July 29, 2006
Catherine's Fat Ass 50k run

The ride to northern Virginia was long but not arduous. I sampled a rail trail on the way up. Easy mountain biking souded like a good warmup for tomorrow's run anyway.

New Market is a small town. The only grocery stores were mom and pop joints with three aisles and the old style checkout-no barcode scanning. The food choices for breakfast were limited.

I camped at a Nat'l Forest Visitor center that I thought was the trailhead for the race. In the morning, a Ranger asked if I'd spent the night but he was cool about it and simply said I wasn't supposed to do it.

When the other runners showed up, virtually all of them were wearing shirts from races, most of them 100 milers. This was a running club event so only the hardiest runners would be involved. This was not the place for an ultra newby. I surveyed the crowd and picked out about a half dozen that I thought I could beat of the 70 assembled.

I overheard conversations about running 100 miles two weeks ago and following it up with a 50k today. I suppose rest is for the weak. The youngest guy at the event and I talked for quite a while because we were not in the veteran cliques. He told me how he ran 5 miles in 25 minutes and 5k's in 14 and change. I, in turn, run just over half as fast. How would I compete?

The course is described as mountain trails, some gravel roads, some creekbeds, some rocks. some singletrack, some anthills, it has three hills but they're kind of long. A couple of things stand out-creekbeds and anthills. You don't generally run in a creekbed and how big can these anthills be? There was also the story of a mountain goat who requested a toll for passage.

The race began with the usual slow trot and fifty yards in it claimed it's first casualty. Rocks were everywhere and one bad step can put dirt on your face. I tried something that I hadn't before. I actually passed people early instead of falling into cadence with the slower runners. I didn't realize how many I had passed.

The first climb was quite rocky but not too steep. I wanted to pass more but the trail was narrow and I had no idea what was coming up. I thought we'd reached the top as the trail leveled out so I sped around several runners, turned the corner and was confronted with a 25% grade. I expected an extended downhill and I got a virtual wall! From there, the trail got worse. The rocky trail turned into just plain rock and kept the insane grade. This was where I endured my first bee sting in ten years. A yellow jacket got me on the ankle. Ankles don't really mean much to a runner anyway. I stayed in front of the group for some time. Eventually, we did reach the top and enjoyed a fantastic overlook. From there, the terrain leveled out and you could see dirt between the rocks again.

After starting out fast, I experienced pain in my left shoulder. That went away but then I got a pain in my right shoulder. This one didn't go away until I stopped running. My body just wasn't ready to step it up that much so soon. Several runners passed me but that matters very little early on.

The first aid station came up at seven miles and earlier than I expected. I thought I was only at five miles. The race continued on gravel roads for a while. I was passed up by eight more runners and settled in with a guy named David. He went by Sniper. He was an experienced runner and soon I would find out that he was a very generous runner as well. David paced me perfectly. We didn't allow another runner to pass us for several hours.

After the gravel roads, we entered the yellow trail. It started out easy until we hit the stream bed. The trail climbed through a boulder-strewn creek bed for about a mile. The rocks were slick and the trail was difficult to follow. We made good time simply hiking as running was far too dangerous in the treacherous rock bed. The trail then led into a muddy section and then on to a sun soaked wider trail.

A side trail led to a lookout and we doubled back to the main trail. A phrase was duct taped on a tree to ensure we took the side trail. A runner two minutes behind us had a run-in with a rattlesnake at the junction.

As I was saying, David was quite generous. He shared his electrolytes with me as well as invaluable information. I'm looking to try a couple of hundred milers and he gave me inside information regarding foot placement and supplements. The manner in which your foot strikes becomes more important in the longer runs. The body can only absorb so much shock and then all of the joints and muscles respond with pain.

The gravel road returned and led us to Catherine's furnace, where lead was smelted during the Civil War. This was the beginning of the infamous purple trail. This trail started out moderately and gradually increased in steepness until it got downright ridiculous. One runner had stopped just short of passing out and another did pass out on this trail. Two older runners passed us near the top but at that point we did not care. We were just intent on getting to the top. The descent was fast and furious and I nearly took a spill.

David chilled out at the last aid station to calm his stomach. Of course, he had just run a 100 miler two weeks previously. I believe this was his 13th ultra this year. Now that is true endurance! I power walked the last hill and caught the two runners who had passed us. At the top, it leveled out for two miles. The trail became littered with anthills. These were not your typical anthills, however. They were two to three feet across and over a foot tall, but these were the small ones. One was an eight by six foot oval, towering over three feet high! Dozens of them lined the trail.

The rocky singletrack from the beginning returned. I live for singletrack descents so I put some space between myself and the two runners in back of me. I reached the point where the mountain goat attacked runners two years ago. David was the first to be accosted. The goat tried to headbutt him and licked his leg while he ran. This was easy terrain for a mountain goat but extremely challenging for a human. There was no siting of the goat this year.

I reached a brief reprieve from the technical section. Soft dirt was under my feet and only one rock present. I found that rock with my foot and fell forward. I landed on my hands, laughed it off and continued running. I sped past another runner and came to a junction. I had David with me for most of the race so a wrong turn wasn't a possibility but on my own I chose the wrong direction. I let out a few &@#*$'s and waited for a runner to pass by. I only lost a few minutes and then followed the previous runner and passed him up. I had fresh legs at 30 miles. That had never happened before. I expected to be limping across the finish because of the heat and humidity. I owe it to David for his pacing and electrolytes.

I crossed the finish at 7:21. The time doesn't sound impressive but this was a ridiculous course. I was 21st. Only 52 finished out of nearly 70. This was the first time I finished above the 50% point. This was a long drive for me but I will be back for more next year. Hopefully for the 100 miler.

Raging Bull