A race report of sorts... I went into this race thinking I was treating this as a long run; run my own race and don't worry about time or pace. At the time of the race I had a 50 miler about 3 weeks later, but this was a good chance to run on the same trails the Mohican 100 mile race would take place in June. Run correctly, it would also prove to be a good training run for the 50. The start of an ultra always proves to be different than the start of a marathon. At an ultra it is not uncommon to see people standing around and laughing nervously about how slow they are going to run the race. And at this start, everyone stood back from the starting line--no one wanted to toe it. I tried to take my place in the middle of the pack (I have been running for only two years and am not stupidly overconfident) but found myself within the first 20 runners given the rather amorphous shaping of the group. In past races I have gone out much to fast at the start and paid for it dearly at the end. And this race promised to be a tough predominantly single-track, hill-infested run with some vertical hand-over-hand ascent. For this race I wanted only to go out comfortably, maintain a constant pace, and run the hills. The start of the race began with a serpentine climb of almost 800 feet in altitude--there would be no 1-2 mile warmup here! I found myself running uphill faster than a number of people in front of me. At first I worried that I was again starting out too fast but a pace check showed I was well within my comfort range. My hill training was proving fruitful and I moved up eventually to 9th place. One guy I passed tried to keep pace with me for several miles but he was of a heavier build and I could hear his labored breathing even when 10+ paces head of him. Breathing that hard at the beginning of the race is never a good sign and as I expected, he would lose steam after 6 miles. A group of us passed a lady who pulled off to the side somewhat apologetically saying she was holding us up. Not necessarily true. While some of us would finish before her, she would still be the first-place female runner. Over the next couple of miles I moved up to 7th place, though I wasn't aware of it until Susan let it slip when I saw her at about 12 miles. I would hold this place until about 22 miles, when I moved up to 6th. The trails were not always "comfortable" or "smooth." There were at many points large rocks, trees, creeks, awkward slants, and clay slop torn up by horses and full of water that one needed to navigate. (Someone actually shot a short video during the race. There is a vertical ascent 3 minutes in on the video.) In short, the name of the race proved honest...this would not be a place for a PR. (If fact, the winner, current Mohican 100 champion, would finish in 4:24:00.) What I remember most about the race is the perceived weariness that comes after a hill. But I knew this was temporary, that the heart rate and breathing were trying to level out again, and that the best way to compensate was not to slow down after the ascent but to pick up the pace, meet the heart rate halfway and then slow down if necessary. I remember also that feeling that hits one like a 2x4 when the mind and the body scream at you to stop. But I was in the top ten and this wasn't an option. I must push on. When the legs feel like lead, focus on relaxing and striding out. I held on to 6th until about mile 30. At this point I was running, but I was fighting a wall and it took a great deal of mental strength and self-loathing to keep running. The runner who had been behind me for the last 8 miles caught up. He was doing better at this point than I was and would finish in 6th place one minute ahead of me. In a brief conversation we had he mentioned he had run the 100 mile race five times prior to this race and that this 50K route was more "intense." Being passed by a stronger runner didn't bother me in the least. I would still finish in the top ten and be one of only seven out of one hundred and twenty-eight runners to break five hours on this course. After a long hiatus from racing, this has certainly proved a confidence booster.

Thanks for posting the report. Sounds like a good run!

Good job fella. It's nice to see a payback on the hills for all the training.