Wonderful Wonderful Day!
My alarm went off at 3:50 am and got myself ready, Harold took Gary and I to Ivins to catch the bus to the start. When I did this race two years ago, it was pitch black and I forgot a flashlight, this year it didn't seem as dark, but I was prepared with a headlamp and a flash light, it was interesting to see exactly where we started. It was in Central where the St. George Marathon starts, but we jumped to a dirt trail/road heading west.
I also didn't remember how many hills there were the first 8 miles. It was tough going up and down for so long. After the first 8 miles I got into a comfortable pace and ran with Gary to mile 12 where we hit the paved road. I changed into my running shoes, got a bite to eat and took off, Gary took the time to use the porta potty and I didn't see him again until about mile 29. I had the road to myself until we hit Gunlock and then met up with Harold and Ernie on their bikes.
This year was also different because there were no other slow runners. They took off fast and after a few minutes they were out of sight. Being a 55 year old gal, this didn't bother me in the least, they had aid stations every 3 miles, and guys on 4Wheelers driving around checking on us. I was happy with my dear friend Gary's company for the first 12 miles, and then was happy meeting up with Harold who rode along with me for a good portion of the course.
At mile 18 I ran into a man probably a little younger than me that I had met on the bus, it was his first ultra and he said he was really beat up, I talked to him for a minute and then took off. The man DNFed, Gary never saw him, so I am not sure what happened to him. On the results they didn't mention any DNFs, I don't know if there were any others. They also didn't put any of the runners ages down, I would like to think I was one of the older runners, as I came in last place.
Anyway, I felt really pretty good until about mile 29 and then started to drag, I was happy to have Gary catch up to me. I was really running out gas and I told Harold I will not be able to beat my last years time of 7:18, I guessed I would come in about 10 minutes slower. At mile 30 my parents came driving by which was a nice emotional plus, I didn't even stop to say hi, I just waved and ran on. My game plan this year was to NOT socialize at the aid stations and see if I could shave off a few minutes by doing that, because my fitness level was worse than it was two years ago.
Harold coaxed me on and knowing my parents were at the finish line made me run in, instead of the crawling I would have prefered. I was thrilled when they marked on my bib my offical time of 7:11:58.
I absolutely love this race. The race directors made me feel like I was the queen of the day, they remembered me from 2 years ago and called me by name when I picked up my packet and cheered me on and gave me hugs at the finish. I will be back next year, and hopefully finish a couple minutes faster.
We had a great weekend, dinner with my dad before the race at the Pasta Factory, hot tubbing and swimming after the race, and then a celebration dinner at the Texas Road House for a steak dinner and then a double feature movie at home which I slept thru. I am completely crippled today, but I feel like I have conquered the world. Kinda funny, I came in dead last and had a PR, not too many people can do that! Haha!
There were 16 women doing the 50K, this was a really small race. I think there were 23 men. | 