To fly out of NYC to Maryland and camp out two nights and run was a blessing. That Friday before leaving and going to work, walking down Wall St with my large duffel bag, the stock broker that sits across me thought I was carrying a body bag. I keep my tent and sleeping bag in there, simple.
The plane took off at 3:30PM so by the time you landed it was dark. Hilly terrain popped my ears driving down. These factors made finding the site I reserved at the Maple Tree Campground harder than I thought, and when I did, it was too late to eat all you can eat pizza at Pizza Hut with the Reston Runners. No problem, I had an awesome roast beef and mashed potatoes with gravy and coconut cake dessert at the 24 hour diner at the Green Country Inn in Brunswick, MD.
Louise at Maple Tree gave me the Ram campsite, there were lots of Boy Scouts camping so she got me away from the noise and put me on the top far left site. Very hilly terrain that is part of Gathland State Park. Looking for the site, I passed a Boy Scout
Troop 12 trailer from Virginia. I was in Troop 12 from Baton Rouge, Louisiana, so now I know there can be two troops in the country with the same number. Nice campground with warm water right by race start in Boonsboro.I slept for around 4.5 hours on a slab of rock, never done that before and amazing how you got used to it. Temp was around 42 degrees. I picked up my packet at Boonsboro HS that early morning and ran into none other but a German from Stuttgart named Klaus Neumann who I first met in South Africa two years ago at the Comrades Marathon (I was the first American finisher). That same year I ran into him at the Badwater Ultramarathon while I was crewing for a runner, then we meet now again. He was going to run next year’s 85th Comrades (oldest ultra in the world) the 18th time. I asked if he had a time and he said he just wanted to finish, he took a picture of me giving thumbs up and we went along our way.
At the start, a pickup with two dead hogs passed. The start field contained a who’s who, Hal Koerner and Scott Jurek were there, and Eric Clifton. Hal owns the Rogue Valley Runners running store in Ashland, OR and has won The Western States 100 Endurance Run (first ever 100 mile trail run) several times. His store's blog contains an awesome race report and course description:
The race starts in the sleepy town of Boonsboro, Maryland. The course climbs from the start for three miles up onto South Mountain where it gains the ridge and follows the rocky, leaf-covered Appalachian Trail (AT) for roughly eleven miles to the Weverton Cliffs. At the Cliffs the course descends steeply to the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Canal. Once on the Canal, twenty-six miles of flat, dirt towpath await the runners. The final eight miles criss-cross paved country roads to the finish line in the small town of Willamsport, Maryland.
Scott won Western States seven years in a row, unarguably the greatest American ultra runner in history. Eric Clifton ran and has made his mark on the sport, he has the course record in 5:46.
Under Armour everywhere because the company formed in Maryland, official branded race tees were that brand and I’m now a convert THE ADVANTAGE is UNDENIABLE.
The race should be called the "Rocky Mountain Steep Trail and Towpath 50 Mile" because that’s what you remember. 26 miles of the course is leaf covered towpath along the Potomac River.
Very historic sections that pass near the bloodiest one day battle in American history, Antietam, and Harper’s Ferry.A sign at an aid station said you pay $145 for a slice of pizza at the end, ha ha. There was as much as you wanted at the end and it rivaled New York! I passed lots of people at the end, the last eight miles were rolling roads that were much faster. I shaved as much time off as possible and was satisfied with the finish. I talked to the third place finisher Matt Woods on the bus ride back and he gave an honest description of what happened during the race, that included when he did Number Two.
I passed a very organized Boy Scouts camp with dome tents, perfectly arranged alongside the river, around eight total, with two white canopy tents in the center. These guys were being taught good values by their dads. One day I will get my son in as I was an Eagle Scout.
Twice I saw men holding up the American Flag and the first time I hooted, responded by the Marine call "Oorah" and the second time I yelled “Old Glory!” responded by Oorah!
On the paved road towards the end, there were three girls launching a lacrosse ball with their sticks. These are things you don’t normally see during a run but you can in Maryland.
I ate the entire way at almost every aid station, so I wouldn’t get one hunger attack as in previous 50 milers. There were these awesome tasting potatoes and homemade cookies shaped like feet.
After finishing and camping out the second night, I moved the sleeping bag to the bare ground for more comfort but then my feet were cold all night because it dropped to 37, even with triple layer socks.
In preparation the week before, I was going to loop Manhattan (35 miles). I got to only around 18 miles because the island was getting remnants of Hurricane Ida. It was cold, wet, and windy
, and I even lost one of my gloves. First time I jumped into an ultra with so little training, but the outcome was satisfactory.At the end when I passed people, lots were doing the death march. If they had finished a 100 miler they’d know the pain there is more, so this was nothing. Avoid walking and keep on running.
Scott Jurek had sprained his ankle days before winning the Hardrock 100, the hardest 100 mile trail run in the world, so me finishing was no big deal.
I treated this one like a 100 miler, because of the bothersome sprained ankle. I broke the course down by aid station. Reaching each one was a goal, every one told you how far you ran and how far to the next. One girl called me "minimalist man" on the course and postrace, because I ran without a water bottle. You didn’t need one because it was cool. I also picked landmarks along the course like a leaning tree or a crooked vine far off in the distance so you could focus on reaching that and moving on.
At the paved section towards the end, there was super Bob Marley fan guy with fake dreads and Legend tee. For whatever reasons like finding out my energy gel packets had been preopened before putting in my pocket and getting gel everywhere, and stopping to clean up, and other things like taking recharge walks, he joked as we kept running into each other. It was funny, but I finally passed him. If anything, the thing that was motivating me to finish ASAP was it was getting dark. I was calculating what time of day it would be for the finish when I was on the towpath. As a rider on the post-race bus ride said, you did not want to be wearing a “loser reflector vest.”
Also ran into Blake Benke at the post race awards ceremony. He is a strong runner who works in finance like myself. He doesn’t run as much as before because he has a one year old, but still posts fast times. He’s previously done Badwater, twice, and is a New York Athletic Club member. I will join the AC in the future through sponsorship of someone I know who is a member.
Congratulations to my friend Oz Pearlman of NYC for a strong seventh finish. As of the race, he had the fastest 2009 American men's 50 Mile time of 5:25 at the Chicago 50 Mile, and features
an incredible mind reading show called "The Unseen." Highly recommended.
