You mean everyone doesn't do this?

Mount Cheaha 50k

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Location:

AL,USA

Member Since:

Jun 14, 2008

Gender:

Male

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Other

Running Accomplishments:

I've finished a couple of races here and there...

Short-Term Running Goals:

Maybe one day I'll be enough of a runner to run a race.

maybe not...

Long-Term Running Goals:

My ultimate long term goal is to die young as late as possible...

Personal:

Rule #1:  Cardio - Zombies lead a very active lifestyle, so should you.

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Race: Mount Cheaha 50k (31.1 Miles) 05:48:30
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
31.100.000.000.0031.10

This is the fourth year of the Mount Cheaha 50k, and I've been hearing about it (and its difficulty) since the first running, so this year I decided that I should finally see what all the fuss was about.  I must say that it did not disappoint.

The night before the race, I rode up to the Bald Rock Lodge, which served as the race headquarters, finish line, and location of the prerace supper and briefing.  My brother and another Auburn student went up there with me, both of whom would be running their second 50k.  After eating, getting some final race instructions, and chatting it up with some ultrarunner friends, we headed back to the hotel.  The next morning, I got up at about 4:40 to get myself dressed and ready to go in time to make a quick stop at Waffle House before picking up Josh Kennedy, a friend from Huntsville staying at another hotel to head toward the race start.  Because my dad had come, we had a driver to take the car back from the start (once the race was over, there would be no transportation back to the start), so we did not have to park at the finish and ride a bus to the start.  The race was supposed to start at 7:30, and we had to check in at the starting area before 7:15, so we decided to arrive at 7.  Once we arrived, however, we got word from a few others who had driven themselves that the bus had gotten stuck in the mud, resulting in an hour delay.  At 8:45 or so, the bus finally got there, so at 9, after we had been standing around for 2 hours, the race got underway.

Other than working on getting through aid stations quickly, I didn't really have a race plan, but I had told Dink Taylor (the eventual winner), that I would run through the first aid station with him.  Needless to say, this was a less than wise decision.  The first aid station was a little over three miles into the race, and even though none of the runners around me stopped, I knew that I had better slow down; otherwise the last few miles would turn into a hike.  After the first aid station, I reigned in the pace a little and settled into a more comfortable pace for the long haul.  The next several miles and couple of aid stations went by relatively quickly and uneventfully, plugging away the miles at a modest but solid pace.  Shortly after the third or fourth aid station, my good luck on the rocks came to and end when I managed to turn my ankle like a pro, leaving me limping for about a half mile, but, counter-intuitively and fairly well known among ultrarunners, if you manage to turn your ankle (as long as you don't actually tear a tendon or break something), the worst thing you can do is stop; continuing running hurts, but it keeps the swelling down and lets the blood flush out the area.  In any case, after hitting my ankle, it took quite a while for me to get back into a rhythm. 

Also during this portion of the race, we had several creeks to cross.  The course contained a plethora of little streams and unavoidable puddles, but there were several notable creek crossings that could sweep you off your feet if you weren't careful.  One in particular was about 15 or 20 yards wide and came up to my waist with a strong current.  Even with the rope strung across the creek, it was pretty hard to keep from being carried downstream.  Some might see the creeks as utter inconveniences, but all of them were somewhat refreshing for me, cooling off (or numbing) my legsand providing a nice break from the monotony of uphill-downhill-uphill downhill...

After the big creek crossing was another section of trail that spit us out on a road that carried us to the last aid station.  The aid station is at mile 28, which means that there was only a 5k left in the race.  This 5k took me a little over 45 minutes.  Why?  The first mile or so is on a trail affectionately known as "Blue Hell."  It is an incredibly steep, rocky section of trail that slows down even the winners, but is an enjoyable (in a weird, ultrarunning way), albeit difficult section.  Once at the top of the mountain, just a few more minutes of running through the park to get to the finish.

Marcus Farris, one of the guys that rode to the race with me, finished about 20 minutes ahead of me, Josh Kennedy finished in around 7 hours, and my brother Peter finished in about 8 hours.  Several others from Auburn with whom I have run also completed the race.  Allen Smith and Bob Lawson finished a few minutes after me, and Fred Trouse (who was a pacer for me in the Pinhoti 100, during which I think the "caught the bug" and decided to try this crazy pastime of trail ulrarunning) finished a little ahead of my brother.

All in all, I think this is a very worthwhile race.  Although it's not necessarily a PR course, it does manage to keep your attention (as the race director, Todd Henderson said, there aren't 3 miles of flat running in the whole course).  This is definitely a race where people realize that just because you're running on a nice bed of leaves, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're not running on jagged, ankle-twisting rocks; it just means you can't see them.  If anyone is looking for a well organized and very enjoyable event that presents a true challenge to runners of all abilities, I would highly recommend the Mt. Cheaha 50k.

 

My apologies on a bit of a ramble.

Comments
From Lucia on Sun, Mar 01, 2009 at 11:48:06 from 98.204.55.168

Ummm... so the race was 31.1 but you only ran 31 miles? Wow you were soooo close ;)

Nice job! Eat and sleep lots!

From Eric Day on Sun, Mar 01, 2009 at 12:01:58 from 187.133.7.5

Rest sounds like a good idea after that! Looking forward to your report.

From Jon on Sun, Mar 01, 2009 at 15:13:37 from 75.169.139.171

Sounds like a nice race!

From jun on Sun, Mar 01, 2009 at 15:24:45 from 71.213.28.43

Fantastic race report and nice job on your finish.

I have my first 30k coming up and I have no game plan yet. With a little luck I'll maintain that winning attitude all the way through. LOL.

From Brent on Sun, Mar 01, 2009 at 17:50:40 from 66.7.127.219

Nevels, liked you race report, ramble on, could read several pages. I am impressed that you had no falls given the hidden rocks. Great race with great buddies, does it get any better?

Stay Kool, B of BS Rools out

From kelsey on Sun, Mar 01, 2009 at 20:05:51 from 98.230.3.218

Nice race! Waist deep crossings sound like fun! (Aside from the wet shoes part.)

How is the ankle doing?

From jelmo on Mon, Mar 02, 2009 at 01:43:03 from 205.188.116.5

great run!, sub 6 on that beast is awesome.

From Nevels on Mon, Mar 02, 2009 at 05:37:55 from 131.204.15.93

Thanks, yall.

Kelsey: The crossings were pretty fun; fortunately the wet shoes never caused any problems, and the ankle is a little sore and swollen today, but pretty good considering...

Brent: I tried to fall several times, but kept catching myself and never managed to successfully hit the deck. And the longer the better...

From Burt on Mon, Mar 02, 2009 at 15:33:52 from 68.76.197.194

Sounds fun. I thought my stream was bad where I had to tip-toe across. Obviously I'm a wimp.

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