Photo Credit: Jim Bickelhaupt

I ran this race in the summer of 2009. It was my 3rd ultra and I swore that I would never run it again. Before I go any further please understand that Claude Sinclair (RD) does a great job with this event - I highly recommend it IF you like road running. If you know me, then you know that I don't really care for it. I'm a trail junkie - cant help it.

Speaking of the race itself. Its a 50K measured out to the inch. You run a short out-n-back in the beginning and then complete 7 loops that are about 4.25 miles each. 1.4 miles of each loop is on a very groomed & flat trail beside the catawba river. So this gives you a total of 9.8 miles of trail and 21.3 miles of road. I would call this a road ultra. Maybe a hybrid by some standards...

With that being said, the goal of the day was not another multi-hour trail race with tough climbs and gnarly trails. The goal was to finally run a 50K under six hours.

Spoiler: I did it! Here is how it went down:

I had absolutely no plan going into the race. I just wanted to run faster and harder than I ever had before. I've made some improvements in my running over the past three months, but had yet to really "race" and see what kind of run I could put together.

After running close to 40 ultra marathons, I've learned that 50Ks are not my strong suit. I do better on 50+ mile races where endurance becomes more of a factor than speed. Either way, I still felt that a 5:59 50K (or better) was in my grasp and it was just one of those little goals that eats at you.

I've often thought about my first 50K ultra race in Virginia Beach during the giant Nor'easter of 2009. I sprinted to the finish line only to find myself 12 seconds shy of my goals at 6:00:12! That was a good race for me in those conditions, but it stung to miss my goal by only 13 seconds...

So Saturday morning rolled around and I found myself lined up with about 40 other runners beside the beautiful Catawba River in Lancaster, SC. Claude fired his cannon of a rifle at 7:00 AM and we were off and running!

The first little out-n-back on the course is uphill. I would normally ALWAYS walk the uphills during an ultra, but not today! CHARGE that baby! It felt very weird starting out with a 10:00 mile/mile pace. I ran even harder coming back down the hill to finish the little out-n-back before the seven loops began.

Greta and I were running together and catching up on the latest running news. I thought it was smart to stick with her since she has had a lot of road running experience. I felt like we were flying, but there were still several runners going much faster.

We finished the first loop in about 42 minutes, quickly filled our bottles up and headed back out for loop 2 of 7.

We charged the hill again without any problem. I was feeling on top of my game and I had a good feeling that today would be sub 6 day. Wow, still a LOT of running to do though.

We both ran loop two together and took a quick pit stop at the aid station. Greta had to grab something from her car and I took back off up the hill for loop 3 of 7.

Once again, I ran the hill hard and got to the top. This is where I met Robert Crosby. Another Laurel Valley runner and we briefly chatted. I passed him and Greta caught back up to me - she asked me if I realized that I was running a 8:40 min/mile pace?! Woooooaaa! I couldn't believe that!

I decided to slow back a little bit and at least stay around a 10 min/mile pace. I needed to maintain a 11:30 min/mile pace to finish under 6 hours. Seemed simple enough at the time.

I chatted with several other friends during this stretch and ran the 1.4 mile trail section with no problem for the third time.  I was drinking my full 20 oz water bottle on each 4.25 mile loop and downing two full cups of Gatorade at the aid station each time. I followed that with a hand full of aid station food and one SCap.

Things got tougher on loop 4/7. I ran half of the hill, but had to walk some of the 2nd half. My quads were beginning to burn and I could feel the previous 18 miles that I had just ran. I kept thinking only 13 miles to go - keep running - don't worry about the clock - keep running.

After the hill I ran the rest of the loop and felt horrible as I came into the aid station. My stomach was feeling weird and I wanted to walk. I grabbed a few ginger cookies and sipped some Coke. I walked for about thirty seconds and started feeling sorry for myself.

"your're just not a fast runner"
"you don't really have what it takes to get under 6 hours"
"this should just be a training run, why push it?"
"you're still gonna finish with a good time if you walk"

SHUT UP little voices!

