Ran the third edition of the Delano 12-hour run, and, true to form,
I kept up my own tradition of not going the full twelve hours and
stopped around 10... The day got started at about 6am, in about
47 degrees and rain. The course is a 1-mile cinder path loop around a
park in Decatur, AL, and it is an ideal place to run fast (if you can
keep your head in the game, that is). Against my better
judgement, I went out way too fast, running with a couple of running
friends of mine from Huntsvillle. After a couple of hours, I decided
that I had better settle into a slightly more manageable pace after
lapping a couple of guys that I knew would end up beating me handily,
and we all set about plugging away at the miles. An hour after
the 12-hour started, the 50-mile and 50k options started, and guys
began flying past me on a quest to get in a good time, which several
did. As the day progressed, the rain would lighten up, then come back,
but it had more or less stopped completely by early afternoon, which
was a nice improvement. The course was affected by the rain in several
ways. For example, a stretch of about 15 or 20 yards was completely
submerged at the start with about ankle-deep water, which some skirted
around while others (such as myself) just plowed through; I just
figured that my shoes were already wet.... The race directors (Eric
Schotz and Jon Elmore, who are on the FRB at schotz.fastrunningblog.com
and jelmo.fastrunningblog.com) along with a couple of other
volunteers/spectators, did an impressive job of draining the course by
digging trenches and even using a bilge pump to clear the
aforementioned wet spot. Another fun spot on the course was a short
out-and-back that was needed to get the full mile from the loop and
left the cinder path for about 20 or 30 yards in the grass. Needless
to say, a grassy spot in the rain that gets run through by 60 or so
runners 40, 50, 60, even 70+ times a piece over the course of 12 hours
gets to be a bit of a bog. Again, some people kept swinging farther
and farther outside to keep from going through the mud (and avoiding
perhaps losing a shoe in the mud), but, again, being the 5-year-old
trapped in a 22-year-old's body, I plowed right through the mud every
time, and it got more and more fun as the day went on. I truly think
it will take weeks for all of the mud and crud to get out from under my
toenails (awesome!). While the day went on, I definitely slowed
down, getting passed by more and more people, which was fine with me; I
was well ahead of where I was a couple of years ago at this event, so I
was happy as could be. Once I got to the 50 mile mark, I decided to
just play around, walking and running until I wanted to call it a day,
and after 55 miles, I got to talking for a while, and before I knew it,
45 minutes or an hour had passed, and I figured I would be way to stiff
to do any more running, so I called it a day and turned in my chip.
(So I finished my 12-hour race in 10 - BEAT THAT)
After I got done, a few people kept on chugging along for the
remaining 2 hours or so. Jamie Donaldson, the women's course record
holder at Badwater (135 miles) and 5th place finisher at the 24-hour
World Championships in Korea last year, won the overall title in the
12-hour with 76 miles (I think...). It was impressive watching her
plug and plug all day, not noticeable tiring much at all. Blake
Thompson, one of the guys I started with, kept putting in miles, and I
must say, I expected him to crash at the pace he was holding, but I
stand corrected; he managed to only marginally slow down, claiming 70
miles. Rob Youngren, one of the guys that ran the Double Mountain Mist
with me a couple of months ago (and beat me by an hour and a half on
the second loop), laid down the hammer in the final hours and made up
many miles, undoing the lap I had taken on him and putting many more in
front of me, eventually finishing 69 miles. Steven Speakman, a friend
from Auburn, AL, who had stayed at my house the night before, was in
his first foray beyond 50 miles. I lapped him early, but he easily
reclaimed that mile and kept going after I pulled out, pushing through
all the mental and physical challenges that don't present themselves
until after 50, to eventually claim 65 well-earned miles. All
told, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. It was a well put on event with a
good crowd of good people, and time-based format provides a good venue
to change the way you approach a race. Much appreciation to Eric and
Jon.
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