This is one time only run put on by a loca ultrarunning club. A different is put on each year. This had a 50 miler and a 50k. Since my miles have been very small the pass couple of months I chose the 50k. Even with that I did expect a good performance. The run is in the Flint Hills in central Kansas. The course is very hilly and entirely on country roads expect for the final tenth of a mile or so, which is paved. The first eight miles is very hill with one challenging hill after another. The road is a normal country gravel road. The next 15 miles are not only as hilly as the first eight, but the are uneven some are stone covered instead of gravel, and more problems with the open range. The next 2 miles is still hilly the graveled roads are much better. The final 6 miles are level in places with many smaller hills. This is the fastest part of the course. You can really make up time if you are not too exhausted. The temperature is near 30 at the start and 60's at the finish. It was suppose to be a high in the mid 50's and mostly cloudy all day, but around 11:00am the sun came out and soon there were very few clouds. So many were surprised with sunburns. I did not sunburn much. Just a little on my calves. Since this is a members only run there are not a lot of runners. Only 9 runners in the 50k and not many more in the 50-miler. The run starts at 7:30am, it is a point to point. In the first mile we experience some of the open range out here in the prairie. There are about 50 cows crossing the road we are on, very interesting. Later on there will be more cows and some wild mustangs, that are fenced in. The area has about 100 of the mustangs that were a bother to rangers in Nevada. Instead of killing off they were relocated to other parts of the country to live out there lifes. About 100 of them came here some of the younger ones were able to be adopted. My plan is to go out with the second pack of runners or just stay a little behind the leaders. The way it worked out was three runners took the lead and lone young lady was near them the other runners were well behind, so I started running with here. Kimberly and I run the first eight miles together. I find out she has a bet with Jess, one of the front runners. She needs to be within 80 minutes of his finishing time and he is expected to be the first one to reach the finish line. We are able to run at a steady 9:45 to 10:00 pace. We are able to keep them in sight. Their is a two mobile aid station vans. One to aid the first 5 runners the another for the latter 4 runners as it turned out. I am carrying two water bottles. After eight miles Kimberly stops at the aid station as the other 3 runners were still there. I take the lead. I am very surprised. After about another 3.5 miles the three runners catch up with me, they are Jess, Dan, and Marc. We run together for about a mile and I drop back. They have a habit of spending a lot of time at the aid station and I stop only long enough to refill my bottles very other time, so I catch up with them often. For much of the run I can see the lead pack in front of me and Kimberly behind me. I thought about running with her, but we would only slow each other down. My thinking was if I just stayed in front of her, but in sight she would have a chance of beating Jess. Nearing mile 18 I pass Jess and the other 2 as they are still at an aid station that I run by. About 3 minutes later Jess catches me. We run a little together. He is now ready to take his bet seriously. He expected to win easily. Then another 6+ minutes Dan and Marc catch up with me. I let them go by with a greeting. Now I am tired up not really hurting. I did not expect to run this well. As I come to the next aid stop Dan and Marc are just leaving and Jess is well out of sight. I can still see Kimberly about a quarter of a mile behind me. Out here in the prairie without any trees you can see for a long ways, but it is difficult sometimes to judge distance. Near mile 20 or so I am able to see the mustangs. I must be looking at all 100 of them. They are well spread out. Mile 23 aid station I reach it shortly after Dan and Marc take off again. As I am almost ready to leave Kimberly arrives. I take off. Here the road is better, but it still has challenging hill after challenging hill. Near Mile 24 there are 40 cows or so blocking the road. They just look at me until just before I reach them and then they scatter. As soon as I pass the block the road again for Kimberly. At the final aid station I have only 4 miles left, my time is 5:22. I am thinking Jess is probably just finishing. Kimberly is a ways behind me, but I can still see her. I have been making up some time the pass couple of miles. The sun is very bright, but I can still see Dan and Marc ahead of me. I keep a steady pace, but Dan and Marc are going faster and Kimberly is going slower. At about Mile 29 is the last I see of Dan and Marc, but also the last I see of Kimberly. The last couple of miles are very tough on me. I can feel the affects of not training much since Christmas. I run the best I can. I am hot with my legs really aching. When I finally finish with a 6:15, I find out Jess finished with 5:30. Dan and Marc were just over 6:00. I told Jess, that Kimberly is probably less than a mile behind me. He was feeling pretty certain, that he lost. Kimberly finished with a 6:22. I stayed around for an hour or so and enjoyed myself. Donna was enjoying herself with a friend, Mary, from the Lawrence area. This one was only two hours from home, so I left early this morning. Next is a 6 hour run in Tulsa, OK, the Snake Run, March 21st. TomD

Sounds like you had a great day for running and a good time. Congrats. I would love to see the mustangs running.

Congrats Tom! Glad to see you are still taking the time to race. I remember those Flint Hills from visiting my Mom. Not quite as flat as most of the prairie! I'm happy you and Donna had a nice day. I think of you both daily. Please tell her I said hello. Skip

Tom, it's got to be great to run a small race with lots of friends. I'm glad to hear both you and Donna had a good time. TomS

Tom - it's great to hear you're out racing again, and that Donna was able to enjoy the time with a friend while you did so. I saw wild mustangs in Wyoming, and they are a lovely sight to see. Great race race, especially with your diminished training lately - nice job!

My was to break 7:00. This coming weekend I want to better last year's 28 miles, but I hope to get in 31+ miles to have an ultra. The mustangs area has a fence along the road, but I can not see where the area ends. I just figure they must be fenced in. TomD