I put those voices to rest with some running into loop 5 of 7. It was becoming a struggle to maintain any type of decent pace. Even on the flat areas.

At this point I was tyring my best to keep Robert in sight. I had told him that I was trying to break six hours and he agreed that we should both be able to do it. I felt that keeping him in my sights would increase my chances.

The leaders of the race had just lapped me twice and it sent me into a complete tailspin. How can they run so fast while I'm struggling so much? Just look how effortlessly they are running! It made me jealous and then mad. My pace would increase and then I would fall back to a walk.

Around mile 24 I decided that I would never be able to break six hours today. I'm too tired and hurting too bad. I began thinking back to running the rugged 35 mile Laurel Valley course backwards last Friday night. My legs felt like two iron anchors attached to my waist.

Forget the PR of sub 6, I just want to finish and get off this road!

I walked for a few minutes and began to think....you know I got up at 3:30 AM this morning then drove over an hour for a chance to break my record. I'm currently on pace to break it, but I'm gonna have to run in order to do it.

Man I don't wanna run right now, but I think I want the personal record more than my legs are hurting me!

By this time Robert had gotten about a half mile ahead of me and I ran hard to catch him. I got him in my sights and had to walk for a bit to let my legs rest.

I ran into the aid station with two laps to go which was roughly 8.5 miles. I had one hour and 58 minutes to run it. I didn't even try to do the math, I just ran the 7th loop as hard as I could go. Yep, I had to walk the entire hill, but I walked it fast. As soon as I hit the flat areas I broke into a run.

I put my MP3 player to work with some nice tunes to help me zone out. My legs were absolute toast. Every step was tough, but I knew that each one would get me closer to my record.

At this point I had caught up to Robert as we were about to finish the 7th loop. He was spent too, but still able to run fairly well. I told him that I planned on following him for this final lap because I knew that he would run it well. We both got in and out of the aid station quickly. I looked at my watch and I had 63 minutes to beat my best 50K time. 4.5 miles in 63 minutes? I'VE GOT THIS!

We ran the entire hill this time. It was a slooooow run, but we managed it fairly well. My legs were burning like a fire as I crested the hill to the flat road.

Keep Running!
Keep Running!
No Walking!
Keep Running!

I ran down to the trail entrance off the road with 1.4 miles to go. I looked at my watch and it read 5:33. I had 27 minutes to cover 1.4 miles. I could have walked that if I wanted to! This made me feel even better.

The closer we got to the finish, the faster we ran. The trail finally opened up onto a concrete walkway that lead into the finish area and we were in a full sprint.

Claude read out my time as I finished - 5:48! Whooohoooo!!!!

It felt excellent and horrible to break six hours. I was very proud of myself, but my body was completely shot. It was all that I could do to drag myself up to the car, change clothes, and plop down into my car for the drive home.

Of course I'm excited to have finally reached this goal. Now I'm wondering if I can run a 5:30?!

On a side note, I haven't been able to run for five days since the race. I've had a 5X3 inch area of my back cut for biopsy and I currently have a heap of stitches in it. I'm taking advantage of this time to rest for a week or so with no running. I've been training very hard for the past three months and rather than get depressed over this "unplanned" rest, I'm going to use it to my advantage and be ready to start another tough training segment soon.

Thanks again to race director Claude Sinclair and all the volunteers for putting on the Landsford Canal 50K! I will always remember it....

"Reverse" "Easy" Laurel Valley Night Run

I get excited about some ultras and then there is Laurel Valley.  I'm not quiet sure what it is about this 33+ mile stretch of trail, but it always calls me back for more.  Then when I'm about 20 miles into it I swear it off forever.  Then I'm back a few months later and the cycle continues.

I had thoughts of doing a 26 miler (In-Out) over the weekend, then Weezy talks some of us into doing Laurel Valley at night.  Oh yeah, and backwards.  I knew I was on board with him as soon as he mentioned it and before long I was standing in front of the sign with my gear on ready to go!

Christian, Lester, Weezy, and I were the runners this time.  Our plan was to run from the gravel parking lot at Whitewater Falls all night and finish at the Laurel Valley parking lot as sunrise.

