2010 Fools 50K

Two times around a course consisting of a variety of terrain on multiple trails. That is the Fools 50K course. The second race of such distance I had pre-registered for. I did not run the first, but had every intention of running the second, no matter what might happen physically.

The day began dry but finished very far from it. The first loop, consisting of roughly 15.5 miles, went very well, and saw a nice group of us Medina runners sticking together in a pack and enjoying ourselves. We had some sloppy sections. We walked up some hills. We ran WAY too hard down some others. Sometimes we would spread out, but would eventually re-group. By the time we hit the mid-point we were split in half, and that's the way it would stay. For me anyway.

The rain really began to fall right as I was finishing the first loop. My aches and pains were beginning to show themselves too. Plus another most unwelcome pain: my back. That's the one that really did me in. It was like Last Chance all over again, only worse. Ladd and I were running together for a bit on loop two, but I was just slowing him down, so he took off to see who he could catch. I just kept moving as best I could. Every step seemed to send pain shooting from my back down my legs. It was all I could do to not stop.

Eventually, a very upright posture, combined with a very short choppy stride, kept me moving at a slow pace. I was running up hills I would have walked just because walking hurt more. I had a few chances to drop out, but knew that wasn't an option. With the rain falling steadily and the trail turning to swamp, I just hoisted the hood of my rain jacket over my head and pushed on.

The final trail of the course, Salt Run? I think, was especially bad. Lots of ups and downs and the trail was 100% mud. I couldn't wait to finish, but knew I had about three miles to go. It was pretty tough to keep going. Somehow I managed to pass three people on that final section. They must have been feeling even worse than me! The worst part of that last section, mentally, was that as we began it, there's a point where you pass within sight of the finish line. It was right there, but it wasn't. My finish time was 6:35:03, a new PR for a trail 50K by 11-ish minutes.

Chuck, armed with my camera, was out and about on the course taking all kinds of race photos. They can be viewed in an online album here. Again, many thanks Chuck for coming out on a crappy day to stand around and watch muddy people run by!