Forget the PR Race Director 50K: April 5th, 2019

There is one thing that has been consistent over the last 8 years and that is Forget The PR 50K.  Upon volunteering at this 50K race in 2011 I got pumped up to try to run an ultra which I ended up doing at the same race in 2012.  After that I volunteered at the race every year.  Cool thing about volunteering at this race is the Race Director who use to run it (Rob Powell) would let the volunteers come and run the course while treating us to pizza and beer afterwards along with getting race shirts and finisher buckles.  When Mark Carroll and Chad Heald took over the race in 2017 they decided to carry on the tradition of the volunteers Race Director Race.  Fast forward to 2019 and even though I moved to other side of the country I still felt compelled to come back and volunteer for the race weekend.  The main reason I did this was to see all of my Ohio trail running friends which have become like family over the years.  When I decided this I let Chas and Ron know that I was going to run the course on my own the Friday before the race since I could not make it to the Race Director Race.  They instantly said they would take the day off work and run the course with me.  Then Johnny Rutherford also decided to run the course with us.  Later Sheldon Campbell said he wold meet us out there and run some miles with us a well!  Now we had a posse of 5 on a Friday nonetheless!

I flew into Columbus on Thursday afternoon.  I got my rental car and drove to Mohican where I met Chas and Ron for pizza and beer at Trails End.  We went back to the campground to get ready for our run the next day and try to get some sleep.  I was on west coast time so at 12:30 am I was still laying in bed twiddling my thumbs because it was only 9:30 pm for my internal clock.  Not sure what time I actually dozed off but I do know I only had a few hours of sleep at best.  We got up and it appeared like it was going to be a cold and rainy day.  However the rain only lasted for a little while which turned out to be a bonus since morning temperatures were in the 30s.  Loop one we were moving quite well and as usual Big Ass Hill didn't disappoint!  It seemed like we made it to covered bridge in no time where we ran into some people and ended up chatting for awhile.  Chas had stashed a bag of goodies for us at covered bridge so we were able to fuel up and make sure we had enough water.  Then we met up with Sheldon and he did the dam loop with us.  This is definitely one of the toughest and most fun sections of the course.  Unfortunately we were not able to do the famous root climb part any longer but there is more climbing then before so that was good.  We had a great time shooting the shit and trying to figure out where the hell we were supposed to go since the course was not marked yet.  Ended up navigating it the correct way as far as we know!  We arrived back to the start line at the campground and done with the tough loop and in pretty good time.

Happy Faces before the climb up Big Ass Hill

Oh how glorious the pain is climbing Big Ass Hill!

Our make shift aid station at covered Bridge

After refueling we were ready to run the last 13 miles and it's always nicer to have a shorter loop for the second half of the race.  Although we were all feeling the burn on the second loop we still managed to keep moving.  It was relieving to get to the covered bridge because all we had left was the flat section along the river and the climb up North Rim Trail.  I always love the added challenge of doing that big climb up North Rim Trail toward the end of the race when our legs are completely destroyed.  I think that is part of what sets ultra runners apart is that we, for some stupid reason, love the pain but revel in the accomplishment.  We got back to the campground and crossed the imaginary finish line.  Relieved to be finished and we all stumbled our way to the showers.  At this time all of the runners had started showing up at the campground for the actual race which was the following day.  We ate some food and sat around the fire with some good people drinking many beers and telling stories.  Johnny brought us some really strong Founders Imperial Stout and it was delicious!  These guys have become some of my closest friends in recent years and it was so great seeing everyone.  The race went well the next day as we were busy volunteering from 5:30 AM until about 5:00 PM.  I am really glad I was able to make it back to Ohio for this event.  For many years now it has been my favorite weekend of the year and it never disappoints.

Strava Data: https://www.strava.com/activities/2267327715

Done and ready for beer!

Forget the PR Course

Fort Ord 50K: Feb. 2nd, 2019

I signed up for the 50K and Jess signed up for the 10K.  Fort Ord is South of the Bay area down between Salinas and Monterey, Calfornia.  It's an old military property where they conducted a lot of army training back in the day.  There is currently a race track there which is where the start / finish line is for the race.  It's a really neat area with plenty of single track trails, some wide trails, rolling hills, and great views of the entire area.  The race is put on by Inside Trails which is, in my opinion, one of the best trail race companies in the Bay area.  This was a great race for multiple reasons which I will explain in more detail but I felt really great and ended up with my second best 50K time along with meeting a new friend Shaun.