We were off and running the technical / downhill stretch to Bad Creek at 8:30 PM sharp.  I felt that we could make it through this first four mile stretch in the final hour of daylight and we did.

We were all covered with humidity & fog within three minutes of running.  I've never felt the air this soupy in the mountains.   At times visibility was reduced to 3 feet during the night due to fog and moisture.  I even had to hold my headlamp down to the ground to see through some of the valleys.

The first 6 miles heading towards Thompson River went by quick.  It was hard to believe how easy this run was, when this is normally the "beat down" spot coming from the other direction.

I was shocked when we made it to Horse Pasture River in 2:57!  It has taken me 4-5 hours to cover this section going the opposite direction.  Ok, so 2:57 for 11.7 miles is not very fast, but these are FHT miles at night.

I was running behind Weezy just after Horsepasture when he missed a 3 foot long Copper Head by about 1 inch.  I watched it quickly slither away into the ferns and I don't think he even believed me when I told him what happened.

The first real climb didn't take a toll on any of us up from the river and we were making great time running through Bear Creek.

I enjoyed running this one lighter.  Both physically and with my gear.  I decided to leave my pack at home and carry two handheld bottles with a waistpack.  I was a little nervous trying this for the first time, but I'm really glad I tried it.  It was much cooler and easier to run with.  I must have dumped cold water on my head two dozen times through the night.

The waist pack was always easy to work with and I think it helped me run better.

Christian pulled way ahead through this section and the three of us continued to run well.  We were even able to run some of the slight uphills which felt nice for a change.

I'm thinking that we ran down to the Canebrake Boat Access sign by 1:30 AM.  About five hours into the run.  This marks the halfway point in the run.

We took a 10 minute sit down break here.  As we all turned our headlights off I couldn't believe how dark it was.  Lester was eating a sandwich as Weezy dropped his batteries and light.  They almost landed in the lake, but it didn't matter because it was broken anyway.  Thank goodness that we had a backup light and he was able to use it.

We all new that the trail was about to get very tough.  With the Heartbreak Ridge climb coming and the forest service road heading up from Jocassee.

There were a few quiet campers asleep in their tents as we ran around the perimeter of the lake heading toward the steps.  We had met up with Christian at the Toxaway Bridge as he had gotten off course a few times and wanted to be sure he was back on track.

The steps were not as hard for me going this direction, but they still beat us down.  Then came the access road climb.....

Christian goes way off course here and meets up with a bobcat just off the trail.  He said that it had no intentions of retreating and just kept coming towards him.  He frantically started calling out for the rest of us and we could hear him about a quarter mile up the mountain.  We yelled back for him and he was able to quickly backtrack and get back on course with us. 

This section took the wind out of all of our sails....

I knew that we still had about 11.5 miles to go and that were probably going to get tougher as time went on.

The running gets much easier after you make the climb out of Jocassee.  We were able to put together some decent miles along the fire roads heading to Laurel Falls.  We got there around 4:00 AM and still had 7.7 miles to go. 

Most of these miles would be a gradual uphill with a few steep sets of stairs thrown in for fun.

We were all nearly delirious from sleep deprivation through here.  Christian was running all over the place.  The guy must have ran down about every spur trail that he found.  It's a great time for a tough training run, but after working all week and staying up on Friday these runs become very difficult towards the end.

Christian and Lester moved ahead of Wayne and I as we settled into a quiet rhythm beside Laurel Fork Creek.  This section is so beautiful and lush.  Thousands of ferns and a tropical river flowing right through the middle of it.  You cross about 10-12 bridges through here that wind you through a maze of thick vegetation and small waterfalls.

After getting up at 6:00 AM on Friday morning, working all day, driving two hours to run, running 8 hours, and being awake for 22 hours straight my mind decided to "check out" for a while. 

I began to believe that I was a early settler roaming the mountainsides for gold.  Were there Indians out here looking for me?  Who had the rites to this land?  If I found the gold, how in the world would I even be able to get it out of here?!

It was a LOT to think about when suddenly I saw ***STARS****!

