Yankee Springs 50k Trail Run - RunUltra Marathon

I had a plan. Really, I did. Run my own race, forget what others were doing, and just have fun on some new single track trails. I ran 88 miles per week each of the last two weeks before race week because this race was supposed to be a hard training run on 5 days taper. Leadville 100 trail run is the big race this year, and everything until then is a learning experience toward that goal.

But when a group of five fast young guys were gunning right from the start, that plan went out the window. I wanted to see if I could hang with them, if I had the huevos to climb and descend as fearlessly as they did. I was so dumb. So so dumb. But I was having a great time running in a pack at the front of the race, feeling like I was actually good at something. We finished the first 5-mile loop together doing 7:24/mi pace average. Dumb. I should’ve been doing 8:00/mi at best.

Halfway through the first 13.1 mile loop, a guy right behind me in a Brooks-Hansons singlet bombed down this rocky/rooty/technical descent and was gone. Then the guy behind him took off after Brooks guy up the next hill. Whoa. I’m barely hanging on here, and these guys could see it. I need to train harder, better, smarter to make that kind of move. So it was me and this guy in a Playmakers jersey realizing that we couldn’t reel them in this early, so we settled back a bit, and admittedly, stopped paying attention. That’s when we missed the turn.

I now know what happened because I took the correct way the second 13.1 loop. But on the first loop, I wasn’t concentrating on the small orange flag markers and I followed Playmakers guy straight on the trail, whereas the flags jumped left through a non-trail section that connected to the next part of the course. We should’ve seen the warning signs along our mistake; there weren’t any flags. On the upside, we ran through a section called "The Pines", which was actually the most gorgeous section of single track of the whole course. Chatting with other racers afterward, a bunch of other runners made the same mistake, and some even made it twice.

When we merged back with the proper trail and saw all these marathon-racers that we passed MILES ago, the reality was clear. We’d added over a full mile to the course, which at our pace was just about 8:00 of extra time. The real kicker was we lost at least 2 OA places right there. Bummer. But it did allow me to re-focus on my original plan to have fun and enjoy the woods more. I dropped Playmakers guy because he wasn’t descending well, passed the first place female, and held onto that spot the rest of the way. I didn’t see anyone but aid station volunteers the whole 2nd loop, but I’m used to running alone in the woods, so it was kinda like home.

I saw Ryan back at the start as I changed water bottles and heard that he finished 3rd OA at the half-marathon. AWESOME! That gave me a great boost up the first climb, though it was also the last time I’d feel really good until the last 2 miles of the race. Starting the final 13.1 mile loop, I’d gone 19+ miles and my legs and lungs/heart were starting to suffer already, as I’d averaged 7:50/mi on that last 13.1 mile loop. So essentially I’d done 19 miles at 7:45/mi pace average. WAY TOO FAST for this hilly trail.

Realizing I had to focus on finishing and forget my time, I kept my turnover easy, light, and smooth. I power hiked the steep hills to stretch out my legs, beasted the downhills because my quads felt awesome, and stayed steady on the flats. Also took in a ton more fluids, for I knew by an elevated HR and breathing, I was short on fluids. I should’ve paid attention to all this for the first 25 miles, so that I could have a super strong final 10k, but I blew that out the barn. It’s all an experiment of one, right?

Finally I reached the last two miles and felt strong, like I could do another 10 miles at this effort if I REALLY needed to, which is a damn good feeling at the end of a race. I gave a Judd Nelson-worthy fist pump at the finish when I saw 4:21 on the clock and felt awesome.

We got these cool snow globes that you can put a picture inside rather than a medal, which is a great idea. We also got a long sleeve tech tee, a pair of wicking socks, and hot chili served inside of a warm cabin with a fire in the fireplace. What a great way to end my first 50k trail race.

Follow MY plan and pay attention to the course

As a training run I ran 32.2 miles at an 8:08/mi pace
As a race course, I officially ran 31.07 miles at 8:25/mi pace

The course was accurate. The result is my fault.

Takeaways from the race:

- I am the zen master of peeing while running. Uphill, downhill, over rocks and roots, wherever! And not a drop on myself. They need awards for this kind of thing. Can you imagine the medal? I'm thinking a gold fire hose.

- My hill running skills are improving, but I need more hill endurance. I'm made of bird bones, and I'm going to learn to FLY uphill.

- I received the best accidental compliment I’ve ever gotten when I was chatting with the top finishers in the cabin after the race. The Playmakers guy, Grant, asked me who I ran for in college. I think my jaw dropped and my eyeballs displayed binary code as I gave the universal ‘does not compute’ facial response. I told him I’d started running to lose weight a few years ago. But he actually thought I was a real runner -- that’s so cool!


Racing at the front for OA placing is a whole different game than going for a PR or to finish, and my skillz at that game are WEAK.


Definitely back next year, hopefully in some deep snow. :D