Promise
Land 50k, 2007
April 28
This
is my first time running this particular race, so the good news is that I will
set a personal best on this course!
This is the second race in the Lynchburg Ultra Series, which has three races
(Holiday Lake 50k, Promise Land 50k, and Masochist Mountain Trail Run 50). I came over yesterday afternoon and camped
here at the start/finish area. It is a
really nice place right beside the Blue Ridge Mountains. I slept well from 9:30pm until 1:00am when
the wind really started blowing. The
rest of the night, I laid here waiting/wondering if my tent was going to blow
away. At 4:15am I got up with the
intent of beating the 4:30 rush to the jiffy johns. There are only four of them, and with almost 300 runners, I think
there will be a line as soon as most of the people are awake. David Horton, the race director, is sounding
reveille at 4:30. I make my way over to
the jiffy johns and find at least one empty.
The only problem is that it is pretty dark inside, and I don’t have a
flashlight with me. After several
minutes, my eyes have adjusted enough to allow me to finish things and leave
the confines of the jiffy john.
Returning
to my car, I drink a pint of chocolate milk and eat a bagel while listening to
sports radio to find out if the Red Sox hung on to their lead last night—they
did. I have everything in order, I
think and wait until about 5:15am—15 minutes before the race starts—to get out
and warm up. It is cool this morning
with the temperature in the high 40s at this elevation (1,200 feet). We will be topping out at 4,000 feet on the
course, and it will probably be a tad cooler up there. I have my race number pinned on, my Camelbak
filled, and everything is ready, I hope.
I think I even managed to put some sunscreen on my head. I also am wearing my Buff.
Mile 2.64 41:46 (15:49 avg./mile) Overstreet Falls
We
start off and within a quarter of a mile, the course starts going uphill. I start walking soon after this even though
most of the other runners are continuing to try to run. The attempts to keep running uphill finally
fizzle out, and then I start passing people as we continue to walk uphill. The one thing I now realize that I forgot to
do is to put on some Body Glide.
Hopefully at this first aid station they will have some Vaseline and
that will have to do. I pass a number
of people as we near the first aid station, but then I have to wait a few
minutes while one of the aid station workers finds the Vaseline. Finally, he does, and I take care of
things. I am still feeling good, but it
is a shame to get behind so many more people because I forgot the Body Glide
before the start.
Mile 8.55 1:26:11 (
Leaving
Overstreet Falls, the course continues uphill for a while longer, and we are
now exposed to a stiff wind that keeps me on the chilly side. This section is on a nice wide, grassy
trail. I am running along with Martha
Wright and somebody named Dave from Charlottesville. At this aid station, I grab a cup of Conquest and some potato
chips.
Mile 11.94 44:30 (
Leaving
Reed Creek aid station the trail goes up quite a bit more to the highest point
on the course. I pass Martha Wright and
a few others. After passing the high
point, it is mostly downhill to the Sunset Fields aid station. It feels good to really stretch out and run
after so much uphill. At Sunset Fields,
the crews and aid station workers are all bundled up, as it is still pretty
cool out here.
Mile 16.09
The
course now heads downhill for nearly the whole way to this aid station. When the trail levels out for a little bit,
I am running behind some of the college students, who are in the race. I hear some of them talking about the fact
that this is the farthest they have ever run.
I am surprised at this statement, so I make my way past them and
continue on down the trail. Four miles
downhill is hard on the quads. However,
I feel like things are going pretty well so far. At this aid station, I eat some more sandwich quarters and grab a
few cookies.
Mile 19.26
This
section starts out going downhill some more on a road. I think I am making good time and I even
pass a couple of people. Then these two
ladies (probably in their 20s) just come flying by me. I try to stay in contact with them for a
while, but they just keep running hard.
After the downhill, the course goes back onto a trail and heads uphill
to the aid station. This section again
gives me a good time, and I start to think about whether I can finish under
seven hours. At this aid station, I
grab two more sandwich quarters and drink two cups of Conquest. The elevation is down around 1,500 feet, and
the temperature is much warmer at this point.
Mile 23.89
I
am now clearly thinking about just maintaining my pace until I can start to
really push towards the finish. On this
section, I am running in the vicinity of Janice Heltibridle and John
Price. Unfortunately, John leaves us
behind as we come into the aid station.
It feels good to be back here, and I am still feeling pretty good. At this aid station, I am looking for some
serious food. Despite the fact that
they have a grill, they are not making any hamburgers or hotdogs. Therefore, I settled for another sandwich
quarter and a cup of Conquest.
Mile 26.68
Starting
the last major climb of the race, I pass several people early on. My thinking is that this isn’t really that
bad. Well, it wasn’t that bad for the
first half-mile or so, but then it just keeps going. About halfway up, the trail gets really steep and in many places there
are steps built to allow reasonable progress without climbing hand over
hand. I continue to keep a steady pace,
and I pass several people, but none of us are having any fun with this climb. It is beautiful, though, and the sights
during this time of year are wonderful.
I finally get to Sunset Fields, and the temperature at this location is
still rather chilly. The aid station
workers are still bundled up quite a bit.
I have sweated a lot coming up this stretch, and I am all ready to down
a few cups of Conquest. For some
reason, though, this aid station has run out of Conquest. This is somewhat of a setback for me, and I
decide instead to drink a cup of Pepsi.
I grab a handful of potato chips and head on down the trail with my
stomach not in the best of shape.
Mile 29.09
I
was pretty shot after the last section, but after a while I regain some form
and manage a decent time coming into this aid station. At this point, my sub 7-hour finish doesn’t
look likely, so now I am just trying to finish without twisting my ankle. This section is also on the Hellgate course,
but we always do that in the dark and in December. The trail looks familiar, but definitely different because of
daylight and the time of year. I arrive
in the aid station ready to finish this race.
I grab two cups of Coke and head on down the road to the finish.
Mile 31.75
Surprisingly,
a few brave souls pass me early during this last section. I take it a little slow at first, as there
are still rocky parts on the road.
However, as the road smoothes out and becomes less steep, I start to
really turn things over, and I manage to pass several people myself as I come to
the finish.
Official
Finishing Time
114th out of
267starters
This race is definitely a
really nice challenge and hopefully will prepare me well for the 100-mile races
I have later this summer. My next long
race is going to be the Mohican Trail 100 in June in Ohio. Before then, I am going to pace someone at
the Massanutten Mountain Trail 100 on May 19-20.
After I finished the race, I
washed off some in the river. The water
was very cold, but it felt great to get some grime off of me. The showers were not functioning, so this was
the only option and better than nothing.
After changing clothes, I took down my tent and packed up. Then I hung around with everyone else and
had a great time talking with some other VHTRC runners. During the awards ceremony, I won a free
pair of insoles from Montrail. I will
let you know how they are when I get them in the mail. Until next time, …
Never stop running,
Darin
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