50 miles (80 km's) with 14,000 ft elevation gain. The consensus opinion of the runners I spoke to after the race was that it was one of the hardest courses they've run on. And I agree.
It's been a strange year for running so far for me. I haven't done anywhere near as much long distance runs as I had last year leading up to this. But I find the short runs I do I am capable of faster speeds, and hills that I would be walking last year, I was running this year; so I wasn't sure what to expect of myself.
Leading up to the race I had thought about the idea of running shirtless, just because I find it so comfortable and carrying two bottles with a third in a waist pack. So glad I didn't do that, it wouldn't have been enough water. I decided to buy a 1.5 litre camelback the day before the race and carry a water bottle as well. I didn't want to be running with my massive 3 litre dakine pack.
I have run every section of this course before, but not all at once for 80 km, and some sections I had only run it in one direction. For the 50 mile race we were to run out from the park to commando bay, then continue along the wildhorse trail, and up the mountain goat trail to the top of okanagan mountain and back. I have only ever run the mountain goat trail coming back down, and that was in the spring.... it was so much different yesterday than when I ran it.
I only got 4 hours sleep the night before the race, my upstairs neighbour's 4 year old picked that night to be the only night ever to stay up all night throwing tantrums. So glad I slept well the night before that. I started the day by stabbing myself with the 'safety' pin while trying to get my race number on; it seemed like a fitting prelude to the pain I knew would follow.
My friend who had come down to run the race, and had never done a 50 miler before but has done quite well in 50 km races, had said to me that he thought my last years time was about what he was aiming for. So he was pacing off me for the first part of the race. We started out surprisingly close to the leaders. We ran the first 17 km to commando bay in just under two hours. At this point we were in third and fourth, and couldn't decide if we had run that section too fast, or if the leaders were going slower than we expected as they were just coming out of commando bay as we were heading in. I decided I would try and make it to the summit in 3 hours for the next quarter segment of the race. That turned out to be a very optimistic goal.
This section of the race (which I have only run once) was the most difficult. Going out was where most of the climbing would be happeneing. But the thing was, it was really tough terrain. The trail is a single track trail at best, and since I last ran it the bushes and weeds had grown a lot. The trees (?) that lined the trail had hard branches that you had to push aside to run through, they whipped at your shins, and you couldn't see what you were running on for many parts of this section of the course. My shins today are still a raw red colour with scratches all over them. When the conditions weren't like this, there were heavy rock sections to run on, or 5 feet tall weeds to run through. It was very challenging. Also, this section of the course ran 2 km longer than listed on the map (the race directors went off of provincal park listings to put together the distances; the course went from 80 to 86 km due to this). The weather that day: 26 degrees celsius, and not a cloud in sight. It was a scorcher, the name of the race was so appropriate that day. Between the 2nd and 3rd aid stations there was hardly any shade either, I was so t hankful for the 5 - 7 mountain creeks that were still there from runoff water to drink out of as well as to douse myself with water. At time I felt like I was overheating.
I had been running with my friend up until the 30 km point, stopped to take a bathroom break and he kept going. I know he was probably only walking ahead of me, but I just couldn't get back with him. So after that I was on my own for awhile.
Between the 3rd aid station and the summit was a really steep climb... I walked the whole thing on the way up. I was feeling like complete garbage on my way up. All the while I was wondering why I hadn't seen any of the trhee leaders. Right before getting to the forestry road that leads to the summit I had a chat with a woman that was waiting to cheer on her husand that was in the race, it was a nice break. I finally ran into my friend when I was heading up to the summit while he was on his way down. We chatted, and apparently the first two runners had went down the other side of the mountain and only done the 50 km route; not sure why, they are fantastic runners and I'm sure they are capable of doing this 80 km distance. My friend was just leaving the aid station as I was arriving. Halfway there and I felt like garbage. I spent at least 10 minutes at the aid station. The guy that was behind me at the time came in while I was still there (he planned on being at work that day ten hours after the race started, he had to get one of the volunteers to call for him and say he would be really, really late. I couldn't help myself from laughing at that). I managed to get myself psyched back up, and continued back down the mountain. It was rough running, but I ran many parts of the race on the second half. Coming down the mountain was pretty fun, I ran past all the 50 mile runners that were behing me, as well as the 50 km runners that had started 2 hours after the 50 mile race. So I was giving out high fives to anyone that looked like they had enough energy to lift their arm up. There were many faces that I ran passed that just looked exhausted. And of course seeing familiar faces and stopping to chat with people along the way when I ran into them on the trail, it was pretty nice.
I ended up finishing the race in 13 hours 16 minutes. 3rd place in the 50 mile race. 1st was 11:58 I think, and second was 13:05 I think. My time this year would have got me second last on the course from last year, it was so much harder. This was such a hard course, so many lows to fight through, so much pain to push through, but it was a fantastic race. All the volunteers at this race are just wonderful. I was pretty much out of it at the top of the mountain when I put my hand down my shorts to apply vaseline to my crotch (I can't believe I did that) and the ladies didn't even flinch. the second time through the commando bay aid station the volunteers had some air bubble sticks and they gave me a parade like send off, it was rad.
I had so many wonderful moments during the race. Many times I found myself getting lost just standing at the top of a trail staring out at the lake. It's just so wonderful out there.
This morning I counted 36 mosquito bites (all from one section of the course where we ran by a pond), two blisters on my left foot (first blisters in two years), and my shins are ripped to shreds. So much pain! So much more Zen!
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