The adventure started when I realized about 20 minutes up the road that I had forgotten my printed directions to the race start. If I turned around to get them I would definitely be late to the race. I was pretty sure I remembered the directions anyway, so I continued. Everything seemed fine until I looked for the turn onto Glen Road. That's when my Odyssey began. Eventually it was obvious that I had missed the turn, so I tried backtracking. No luck. Then I got turned around which resulted in driving in a huge circle until I realized I was on U.S. 422 going the wrong direction. When I finally found a gas station open where I could ask for direction, they didn't have a map and the direction they gave were vague at best. When following them started taking me off the beaten path I knew something wasn't right. About that time I saw a woman walking her dog, so I pulled over to ask her. As it turned out, my earlier directions had me turning left when I should have turned right. Her directions were sufficient to at least get me on the right road, but by the time I pulled into the parking lot the race had been underway for quite a while. By the time I picked up my packet, pinned on my number, and got directions to the starting line and course markers to follow, the rest of the field had a 27 minute head start.

The course was well marked. I had no problems following the white chalk arrows and orange ribbons, which was good since I had no runners to follow. I was well past the 2-mile mark before I saw another runner, the leader who was now on his second lap. The trails were typical Eastern Pennsylvania trails, lots of rocks and roots and mostly single-track. Earlier in the year I had some practice running trails at Ridley Creek State Park, but it still took me a while to get used to them again. Picking my way through often slowed me enough that walking was just as quick, but it was the hills that were most daunting. The hills at Ridley Creek were small compared to a couple on this course. Having had some limited experience with how much trying to run the uphills could take out of me, I walked all the larger ones and many of the smaller ones as well, which contributed to the slow pace and time. But it was the final hill leading back to the start that was the real killer. Parts of it were so steep that I had to clamber and use my hands to get up it and my legs felt like jelly walking the short distance from the top to the finish which I would pass 6 times, once for each of the six 5-mile laps. I was very grateful that the 50K finished with a short out and back for the additional 1.1 miles so I would be coming in from the opposite direction.

The first three laps went by pretty quickly. I was able to check my watch against the finish line clock at the end of the first lap, so I knew there was almost exactly a 27 minute difference. What surprised me was that I started catching and passing runners on the second lap. It was obvious a couple were primarily walking, but I was moving along pretty well all things considered. It was a real challenge, especially first starting, not to run too fast trying to catch up to the back of the field. By the fourth lap the high humidity and rising temperatures began taking a toll on me. I'm sure my third and fourth laps were my slowest, but until official split times are posted I won't know for sure. I was doing a lot more walking and beginning to feel miserable, enough so that I considered stopping after 4 laps and 20 miles.

Several considerations helped me override the temptation to stop after 20 miles. Foremost was that the whole point of running this race was as a final tune up for North Coast 24 and facing the challenge of running for 24 hours. Secondly I had publicly announced my intention of running 50K here. Finally I wanted that 50K distance and time so I could check off one of my goals this year, which was to run a trail ultra. I was disappointed that I had to drop after 30K at the Ice Age Trail 50K and didn't want a repeat of that. Managing the heat and humidity now became a top priority and at times I felt like I was on the edge of having to stop. Staying hydrated and cool became my focus. Half the water I grabbed went on my head and I really welcomed the towels soaked in ice water every time I passed through the main aid station. I may have skimped some on eating because I was drinking so much, but I did try to include soda and Gatorade along with primarily pretzels to take in some calories. I think I must have been reasonably successful, because when I did run I was able to keep a decent pace and run for longer sections than at a similar stage in my 12-hour races despite running on trails instead of pavement or hard packed crushed stone.

As I started my 5th lap I still had doubts about being able to finish it, but there weren't any bailout points, so if I started the lap I had no choice but to continue. When I stopped at the mid-point aid station for water and pretzels, I was really having second thoughts about the wisdom of my choice. I lingered there long enough to choke down a few pretzels and a Twizzler along with some water before slowly continuing to walk. What amazed me was that when I could push myself to jog or run I sometimes felt better and could still move along at an 11:00-12:00 minute mile pace. By this time I had run enough laps that I could recognize landmarks and have a general idea of what was ahead and how far to the end of the lap. That actually helped rather than discouraged me. About this time the predicted rain arrived. At first it was just a few sprinkles, then it would stop.

