Chattooga 50k

My body doesn't handle hot weather very well. When it's in the 80's, I slow down significantly. When it's in the 90's, I'm reduced to a snail's pace. No problem, on this day it would only be 102!

After failing to make a cutoff at Massanutten, I vowed to start out much quicker. Even though there was no time limit, I wanted to get moving and cover as much ground as possible before it got ridiculously hot.

I started out near the front and avoided the early logjams. Most races start on the road and the field is opened up a bit before hitting single track. This one started and remained on single track the entire course.

I kept my pace for a good while but started to experience shin splints so I was forced to ease up a bit. That kept the pain at bay but I was still on the verge of it for a few miles. Many runners passed me at this point.

The trail heads down to the river and follows it for a good while. It then veers away, returns and then exits into the hills. It's on a portion of the Foothills Trail, which is also used for the Laurel Valley 35 miler and is the site of the February Foothills Trail (76+ mi) run, which will be revisited in November.

The heat didn't feel all that bad at first but the humidity was extremely high. I was drenched an hour and a half into the run. The humidity started to drop but the heat really kicked in.

After my shin splints faded, I got moving pretty quickly. There was an extended downhill and I jumped to the front of the train and led a group down. I stayed in the first position for a while on the flat but overdid it and had to derail.

I was forced to slow down my pace and it would remain slow the rest of the day. I ran with Gregg Shockley for most of the outbound section. I got behind him for a bit and took a wrong turn but corrected myself quickly.

At the first aid station, which took an eternity to get to, I caught up to several runners who had passed me much earlier. This was a boost and Gregg and I took off for an extended downhill. Brian Kistner came toward us, about ten miles ahead of us. He was followed by several more and then after a lull, others did as well.

By the time we made it to the turn around point, the heat was stifling. I hadn't realized just how hot it actually was, surmising that it was in the mid 90's. It had hit 102 in nearby Greenville so it was within a couple of degrees of that where we were.

It was really stinking hot at this point. I dreaded climbing back up the mountain we'd just descended. We started out and Gregg went ahead. On the long climb, I suffered from heat exhaustion. I'd experienced it at Laurel Valley last year but this was worse. At first, my body would start to shut down after just 30 yards of running. Later on, I was shutting down from simply hiking uphill.

I tried to keep moving but felt faint and knew I was risking passing out by continuing. I battled over whether or not to continue. This was just a 50k but the heat was ruining me. I sat down for a while to collect myself and had to do this a couple of more times. When I made it to the aid station, I dowsed myself with cold water, which did help. Feeling better, I opted to continue.

With smaller climbs ahead, I felt much better mentally. Getting that big climb out of the way equaled having a large weight lifted from me. I was able to run a bit on the downhill. I was still overheating but was no longer approaching heat exhaustion. It would be an incredibly slow go the rest of the way but at least I knew I was able to keep moving.

It seemed like forever before I got back to the river. Having cool water next to me for much of the remainder was extremely comforting. I hopped in and it felt like bath water, not what I'd expected. At least it was wet which helped. I jumped in again and found a cooler spot in the shade. It would have been easy to stay in for a half hour but I trudged onward.

I took in some of the scenery which I missed in the morning. Hemlocks towered along the shores, appearing to hit 150 feet or more in height. The blight was taking its toll on them but many healthey specimens still reside.

The turnoff back to the finish area took an insane amount of time to reach. I thought I'd missed it. When I made to the turn, I entered the home stretch. Knowing it was less than a mile to go got me moving a bit. I despise being passed late in a race and generally do not allow it. That meant pushing a little harder but the heat had eased and I had only a short while to go. Entering the final turn, My body just went into overdrive and I went into a full sprint across the finish, nearly taking out the scorer's table and distributing the finisher's awards all over the parking lot.

As it turned out, I had almost caught two runners and the next one after me was 18 minutes back. 10 1/2 hours seems like a poor effort but I gave all I could under the conditions and was proud to finish. I'd never been so tempted to drop out of a 50k but I didn't. This boosted my confidence and hopefully has started me back to my previous level of mental fortitude.

The finisher's award was a wood cutout shaped like the state of South Carolina with a photo of the course on it. Terri Hayes put the race on practically by herself and asked only for donations.

B-Rex