BAM - I ran directly into a downed tree that was hanging at forehead level across the trail.  It knocked me to my knees and back to reality.  I screamed out something and Weezy stopped to look back at me.  He had the look of a deer who just heard a human in the forest. 

I did have a little lump on my head, but not much blood and I was fine.

4.7 miles to go from Virginia Hawkins falls and we just wanted it to be over now.

Laurel Valley always stretches itself out at the end of the run.  It doesen't matter which direction you go.
2 miles = 4 miles.
4 miles = 10 miles.
Plain and simple.

We looked like zombies trying to climb up some more stairs and the trail began to climb.  I shoved a few more shots of gel down in hopes of getting some energy, but it really didn't even do me a bit of good that I could tell.

I was tired of running, sweating, thinking, walking, climbing, eating, and moving.  I just wanted to sit.

I wanted it to be over so badly.  I kept telling myself and Weezy that we were so close to finishing.  Then another turn would come and it just kept going on and on and on and.........

Finally after what seemed like forever we came to the wooden stairs that would take us down to my car in the Laurel Valley Parking lot.  It was excellent to see Christian and Lester there waiting for us with a cooler full of food and drinks.

Weezy and I finished in 10:20 and Christiand and Lester finished around 10:05.  This was one of the best runs that I've ever had.  Yes, it was tough, but that is what we were looking for.

I enjoyed running with these fellas and enjoyed sharing this experience with them.

I've walked away with a lot of confidence going into my 77 mile run on 7/30.

I feel sick to even say it, but..

"Can't wait to run Laurel Valley again!"

Chattooga 50K 2011 Race

I can't believe that this was my 3rd time running Terri Hayes' Chattooga 50K race, but it was.  It was a typical South Carolina weekend.  Hot, Humid and Hazy.  That's just what I've come to expect for this race.

I've been directing all of my training towards the July 30th running of the Foothills Trail and finishing The Pinhoti 100 Mile race later in the year.  This would setup Chattooga as a great training run.  Since I was scheduled for a 100 mile week I went up and ran about 20 miles on Saturday before the race from Cherry Hill up the Foothills Trail to Fish Hatchery. 

I gotta admit - I was a little nervous about putting in 20 mountain miles before a tough 50K like this, but it didn't seem to phase me at all.  I wanted to run both Saturday and Sunday at a solid, even pace.

I ended up finishing the race on Sunday about 35 (8:28) minutes slower than last year, but I was excited to do so with 65 miles on my legs from the previous 6 days of running.  It's weird, but I actually felt better after running Chattooga this year then the previous other two.  Much better as a matter of fact.

Here is a very brief breakdown of the race:

As always it was great to see my ultra running family.  We all gathered around Terri for race instructions about 10 minutes before the race.  Terri is well known for her long courses and this one is no different:

Winding Stairs Trail is the first section: 7 Miles
Big Bend Trail:  3 Miles
Chattooga River Section:  10 Miles
Downhill past aid station and back:  4 Miles
Chattooga River Section Again:  10 Miles
Big Bend Trail Again: 3 Miles

Total:  37 Miles

I ran a very even pace for most of the race.  Hitting 9-10 min/miles on the downhills and walking some of the ups and technical areas at a 15/16 min/mile pace.  I never pushed hard - just concentrated on staying steady.

I took a SCap every hour and tried to drink 40 oz. per hour.  I stopped sweating (early heat exhaustion warning) for about 10 minutes near the finish so I had to walk and cool down for about 30 minutes.  The heat was beating down by then and it was starting to take a toll.

Another added bonus after the race was to enjoy a hot shower in the brand new bathrooms!  This made the drive home much better.

I really appreciate Terri putting on these great local ultras and thanks again to the volunteers who make it happen.  Many of these folks stood out in the heat for 12 hours or more to allow us to play in the woods.  I'm truly grateful.

I'm aiming for a 50K personal record at The Landsford Canal 50K on July 16h.  My time to beat is 6:00:12.

Etiher way, I'm keeping my eye on the prize.  July 30th - Foothills Trail 77 Mile FINISH!

Photo Credits:  Susan Donnelly