Lap 6 had a deja vu feeling to it, a repetition of lap 5. As I picked up the single track I began to see runners coming back on their extra out and back to complete a marathon or 50K. Seeing this was a boost. I could finally feel like I was getting close to the end even though I still had the lap to complete, then my little out and back to pick up the additional 1.1 miles for 50K. And I was still moving well on the mostly flat or downhill sections. If it weren't for the heat and humidity taking their toll, I would have said I was feeling strong. I think a lot of runners may have chosen to stop after the marathon or 50K distances because I saw a lot fewer runners on this lap. The only thing I dreaded was that last steep hill to finish the lap. I could picture myself standing there unable to walk or pull myself up what began to feel like a cliff and have to wait for another runner to help me up. As usual my imagination and fears were unjustified and not realized. While it was slow going and I had to use my hands and arms a lot more, I made it to the top on my own. Then as I passed the clock, I had to wait in line behind a small group that was finishing and checking in with the timekeeper. If I'd been concerned about my time I would have been annoyed. When it was finally my turn to be sure my lap was recorded, I verified that they did have me down for 6 laps. Now all I had left was running out to the turnaround and back. By this time it was raining steadily, though not hard. That didn't dampen my spirits and felt good as it had a mild cooling effect. I hadn't notice just how much downhill there was to the 50K turnaround until I was on my way back. At that point it didn't make any difference to me. I hiked up to the top and from there where we exited the woods it was 4-5 minutes on grass and road back to the finish.

In putting together a recap to assess my race performance, it's easy to see that I was running way too fast on the first lap which I finished in about 1:05-1:06. I think my second lap was still a little fast, perhaps around 1:15, because the 3rd and 4th laps had to be around 1:40-1:50. I think the last two were closer to 1:30. My final time by my watch was 8:37:22 compared to the official finish time of about 9:04. My Garmin splits turned out to be useless on the trails. The final Garmin distance showed just over 29 miles, so off by about 2 miles from the official distance. As miserable as I felt at times during the race, I was happy at the end and more than satisfied that I was able to override the temptation to stop early and even pick up the pace toward the end. As I sat around and ate after grabbing some soup and a cheeseburger, I was amazed to see other 50K runners coming in as much as an hour behind me. I had no idea that I had made up that much time on some of the runners. I was very glad to have finished when I did because by that time the rain was extremely heavy, though they never developed into thunderstorm in our area.

Only three weeks to North Coast 24 now. With Cleveland in September there's no telling what we'll get in terms of weather, but I feel reasonably certain that I'll be able to handle what we get. This race was a big boost in my confidence, not just another long supported training run. The big boost came from being able to cope with the difficulties in finding the start, the challenging trails and hills, the falls, and the heat and humidity. It's taper time now and possibly a good time to get in a few last minute quality runs.

Sorry, no pics.

I'm glad you were able to get over the frustration of getting lost before the race started and focus on the race itself.  Good job persevering despite the desire to quit early.  On such a hot day and rough course, you did well . Is NC 24 fairly flat or will you be dealing with hills there as well?

Sorry about your misadventure at the start.  That must have been so discouraging!  Good job on sticking with the 6 laps.  Nice that the rain showed up to cool you off.

...I think being that late for a race likely would have made many people turn around and go home and DNS.

Exactly!  When I said "discouraging" I meant:

1. Cry

2. Turn around and go home

My gawd I cannot for the life of me see how you do it, and getting better at it!

Your race report epitomizes what ultra running is all about (at least for an outsider looking in); mental fortitude.  Overcoming all those obstacles time and again is exactly what you need to do.

You are ready man, good luck at NC24!

Wow, I am super impressed!  I could definitely see how, knowing you were 27 minutes late to start, you had a little too much spring in your step that first lap.  Wonderful job on what sounds like an intense course!  

Awesome job, especially after started going bad.  Glad to hear you did great and had a final tuneup for the NC24.

Very, very impressive, George. I would not have the mental fortitude necessary for such a race. You will do great at NC24. Congratulations!