish and a continental breakfast seemed like a lovely idea. I have to admit
that about half of the things I ate during the day were things I had NOT tested in long training
runs, but as I nibbled on new things in small amounts early on, and realized my iron stomach could
take it, I expanded my menu. The only thing I've discovered I can't eat on the run is boiled eggs.
Met some great people. The nice thing was that after those first 30 miles, I could have virtually
walked and talked the last 20 and still met my 12-hour goal, so as long as you keep your
expectations under control and have fair luck with feet and stomach, it's possibly to enjoy the day.
I'd recommend a 50 to any of you marathoners who are thinking about it.
Now, of course, at midday on Sunday, less than 24 hours after finishing, I am pretty sore. In fact
even my hair hurts. But not as much as after my February marathon, oddly. I have a respect that
approaches awe for people I met who were doing the 100 mile run and therefore kept going for more
than 12 hours after I finished. To think that I finished my run, showered, sat in the whirlpool at
the hotel, watched the news, and then slept 8 hours and those people were still out there on the
trail.....incredible.
Chris