Yeti 50 Miler

Saturday morning, I was back standing next to the Whitetop Depot on the Va Creeper Trail looking back toward Abington, Va. I was shivering. The temperature was about 50 degrees. I was thinking how quickly that I had adapted to the summer time weather. 

Jason gave us his standard "trains don't turn right or left so neither should we" speech. With that, he sent us off about 7 AM. My hands were cold for next mile, but I soon warmed up to a nice comfortable temperature. 

The run down through Green Cove, Taylors Valley, and in to Damascus was uneventful. A bunch of runners had went out hard. Along with the 50 miler and 55k races, there was a Spaghetti Marathon internal to those two races. Giving runners that wanted to take advantage of a long downhill, an opportunity to get in a Boston Marathon qualifier. I wasn't having any of it. I had my plan, and I was sticking to it. 

In Damascus, my crew fixed me up with a new pack, watermelon, and best of all an ice cold hat. Between Damascus and Alvarado, I started catching a few runners that had burnt down the mountain. This is a cool section of the trail. Off to the right is a stream which looks so inviting that I just want to take a dip.

Entering Alvarado, I could feel the warm air as the temperature was starting to rise. The easiest part of the race was now behind me. 

I pushed out of the Alvarado aid station, and I headed for Abington. A mile or so beyond the aid station, I came across two guys setting in a couple of lawn chairs. There was a line drawn across the trail. At first, I was confused. This was like literally in the middle of nowhere. I guess that my brain was getting low on sugar because it took a long second for me to realize this was the finish of the Spaghetti marathon. 

I passed through the Watagua aid station. This apparently is the rubber ducky aid station. There were rubber ducks for a 1/2 mile on both sides of the aid station. As I think about it now,  I am left wondering if there is some sort of Yeti rubber duck thing that I have missed doing. 

3 miles from the end the trail, I met Amy coming back. Amy won the Yeti 100 miler last fall. She was flying. Then, looking back up the trail, I see 2nd place coming. Amy doesn't have much room as the 2nd place woman is maybe 20 seconds back. At that time, I thought we were running to the end of the trail so they had about 6 miles on me. 

Then, I go about maybe another mile and quarter, and I see these two signs with the Yeti logos. I am reading it. One is saying 55k runners straight ahead while 50 miler turn around. I was surprised. I thought that I needed to turn at the end of the trail like I did last year. 

Now running back Alvarado, I really started to notice how tired my legs felt. My splits were starting to slow. 

I refueled at Alvarado and grabbed more watermelon. I knew how much was left in the race, and I was starting to hurt. I just stared in to the trail ahead and kept going. I just wanted to get to the finish at this point. 

Climbing back in to Abington, the hurt in my legs and feet only grew. My legs were getting incredibly tight. 

But with each passing mile post, I knew the finish was just a little close. 

I finally reached the end of the trail, and I took a right out to the street. If it is possible, I think the asphalt actually made my legs feel worse. I just followed the signs. At some point, I heard the music from the finish, and I knew that I was almost done. 

I made a left, crossed the train tracks, and then another left in to the finish. Jason was waiting with a huge Yeti hug. 

My crew had my chair and water ready for me. I went over set down. I was just happy to be off my feet. 

I ran 7:07:56 and finished 5 overall and 3 overall male. Looking at the finish, women really dominated this race. Their times were simply amazing. Congrats to them on their efforts. 

Now to let my legs recover for a while

Cool Down Runner