Sunmart Texas Trail Endurance Run - 50M - RunUltra Marathon

I took off of work Thursday and Friday to pack up the travel trailer so that we could camp at the state park where the race was held. We got to the park at 4pm on Friday, dropped the trailer and drove down to Houston to pick up my packet and eat out. This is the only part of this race that I don't like, having to drive to Houston to get the race packet (the race is held in Huntsville which is about 50 miles north of Houston).

This was my first race over 50k so I had a goal of 10 hours which is 12 minutes/mile. The course was 4 loops of 12.5 miles so I broke that down with a goal of 2 1/2 hours per loop. I didn't want to start out too fast - this race is too long to walk in survival mode for the last 20 miles.

Loop 1 - 2:23
Loop 2 - 2:28
Loop 3 - 2:45
Loop 4 - 3:12

The first 40 miles I held a good run/walk ratio of about 7/1. I used my camelbak through the first 3 loops to make sure that I didn't get dehydrated as I usually do. I also was taking 4 enduralytes per hour which I have found to be my savior when it comes to NOT cramping.

The last 10 miles were pretty tough. I felt good mentally and I wasn't that tired, but my knees and quads were killing me. I was fast walking a lot of the last loop with some shuffling mixed in to try and keep up some sort of pace.

I was passed by a few people on the last lap, but passed about the same amount that passed me. So judging things, I could have gone out a little slower in the beginning to save my legs for the last 10 miles, but over all I'm satisfied with the learning experience.

I timed the ending so that I could finish in the dark, but didn't have to run too much in the woods with the headlamp. I was on the trail beside the park road when I had to turn it on. It was pretty cool to run from daylight to dark!

The forcast all week was 20% rain on Saturday, which worried me. But the day was perfect for running. We got up Sunday morning and it started raining at the park at 7:30am (boy I'm glad it didn't rain on race day. That would have been miserable).

One more thing - it is just awesome to watch all the people of different shapes and sizes that can run past the marathon length! Of course the fast guys are there that can run the 50k on trails in just over 3 hours and the guys that win the 50 miles in under 6 hours. But it is the older people and the ones that are just normal looking that really amaze me.

My longest training runs were 31 and 35 miles. I need to log more longer runs to get my legs in shape for running 10 hours.

I have decided to take the 100 miles off my todo list for 2007 and run 50 mile races until I can finish it strongly and feel like I can continue on. I'll probably go back to Huntsville in February for the Rocky Racoon 50 mile.

Walked around, grabbed a hamburger. My wife and kids drove me to the trailer on the other side of the park and the shivering started. I was wrapped up in my Sunmart blanket just shaking and laughing. I couldn't stop shaking until I got into the trailer and we cranked the heat up.


Not enough long runs.


This is a must for anyone that is interested in Ultra's. They offer a 50k and 50 mile. Both are excellent for first timers getting into Ultras.