Jess and I drove to Monterey for dinner and then went to our hotel for the night.  It rained pretty hard as we were chilling in the hotel and I was wondering if it would continue through the next day.  Forecast was calling for spotty showers throughout the day.  We got to the start line in the morning and it seemed like the rain was going to let loose.  We started the race and the first few miles were on a dirt road which was pretty muddy in areas.  Then the rain let loose and we got a good soaking.  We were then on some winding rolling single track trails for awhile.  Most of the race alternated between these two types of trails and there was only one small section that had to be repeated.  The rain continued on and off for the first half of the race.  I met one kid that was doing his first 50K and met a few other people along the way.  I ran a few miles with a guy named Greg who is from Paradise, California where a deadly wildfire in 2018 had wiped out most of his city.  I saved the day for a random runner who went right by a course marker at a turn, I saw him at the top of a hill going in the wrong direction and yelled out to him.  He was thankful for the shout.

For my own standards I had a pretty good overall pace coming into the mile 25 aid station.  I thought maybe there was a possibility I could break the six hour mark.  This is before I found out the biggest climbing section of the whole race was in the last six miles.  At this aid station I was filling up my water bottles and making sure I had enough fuel to make it through to the end.  A guy named Shaun came into the aid station and had a very bloody knee from an earlier fall.  He and I left the aid station at the same time and since we had a huge climb at this juncture it gave us some time to talk about running and races etc...Turns out he lives in the Oakland Hills and he has done some really extreme ultra races such as The Bear, Fat Dog 120, UTMB, Western States, and Hardrock!  Holy crap, those are major freaking accomplishments.  On the way up this big climb it started raining again and this is a very exposed area with no trees at all.  The winds picked up and rain started coming down really hard and I picked up the pace as I just wanted to be done.  Shaun had fallen behind on his nutrition and he temporarily slowed it up.  I pushed on through the last few miles and the rain stopped with about a mile to go and the sun even made a brief appearance.  I was glad to see Jess at the finish line and she was cheering me on.  I ended up with a great finish time for myself and was proud of my accomplishment.  I think my new training grounds in the Bay Area have proven to be quite helpful to my running in general.

Jess had a really great run in her 10K and got to go back to the hotel and relax while I was out on the course.  Jess and I met a couple from Ohio at the finish line.  They recognized my Forget the PR 50K T-Shirt I was wearing.  They had moved out to California and live in Monterey.  It's always cool to run into Midwest transplants out here.  Then a few minutes later Shaun came across the finish line with his bloody knee.  The medic dumped a bunch of hydrogen peroxide on it and bandaged it up for him.  We chatted a bit as we ate some food and got ready for the long drive home.  Overall, this was a fun race and I enjoyed the whole experience.  It was cool to meet Shaun as well, always nice to get a new running friend and have someone to log some training miles with.

Here is the Strava Data: https://www.strava.com/activities/2120096695

Crystal Springs 35K: Jan. 19th, 2019

This was my first race since moving to San Francisco.  I have had a few injury set backs since picking up mileage over the fall and winter.  I was not use to running hills all the time and severely strained my calves on a high mileage week.  We were signed up for a race in November that got cancelled due to wildfire smoke but it was probably a good thing because my left calf was destroyed. I also had some quad issues after my calves started to come around.  I have been itching to do a race since we moved here because there are so many cool trails around and there are races about every weekend.  I knew I needed to get use to running hills before getting into any of the ultra distance races.  I slowly have been building mileage and careful not to overdo it on any given week. This race was brought to my attention by my friend Chris. 

I met Chris at Mountain Lakes 100 in 2017, he lives in the Bay area and comes from a marathon background and he is fast.  I mean really fast, for example, he recently ran a half marathon in 1:10.  He started getting into ultra running and wants to compete for podium finishes.  About a week before this race he shot me a message saying he just signed up for the Crystal Springs 50K.  I took a look and they offered different distances including a 35K (22 miles) which would be the perfect training run for Fort Ord 50K that I am running in two weeks.  I signed up for that and they also offered a half marathon which Jess signed up for.  This race takes place in Woodside California which is about 45 minutes away from our place in San Francisco.  Woodside is home to multiple parks and redwood preserves.  The trails are some of the most beautiful in the bay area and almost completely in the forest.  The first 6 miles of the 35K was a steady climb, then 4 miles of rolling trails, and then turn around and go back.  Having a downhill for the last 6 miles was a welcome thing.

