I ran my first trail race and first ultra yesterday: the Frosty Foot 50K. It was a difficult but incredibly scenic course overlooking Fontana Lake way out in the far SW corner of North Carolina -- so remote that I couldn't get GPS lock-on to get to the race yesterday morning and our Garmins didn't calculate properly. On the bright side the virus I'd been fighting off all week seemed to finally be gone. We were pretty relieved to be getting to run it despite it being a national park and a tip bucket for the ranger (who worked without pay to allow this) collected $850 for him. Hope it helped.
Although the course was tough (tons of elevation change) the event is put on by a race director (and run shop owner and accomplished ultra runner) who has a reputation for putting on excellent races. I saw why. In the weeks leading up I dreamt of being DFL and getting lost. There was no way to get lost in this race: 'confidence flags' every 1/4 mile and tons of signage made it really easy. And it turned out that I was generally in a pack and could at least see another runner most of the time, especially because there were so many switchbacks.
We started the race in tight packs. There were about 140 of us and lots of elevation gain over the first few miles. Eventually we spread out a little bit. I enjoyed chatting with the guy in front of me for a while and all of a sudden we were at the first aid station at mile 7ish. Although the race description said this stop would be manned, I didn't expect how wonderful it would be: super supportive and encouraging volunteers tending to our every need. It was an oasis. I topped off the little bottles in my race belt, grabbed a gel (Untapped, now my fave) and continued on after just a couple of minutes there.
The next 7.5 miles were gorgeous but unremarkable. I passed a few people, the terrain continued to twist and turn and change in elevation and there was one horribly steep climb. It coincided with the warmest part of the day: humidity was extremely high with the rain coming in and it was late enough in the morning that it got warm for us (50s?). I caught up to a guy named Brandon at the top of the steep and we chatted for a long while until I twisted my ankle and then continued to have it twist multiple times on some excessively rocky terrain. (I sprained my foot/ankle a year ago and re-injured it on trail a few months ago so I knew this might happen. I thought about taping it before the race but was worried about blisters.) . Had to stop talking and slow down to make my way through carefully but I still twisted it a number of times. Still, once I'd slow down for a few seconds and focus on smooth strides it would bounce back. I pushed on and hoped it would settle and it did.
The next aid station was at 15 and I was not in great shape when I limped in. We thought it was at the trailhead only to be told we had to continue on about 1/10 of a mile up a steep steep. Cruel twist. But man was it worth it. Volunteers greeted us, asking what we needed and basically acting as concierges so we could get taken care of and on our way. Found my drop bag and somehow managed to change into low drop Topos while standing on one foot in the rain. It was a risky switch b/c of the calf strain I recently healed but I felt my ankle needed it. I was right. I also took off the vest and shifted its stuff to shorts pockets, putting my cell phone and car keys into a ziplock. Thankful for Oiselle pocket joggers -- they held everything!
I hydrated a bunch with the Untapped tea drink (delish) and water and had a coffee-infused waffle and took one for the road. Turned down the other solid options b/c I didn't know how they'd sit. Chatted with the volunteers a bit b/c I knew some from the store. And then I was there too long really and needed to get on my way.
I was super thrilled with my shoe choice and although the rain was starting to come down hard I was back to running at a good clip. We had a decent undulating section for a bit that wasn't too technical so I got going and passed a few more people. At one point I looked at the trail on the next mountain (which I'd hit after a switchback up ahead) and saw a ghost running. Had to stare for a minute to figure out that it was a very tall runner wearing a rain poncho with arms out at her sides. Hilarious. I passed her before long and then we started into the soul sucking section around mile 18. There were some sections in the race that got up to 20% grade but this particular one was the toughest: it was very rocky and kept going up and up and then little steep, slippery downs. The spots that weren't rocky were almost worse: the water from record rainfall this year created deep grooves on the downs. So the descents were worse than the ascents: either slippery rocks or streams of rain running through channels It felt like I had to parkour side to side to deal with it. This lasted for several miles, felt like it lasted for several days...and then finally we were at the magical Mile 25 aid station.
