Eastern Divide 50K Race Report

Eastern Divide 50k Race Report

Pembroke, VA June 22 - 7:30am

(Got to Baltimore super early for a meeting and finally finished this while sitting in a parking garage for two hours.  With this race done, I have my first 50 miler in Tennessee this Dec.  Promise that race report will come soon after)

First Ultra Marathon - First Trail Race - First Mountain Race

As you can see, a lot of first's here.  The anxiety levels were very high for the better part of 4 days for this one.  Not really nervous, but more fearful of what to expect.  This wasn't really a race for me, as I wasn't looking for a win or even a top "x" finish.  My expectations were to finish strong and to try to pace it right to get under 10min miles for overall time.  Before you read on, I'll preface this with stating that I grossly under-estimated the amount of elevation gain and how that would relate to my expectations on pace and feeling strong.   

The start of the race took place at the Cascade Falls in the Jefferson National Forest, just 15 mins west of Blacksburg, VA.  Great place for the start of a race.  When you pull up you can hear the roar of the falls, but can't see them through the thick trees.  The race start was very 'old school'.  138 racers lined up on the side of two picnic tables, where the race director stood on top and counted down…"5,4,3,2,1…get after it".  No gun, no start line, no corals, no crowds lining the route, just a trail straight ahead, and a creek in the first 100 yards to get your feet wet right from the start.  

Jaclyn had come with me, dropping me off at the start, as this was a point to point race.  She took some pictures and video and then drove about 20 miles to the finish area and the first and only aid station where she could see me throughout the day (22miles into the race- Aid Station 5).

The first 4 miles of the race were straight up the side of Butt Mountain.  3,068ft of climbing in the first 4 miles, with very little spots to run with any consistency.   About half way up I realized this was going to be a long day, with a lot of power hiking involved.  Hands on knees, hiking with some kind of speed I finally made it to the top.  The first aid station was this old fold-out table that I thought was going to break with just the slightest breeze.  The race director, Kirby, had run with us to the top of the mountain and met up with the truck that was there.  The trail turned left onto a fire-road that ran along the top of the ridge.  It felt like at least two miles we ran on the ridge before dropping down the other side.  

I knew that climbing wasn't going to be my strength, however I knew I had the quad muscles to descend hard.  So I just let loose and fell down the mountain.  I passed probably 15 people on this stretch of trail.  It was good to be out front too.  There were massive pools of water along the road and if you got stuck behind a bunch of people it would have taken forever to navigate through there.  Just as you could feel you were coming to the end of the downhill section the second aid station popped up.  CHEEZITs!!!! My absolute favorite food, full of salt too. Stocked up on some water and busted out the music.  

I jammed for about 8 more miles before the next big climb, passing 5 more people.  As soon as I hit the climb though, the legs started feeling very heavy.  I got into a good rhythm of running and hiking.  I would look up to a certain tree and decide I would run to another fixed point on the climb, then walk and repeat.  The climb seemed to never end.  As soon as we crested the mountain though, I passed two others and again fell down the other side.  I felt pretty good here, but was starting to get tired of music, tired of water, tired of running, and realized quick that I had many more miles.  This is where really good long run training becomes important.  Its not just for the legs, but for the mind.  Keeping focus this long is tiring as hell. 

As I hit a flat section I started to think of seeing Jaclyn at the next aid station.  I was hurting at this point (mentally) and knew that would bring me some good vibes.  But BAM!!!  another incline.  This time it wasn't as steep, but the first two climbs just took it out of me.  Normally I would have run this section, no problem, but I was spent.  Back to my run/hike method adopted from the last climb.  At this point in the race I was on track to break 10 min/mile.  I started slow and gradually cut the 13:30 avg down to 10:15s and was negative splitting the whole race thus far.  I met Jaclyn on the side of the trail just before the aid station.  She was sitting with a new friend, another girl waiting for her man to come by (truth was, he passed through several minutes before me).  Jaclyn was all smiles and I was happy to see her, but I'm almost positive I wasn't smiling when I stopped next to her.  She handed me some more GUs and I gave her my iPod.  I think she was surprised I didn't want music, but I had had enough.  Jaclyn asked how everything was going and I remember telling her that I didn't realize how much climbing was involved.  Probably not the best first ultra to choose, especially considering I didn't have a lot of mountains to train on in Richmond, VA.  

I ran out of this aid station ready to get this thing over with.  I was having fun, but I just wanted to be done with the hiking.  I wanted to run.  I knew it was only 8 miles to the finish and that I could easily finish 8 miles.  DNFing never came into the back of my mind, as I was set on finishing, even if I had to crawl to the finish.  For the next 3 miles it was a gradual downhill, so I ran and ran hard.  I kept thinking though, that if we are going down so much, then we are going to have to go back up at some point.  This was going to hurt.  The first climb wasn't too bad.  Some hiking here, with periods of running.  For 2 miles I would run about 1/4 mile and hike a 1/4 mile.  Then I could feel the incline really increase.  I could see the top of the tree line, and knew I had a ways to go.  I was hiking for several minutes in a row and felt the pace slipping away from me.  I just couldn't run.  I was tightening up and thought that if I just kept moving forward I would eventually finish the race.  Then….BAM!!  Another steep climb.  This time it was so steep that I thought I was going to have to put my hands down on the ground and crawl up, literally.  I was cursing mad.  This climb wasn't long but I had to stop several times with my hands on my knees it was so steep.  When you got to the top you could see the aid station in the distance.  It had to be a full mile away though.  It was this long field that you had to run through.  No trail. 

This was the second to last aid station.  I was so happy to get here.  I walked for a while and drank some water and coke.  I saw a few people stop and lay down, so I decided that I needed to keep moving.  I saw on the race profile that there was one more decline here and then an up hill finish.  3 more miles, just 3 more long ass miles.  I passed a few more people here and felt good about that.  However along the way down I could feel my legs really starting to tighten up.  I was cramping bad.  My thighs were locking up and my calves were on fire.  As I started the last up hill everything was locking up.  I was cursing to just get through this.  I could hear this horn in the background, so I had to be close to the finish.  The last aid station was just 1 mile from the finish.  I could see the clearing the whole time.  The trail turned extremely technical.  You couldn't run this section even if you were fresh.  I was jumping, hoping, and ducking through trees to get to the finish.   Once you made it through this gauntlet of rocks and trees you were directed back on to another fire road leading up to the clearing and finish line.  

So happy to finish and pleased with my effort.  I could honestly say, that I couldn't have finished that course any faster.  I gave 100%, and was pleased with just that.  I kept think "forward progress, just keep moving forward".  My time was 5hrs 27mins for 30.2 miles.  7,893ft of elevation gain.  Avg heart rate = heart attack. (Didn't bother wearing a monitor)

TFR - Wes