Winter in the Bay area is the rainy season.  The whole week leading up to the race it was sunny and beautiful out.  The night before brought major storms etc..  It was raining pretty hard on our way to the race.  The radar showed it was going to clear up for a little while during the race start and probably hold off for 4 or 5 hours until more rain came.  It started to sprinkle during the send off speech and within minutes after the race started it began to pour.  There were a few breaks in the rain throughout the race but it pretty much rained the whole time.  At the start I saw Chris take off like a bat out of hell, he hit those trails in the lead and quickly disappeared.  I felt pretty good on the 5.5 mile climb to the first aid station.  I was also trucking along pretty well on the next rolling sections of trail.  When I got to the halfway point turnaround I was starting to feel a little fatigued.  I was wondering how Jess was doing in the rain and also wondering if Chris was still in first place.  The rain had turned the trails into a muddy mess.  I was reduced to walking up all the hills even the small ones.  A guy that was still on his way out to the turnaround seen my playing possum shirt and told me that I was pretty fast for a possum...I told him that was simply not true but thanks for saying that!

On the way back I had about 7 miles left to go when I heard my name yelled out on the trail behind me.  I turned around to see Chris still in first place for the 50K and he was hauling ass while cruising by me!  This actually put some wind back in my sails and I picked up the pace for the last segment of the race.  The fact that it was all downhill really helped out my pace as well.  I was really looking forward to finishing this thing up so I could get a warm cup of coffee.  I ended up finishing in 4 hours and 20 minutes (4:20..hehe) which I am very pleased with.  After crossing the finish line I congratulated Chris on his 50K victory and got the low down on Jess and her half marathon.  Turns out she had a really great race.  She did good on the climb up to the turn around point and then flew down hill like a bat out of hell.  Instead of changing clothes I opted to get some hot soup and skip the coffee for a tall can of pilsner.  Everyone we met after the race was really cool.  It had a nice family atmosphere feel to it which is what I like.  It reminded me of most races back home that I volunteer at or run every year.  I am excited to see what Chris will do as he enters some big name races this year.  I think he has the speed and determination to compete with the best.  All in all it was a really fun time at this race, the rain and mud made it a true California winter trail race.  I was please with my finish time and I am ready for the Fort Ord 50K which is in two weeks!     

Here is the Strava Data from the race: https://www.strava.com/activities/2092749305

Dark Sky 50: May 12th, 2018

For Jessica's 40th birthday I took her to Chicago for the weekend where we stayed in a nice hotel, ate some good food, and seen the acclaimed musical Hamilton.  She asked what I wanted to do for my 40th birthday and I chose to run a 50 mile race in hot and humid Tennessee while staying in a cheaper-ish cabin.  Sounds great, right?  We left work early on Thursday and road tripped down through Ohio and Kentucky on interstate 75 south.  About 60 miles from the Tennessee border google maps had us get off the freeway and we would be on Kentucky back roads for the next two hours until we reached our destination just over the border.  Our cabin was about 4 miles past Pickett State Park campground and we decided to stop at the state park because my friends Ron and Chas were there and we had a few beers with them.  Chas hauled his very large camper down there and was telling stories of white knuckling it for about 20 miles of winding roads, tiny lanes, and no shoulder.  I am not sure how he managed to do that because there were a few spots that were even tight for my car.

It was still kind of early since we switched to Central time. The state park was right on the line between eastern and central time zones so our cell phones kept switching back and forth when we could get a signal and this was confusing but amusing at the same time.  Chas was also running this race and using it as a training run for Mohican 100 which is in June.  He was very fit from all the training he did and I was somewhat trained but nowhere near his level.  The forecast was set to be in the mid 80s and very humid and we were definitely not use to that after the long Michigan / Ohio winter but we had all the necessary gear to combat the heat.  Also, Ron and Jessica were going to crew us and they are both straight up rock stars when it comes to crewing so I was not too concerned about the pending heat.

