Riverman Brewing Company 50K Race Recap
A few weeks ago, I got an email from the Dirty Wolf Ultra
running race director, Richard that the Riverman Brewing Company had closed.
However, Dirty Wolf Ultras doesn’t cancel their races because of sponsor closings.
Thus, I was toeing the line for a 50k race only a week after
running the “The Stevest” 43 miler. Yeah, I know. The idea seemed like a good
one months ago when I signed up, and the weather was cool. This morning, the
temperatures was already in the mid 70s at race time, and the humidity had us
soaked before we reached the first mile. The heat would rise in to the 90s by
the time that I was in my closing laps. So no; it didn’t sound nearly as good today.
Going to the race, I thought that I had a pretty good race
plan but it didn’t work out that way.
This 50k took place on the trails of Rocky Branch Park in
Belmont, NC. Going to the race, I had no idea what the trail was like. I planned to
just follow some others through the first lap. Richard has already been
pretty good with his course markings so I didn’t expect to have any major concerns with
getting lost.
For a 50k in summer trail race, I thought everyone was going
out a little too fast. I settled in back in the pack. The leader was soon out
of sight. A group of 5 or 6 of us worked through the first 3.2 mile loop. Finishing
the first loop, our little group split up. Dave, a young guy running his second
ultra, and I headed out together.
We did the next couple of loops together, but I was hot and
my stomach was not feeling the best. I decided to make a quick stop at my car to
refuel and load up on cold fluids.
Dave and the other guy pressed on with me trailing behind. I
resisted the urge to surge back to them. However, the race was quickly turning in
to a race of heat survival, and speed would tank my efforts.
I worked the laps, and later caught up to Dave. He was
struggling a bit with the heat. After those first 5 laps, I stopped every lap to
drink cool fluid and reload with ice. I also added some Sports Beans to
nutrition.
This worked for me. My stomach settled down, and I found my groove.
I did take one fall today, but this happened in some soft dirt. So no scrapes
which is a good thing.
By lap 7, I had moved in 2nd place.
The twist and turns, ups and downs, were like being inside
of a washing machine. On the back side course was only major hill on the course.
As luck would have it, when the sun rose in to the sky, all of the shade
disappeared from this hill. This made a difficult hill even harder.
At 5 laps or 25k, I had been roughly 2 hours and 48 minutes in to
the race. Some runner math told me that
I was looking at 6 hours or more of running.
However, the fluids and ice were working for me. I was
started churning out consistent laps. I had no idea how far the leader was in
front of me. I assumed that he was still running well, and I expected him catch
me.
After the race, I learned that I was cutting in to his lead
with every lap. He had run strong over the first 5 laps. Perhaps, he ran too
hard because he was slowing in the 2nd half.
But on this day, we would run out of course before I would
catch him. He finished in 5 hours and 53 minutes while I finished 2nd in 5 hours and
58 minutes. I have total respect for his efforts. His game plan was to go out
fast, and he made it work. At the end of day, this is all that counts.
Personally, I am pleased with my efforts. I ran consistently
strong over these two races in hot and humid conditions. My legs feel trashed,
but this is to be expected.
Lots of runners emphasize learning to run on tired,
hurting legs. All I can say; this is a miserable feeling, but I hope that it
helps in my 100 miler.
Lastly, I want to give a shout out to Richard and Dirty Wolf
Ultras. He is super stoked about running ultras and the races that he
organizes. He has several races coming up. Check out UltraSignup.com to find
his races.
Thoughts from the Trail
The Cool Down Runner
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