Big Butt 50K Race Recap
I was back in Lancaster, SC for the Claude’s Big Butt 4th
of July 50k race this morning. My hope; I was prepared. Based on the Weatherman’s
forecast, today was expected to be a hot one. Hot, it was.
When I finished, I checked the temperature display in my
car. The display read 106 degrees. I felt every bit of it.
Claude shared via email that the race time was being moved
back to 6:30. However, the Ultra Signup website had 7 AM so the start was
delayed.
The temperature was already in the low 80s, and I was sweating
just standing at the start.
Finally, Claude blew his whistle, and we were off.
Claude’s 50k consist of 5 x 10k loops with us starting in the
center and doing an out and back loop first left and then to the right of the start.
By the mile, I was leading, but more importantly, I was
sipping from the CamelBak at every mile. In full disclosure, I was training
through this race so my legs didn’t have much pop in them.
The first 10k went by smoothly. Being familiar with the
course from the last year, I knew exactly where the turns were located.
With the sun on the rise, the temperature were going up. I
started to feel the weariness in my legs toward the end of the 2nd
lap.
At the end of the 2nd lap, I grabbed a 2nd
CamelBak from the car. I also downed a 16 bottle of water, and I grabbed some
ice to dissolve in my mouth over the next mile.
I had enough water in my CamelBak to do laps 3 and 4 but I
decided that quick stop was needed at the end of lap 3. I toweled off the extra
sweat, sip some more water, and grabbed more ice.
After lap 4, I pulled out my last CamelBak and headed off.
Lap 5 was one of those times where I just kept putting one
foot in front of the other. Helping to keep me going was the encouragement
from the other runners. This is something I found awesome about Ultra races. There
is so much support exchanged between the runners during the race because we all
know what the others are facing.
I picked up the win in 4 hours 17 minutes and 9 seconds.
Everyone was struggling with the heat. Most runners were reduced to walking or
run/walking. Some were struggling with cramps. Some came in between laps and
set under the tents to cool off.
Last year, I thought this race was hot, but in comparison, this
race was way hotter. I have total respect for every runner there today. They
all showed so much determination and drive.
Kudo’s go out to Claude and his support team for putting on
a great race. He does an awesome job taking care of the runners.
Tails from the trail,
The Cool Down Runner
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