After hanging out for a little while we ventured down the country road to the campground where our "full service cabin" was located.  The area was extremely dark because there is hardly any light pollution in this area as no major cities are close.  In fact, this area is one of the top 20 darkest places in the U.S. and known for its excellent star gazing.  Thus the name of the race: The Dark Sky 50.  We pulled into the campground and entered our cabin for the weekend.  It had quite the old cabin type smell and was pretty outdated but those things were not a big deal.  Then Jess flushed the toilet and we heard water bubbling in the shower and the kitchen sink, uh oh!  It was going to be very hot and humid this weekend and there was a large window unit air conditioner in the cabin but unfortunately it was sitting on the bedroom floor and not in the window!  We had a long drive and were tired so we decided to just go to bed and deal with all the cabin issues in the morning.  Upon waking up the next day we made some coffee and were relaxing in the small kitchen when we noticed a few bees had made their way into the cabin.  I walked up to the nice campground bathrooms and ran into Traci, the owner, and I told her about the issues.  She agreed to knock some money off our amount due plus give us some free ice and said she would get her husband over to fix the plumbing later that evening.

We relaxed outside at the campground all morning hoping to not get stung by all the bees flying around us.  Then we gathered some things up and drove around to find a store where we stocked up with some gallons of water etc.. Then we drove over to the state park and chilled out with Chas and Ron for a few hours before going down to pick up our race packets.  I had parked in a empty campsite next to Chas's spot and the people who reserved that empty site pulled up to it.  I apologized for parking there and moved my car.  We ended up walking with them down to packet pickup etc..  Turns out those people were none other then elite ultra runners Liz Canty and her husband Luke Hough!  Very cool they showed up to run a small non publicized second year race in the middle of nowhere.  Jess and I went back to the cabin and cooked some potatoes along with preparing everything else for the race the following morning.  We were able to get into bed pretty early but I didn't fall asleep until probably 11:00 or so.  Then I was up off and on throughout the night, basically just antsy and ready to get the race started.  The alarm went off at 4:15 central time and I quickly got ready for my 50 mile adventure.  We grabbed some of our free ice and met Chas and Ron at the state park.  We got down to the start line and off we went but little did I know my whole race plan was going to hell.

Early miles, feeling good and morale is high!

The beginning was a 2.7 mile loop and an aid station back at the start line (according to the runner's manual).  The next aid station was not until mile 9.3.  My plan was to drink as much of my water bottle and tailwind bottle as I could on the first loop and then fill up for the 6.5 mile stretch to the next aid station.  Somehow there must of been some flags moved or pulled in the first loop because we were back at the start line after 2 miles and I didn't see the natural bridge or the arch that we were supposed to run by.  We followed the flags the entire way and the whole field of runners ran the same route as us so something definitely got screwed up and it was not our fault!  There were some really cool rock formations and nice scenery in this Pickett State Park loop.  I stuck to my plan and downed a lot of my water and tailwind mix but when we got back to the start line there was no water or anything put out for us.  Not sure why they advertised that as an aid station if they were not putting water out there.  I knew it was going to be a hot day so I wanted to stay ahead of my hydration plan.  Essentially we had to go the first 9.3 miles of this race without any aid or water but I guess that's not the end of the world since it was the beginning of the race.  I knew I would not be ahead of hydration because of this but I should be able to maintain without issue, right?

Awesome views from high up on the ridge line

We were winding around this huge gorge on single track trails with some really great views.  To say this area is awesome would be an understatement.  At some points you have sweeping panoramic views of large foothills and huge rock formations.  What an awesome place to have a race!  The scenery took my mind off the fact that I was not following my hydration plan.  After all of the awesome views we dropped down into a dense forest where we did a major river crossing, they even put up a rope and I am glad they did because I slipped on a rock under water and almost bit it but the rope saved my fall!  Then we followed the river for awhile on single track trail, this was all pretty technical because there were tons of rocks and roots.  It was hard to get a good running rhythm when a lot of the trails were not too run-able.  I was happy to reach the mile 9.3 aid station which was every bit of 10.5 miles into the race.  This was an unmanned aid station that only had one large water jug and one large jug with tailwind / water mix and this was in the middle of the woods, I am not even sure how they got them back there.  I filled up one bottle with just water along with dumping my own Tailwind powder in the other bottle and topping it off with water.  Off we went and did a bunch of gradual climbs up to the next aid station where Ron and Jessica were waiting for us at mile 13.1.  It was starting to get hot out and they hooked us up with with our ice bandannas and also we each took an extra water bottle because it was a 7.7 mile stretch to the next aid station.

Dense forest, getting super hot and humid!