I don't even know how they got the tent and all the goodies to this spot and packed into the tiny area where it was located but they did. Another magical oasis. I had another fill up of my little bottles and grabbed a small handful of cheeze-its. Heaven. I knew one of the volunteers from the running store and it was so nice to see her smiling face. I declined the offers of fireball and Coke but several people said that Coke is a game changer at that point in the race. Our Garmins said we were at around mile 25 but one of the volunteers said it was 21 and we were bummed out. So 21/25 I decided I wanted Coke...but had no extra cup. At this point an angel offered me her disposable cup; I had a little bit, grabbed a couple of cheeze-its for the road and went.
So now we had a bit of a mind fvck. I was running with 2 guys with Garmins and we all thought we had left 25, would see a water drop at 28 and then not long to the finish. But volunteers should know, so then it was 21ish, with a water stop at 25 and then the finish. Either way, I just wanted out of the rain so I told myself over and over "just keep going" and "there's pizza at the end"
and pushed on. And my other favorite mantra of the day: "this isn't as hard as a heart transplant". I was thinking of Tim a lot.
Passed the water drop at mile 25/28ish and passed a few more people in that area. Also exchanged places with ghost lady a couple of times but now was ahead of her and moving. A guy I'd passed sounded like he wanted to pass me but wisely said, "we'll probably exchange places a dozen times; don't worry, keep going" and he was right. Eventually I pulled away from him, too.
Shortly afterward I saw the parking lot down and ahead. I had overhead a convo at the starting line about how you see the cars well before you get there and it's a mind fvck. But I didn't remember how much afterward we'd hit the finish. Still, it made me hopeful that I had about 1.5 left and not 4.5 left. Looked past a switchback ahead, I saw a couple I kind of wanted to run down; they looked young and clean and perky and very geared up and I hated them.
. So I sped up. Then a second later I ate it. Hard. I got up stunned, checked my phone (happily shocked to see it hadn't shattered) , then walked a bit to take inventory. All intact so I picked it up again. Before long I passed them and the guy asked if I knew how much longer to the finish. Nope, sorry dude.
Presently I could feel that we weren't going to switch back again and instead the trail would take us to the finish. I looked behind me and saw the ghost lady a little ways back followed by the perky couple and figured she was hauling too so I picked it up even more. At this point I was actually running quickly for the first time all day and it felt goooood. Saw the finish line which looked like a circus oasis after all the natural hues all day, decided I wanted a strong close despite nobody being on my heels and so kicked it in. The finish line was amazing. Instead of a medal we were given super sweet hand-thrown clay mugs w/ the race logo as well as a freshly wood-fired pizza from a truck that was waiting there. That our race director brought in a pizza truck in the middle of nowhere (and had 2 ply in the portajohns) just shows how great they were about attention to every little detail.
After I'd gathered my wits and grabbed my drop bag and wolfed some pizza, I walked the long walk in the rain back to the car. It was an interesting project to change into the warm, dry yeti (warm oiselle onesie) and out of my disgusting, muddy clothing without getting the inside of the car filthy. Somehow I did it. Apologies to those I mooned in the process. Then drove the 90 minutes back home in pouring rain,;after about 30 I could feel my fingers again.
Finishing time was 7:00:40. There weren’t many cars in the parking lot when I headed to mine and I knew winners sometimes finished in as little as 4 or so. While the rain made it incredibly tough and I passed a bunch of people when the trail allowed, I figured my ankle stuff and long aid station breaks put me at the back of the pack. But turns out all but the fastest of us had a rough day. Winners broke records because there was no snow. But only the first few who got through the steeps w/o rain and mud had an easy day. I ended up finishing 63 out of 140 and I'll happily take it, 13 out of 40 in my age group. Although the race had a generous 9 hour cut-off, the director posted last night that the last finishes came in at 8 pm, in the dark, 12 hours later. Some volunteers helped them in. What a group!
I'm amazed to hardly be sore today, only dealing with a couple of blisters and toe bruises and a little bit of chafing. I'll probably start looking for another ultra soon...