I wanted to get some extra water in my system right away when we left that aid station so I drank my extra water bottle within the first mile of leaving.  We had a very reasonable pace going up until this point.  I was letting Chas lead because I didn't want to mess with what he needed to do for his training.  He and Ron were simulating the first two loops of Mohican 100 by doing all of the aid, nutrition, and shoe / sock changes etc.. which I thought was genius.  Also, the fact that it was hot and humid out made it the perfect Mohican 100 training run.  I was just along for the ride and hoping that I could hang on since I was not in peak ultra shape.  I had a really good 50K at Trail Marathon Weekend two weeks prior and was hoping to replicate that performance but some things you are about to read changed the course of that plan for me.  Chas and I both drank all of our water within the next 7.7 mile stretch because it was getting very hot and humid out.  We got to the next aid station at mile 21 which was also just large jugs sitting in the woods.  So glad to finally get some more water!  Chas pushed the button on the spout of the cooler and guess what, no water!!  So thirsty and Tailwind was not sounding good but they did have some of that in the other jug.  We both filled up our bottles with the warm ass tailwind.  The sodium in the tailwind was just making us more thirsty for regular water.

Crazy Ass ladder we had to navigate down

The heat was really starting to get to me at this point because my energy level went from hero to zero around mile 23.  The trail led down by a river with cold water and I jumped in to douse my head with water to cool off.  Chas did the same and he was ready to push on but I needed some more time in the cool water so I told him to soldier on!  I was glad he did because he was doing well and I didn't want to hold him up plus I knew I would be slowing up for the rest of the race.  All I could think about was getting to the aid station at mile 27 so I could get some damn water!  The next 4 miles were slow and brutal as I was dying of thirst but I eventually stumbled up to the aid station which was another one out in the middle of the woods!  They asked me if I wanted some Tailwind and I quickly replied NO, just plain water PLEASE!  The guy felt bad but informed me they only had a half a pitcher of water left and he put about a third of a bottle in and said e had to save some for the other runners.  Wait, no water at mile 21, no water at mile 27, and we have four more miles to the next aid station?!  I kept my cool as I knew there was nothing I could do about it.  It was not the volunteers fault so I didn't say anything to them, just walked out of the aid station.  I was surprised that race management was so irresponsible about having water on the course especially when the weather was so hot and humid.  It's a huge issue of safety, I can see running out of food etc.. but with no water someone could of gotten hurt.

Random cool rock shit you see on the course

The next four miles were very tough with no water, I knew that my crew Jessica and Ron would be at mile 31 and would take good care of me so that kept me going.  Also, most of this section of trail went along a big river with cold water so myself along with a slew of other runners were randomly jumping in the water and soaking ourselves to stay cool.  I have to admit, I was seriously considering the risk of giardia and guzzling a bunch of that river water, it looked clean and refreshing but I know someone that suffered severely from this bacterial born illness and it just was not worth the risk.  As I was coming down a big hill I finally seen the aid station and Ron and Jessica were right there to meet me.  They were yelling they had PLENTY OF WATER as Chas informed them I would be thirsty!!  It was nice to sit down and reset a bit.  Jess and Ron told me about this crazy hike they had to do in order to get down to the aid station and found some craft beer at some lodge that was down there in the woods.  I was glad they were able to have some fun as they were out there waiting on us all day and it was nice to get my mind off the suffering that I was experiencing.  I thanked them and the volunteers at that aid station and with two bottles of ice water I set out on the next 5 mile loop getting a bit of a second wind.  I got back to that aid station and they had almost ran out of water there but were carrying another jug up as I was there.  Phew!!  I don't think I could of handled it if they didn't have any water.  The next aid station was mile 38ish and Jessica helped me change shoes ans socks.  I put on a brand new pair of Altra Lone Peaks and Ron was laughing that I was going to roll the last 12 miles with new shoes on.  In fact, I scuffed them up a bit just so I didn't look ridiculous!

Chas popped the cork a little early!

I got to the next aid station around mile 43ish and finally starting to get hydrated I decided I should probably eat something.  They were making grilled quesadillas and that just sounds really good for some reason.  It tasted great, although it probably was not the best choice, but since I only had 7 miles left I didn't care!  The trail went into a really steep downhill back down to the river.  I crossed the river again and once again my feet were wet.  Since I was in the rivers all day my feet never really dried out until my shoe and sock change at mile 38.  Oh well, only another 5 miles or so and this trainwreck would be over!  The thought of food, a shower, and multiple beers helped me kick in the after burners.  I ran with a group of people who were also finishing this race up.  Jess pulled up next to me in the car on this mile or two section of road we had to do before finishing.  I came down the final stretch and was super happy to see Jess, Ron, and Chas there cheering me on.  Chas completely dominated that race ad he still had energy left in the tank which was a tribute to all the hard training miles he had put in this year.  After getting a bite and cleaning up we sat by the fire at Chas's campsite with his family, drank many beers, and had a lot of laughs.  It's always such a great time hanging out with those guys and I hope we have some more adventures in the near future!

Post race, let the party begin!

Trail Marathon Weekend 50K: April 29th, 2018

Pre-race, ready to roll!

I ran this event a few times in the past.  I enjoy it because it's my home race since it's done on the Potawatomi trail (the Poto for short) in the Pinckney Rec Area.  I do most of my big training runs for ultra events on this trail and it's one of the best trails that Michigan has to offer.  This year was very special because my friend Steve did his first ultra marathon at this event.  Steve is a friend that I kind of knew in college because he was my neighbor and he also knew Jessica through a series of friends.  Steve also grew up in Ohio not to far from where I am from and spent a lot of time hanging out at Oak Openings which is where I trail run every time I am visiting family back home.  We reconnected when he moved to Detroit a few years ago and he started dating my friend Molly.  It was nice getting to know him better and we had many discussions about running as it was an activity that we have in common.  Steve loves the outdoors and going hiking so I often pushed the idea of ultra / trail running on him because I knew he would love it.  Combining his love of the woods with one of his favorite exercise activities of running along with a great community of people, does it get any better?!!  I talked to Steve last fall and told him about this race and he decided to take on the challenge!  I was excited because there are not many people that decide to embark on a journey like this and you can not explain how great the mental and physical rewards are which result from training and achieving this goal.  I was also happy because not many of my college friends are into ultra running with the exception of Lucas.

Mid race, just enjoying this great day!

Steve trained really hard for this event in his newer-ish home town of Grand Rapids, MI.  We met up once in Feb. at Oak Openings for a training run and we also did a nice training run on the Poto in April a few weeks before the event.  I was getting excited for him as I remembered the feelings I had leading up to my first ultra marathon.  I had no doubt he was going to do great just from the amount of training he was doing and he was mentally in a great place for the run.  Race day arrived and Steve and Molly drove all the way from Grand Rapids that morning!  I was glad that Molly came and Jess got to hang out with her for a little while.  I worked with Molly for quite a few years and we became good friends throughout that time so it was nice to catch up.  We were standing around outside pre-race and freezing while waiting for the race to start.  It's late April and temps were in the 20s on race morning but was going to heat up into the 50s and be an extremely nice day for the race, perfect running weather.  Steve and I started the race slowly and then settled into a nice steady pace.  We were having fun chatting and hanging out for the first six or seven miles.  Steve was feeling really good and decided to roll with his momentum and I was glad he did.  Before the race I told him to make sure he runs his own race and don't feel bad if we are not together the whole time etc..  Also, I did not want to push myself to hard during this race because I was only two weeks away from the Dark Sky 50 miler in Tennessee.

One of the many eco systems in Pinckney Rec

I stayed steady after Steve and I separated and I talked to a few people that lived in the same town as me, Royal Oak.  One guy was wearing an old cashmere sweater and said he ran in it all winter.  Wool is the best material to run in because it's extremely moisture wicking and can keep you warm in the winter or cool in the summer.  This was obvious because the back of his sweater looked soaked with ice crystals but it was just all the sweat that migrated to the outside of the sweater.  Natural wool never smells because bacteria does not stick to wool so you don't have to wash it very often.  I thought this was a genius move by this guy to find purpose for an old sweater!  The temps started warming up on this first thirteen mile loop and it turned into a crisp spring day.  I will make this statement a second time, this IS the perfect running weather.  I got done with the loop and saw Molly at the start / finish area with her Dad.  They said that Steve left out of the aid station about five or ten minutes before I got there.  I was glad he was doing well.  The second loop was nice just being out in the woods on this amazing day and enjoying the trails.

Steve just crushed his first 50K!  Congrats!

I finished up loop number two and upon arriving back at the start / finish I heard that Steve kicked major ass on his second loop and took off like a mad man for his final five miles.  That got me super pumped up just to know that he was doing well.  At mile twenty - six of my first ultra I felt like I was going to die and I had to pretty much walk the last five miles.  I really enjoyed the last five miles of this race and was excited to finish up so I could hear about Steve's day.  As I was running to the finish line I heard Steve, Molly, and her Dad cheering me onto the finish.  Seeing the joy in Steve's face over what he accomplished was worth the price of admission.  I knew exactly what he was feeling and was glad he embraced the journey with training and got to experience the culmination of hard work on race day.  He was so pumped up at mile twenty - six that he took off without his water bottle and pretty much sprinted the last five miles!  That's incredible for someone to do on their first ultra.  It just shows how much training and hard work he put in for this thing.  He said it was life changing and I completely understood and it awoke that feeling in my memory.  After the race it was great to hang out in the parking lot and have a beer with Steve, Molly, and her Dad.  The feeling after an ultra is great, even though you are hurting like crazy it's hard to not smile.  I am glad that Steve enjoyed the overall experience and I wish him the best of luck when he chooses to raise the bar to a fifty miler!

Finishing this race up, what an awesome day!

Nothing better then post run coffee from Bear Claw!

Forget the PR Race Director 50K: March 24th, 2018

This was my 7th year completing the Forget the PR 50K.  Rob Powell always let the volunteers come out and run the course before the actual event.  He handed off the race to Mark Carroll and Chad Heald they upheld the tradition and let us come out to run the course along with having beer and pizza afterwards.  It's a great tradition and since this race was my first ultra marathon back in 2012 it holds a special place in my heart.  I was also excited this year that Chas was volunteering and going to do the volunteer run with us.  It's always fun getting in some miles with all my Ohio running friends.  They really are a great group and even though I only see them a few times a year I would say they are like family to me.  This year was true race director race weather.  Pretty damn cold in the morning with a little snow on the ground and it warmed up into the low 40s throughout the day which seemed nice since we had such a cold long winter to that point.

First Trip up Big Ass Hill!

We started the race and Chas and Ron both had to run down to the laundry mat and use the bathroom.  I took off instead of waiting but I did let them catch up at the fire tower.  I started out with a group and we made our first trip up the snow covered big ass hill.  After rejoining Ron and Chas I ran with them from Fire Tower to Covered Bridge and then through the dam loop.  One difference in the course this year was that it was not marked.  Many of us thought we knew the way and through a series of different decisions on the dam loop we managed to get some bonus miles.  I stayed true to the course after we accidentally added some distance and I think I ended up going 33 miles or so.  It was really nice of Kathy to volunteer to give us an aid station at the covered bridge she had all kinds of goodies for us.  Also, Bree, Robbie, and the kids were at the fire tower and Mohican Adventures for us which was great as well.  It's so nice that people volunteer for the volunteers race!  After leaving the covered bridge to head back toward Mo Adventures I had to duck into a rest room and could not catch back up with Ron and Chas.  That was ok because I needed to go at my own pace for a little while.

Still Fresh, on the way to Fire Tower

Catherine, Chas, Ron, and Amy coming into Fire Tower

I got back near the campground, Ron and Chas were heading out for loop two.  I went to my car and refueled.  Then I went down to the pavilion at Mo Adventures where Bree, Robbie, and the kids were.  I hung out for a little while and then headed out for loop two.  I was definitely hurting as this was the first race of the year and I was under trained.  I powered through the last loop and was extremely glad to be finished.  The warm room at Trails End along with some pizza and a few beers really hit the spot.  It was so nice seeing everyone and getting to hang out afterwards.  This event has really become part of my life and I cherish it each and every time.  Got a coffee to go and drove back to Seth and Tania's house, where we were staying, for a few more beers with Jessica and the Petersons!  

Here are some more pics from the day:

Robbie dropping some knowledge!

Covered Bridge mayhem

One of the many climbs on the dam loop

About to go up the dam stairs

Second and last time up Big Ass Hill

Fall FA Oak Openings 25K: November 04, 2017

This was the annual Fall run out at the 16 mile scout trail in Oak Openings Metro Park near my parents house.  It is always really nice to come out to this run and see my Toledo running friends.  In the true Halloween spirit the organizers put out a bunch of doll heads on the course, creepy!  Everyone brought a ton of good food and there was no shortage this year.  They even had some killer vegan soups!  I only did one loop.  16 miles was enough for this cool fall Saturday.  The coffee tasted good on the way back to Michigan after this was done.  Always a lot of fun doing this run!