For some reason, the name & concept of this race is its biggest attraction for me. While the course is about as easy as it gets, it can be hot/humid, and running through the night presents its own issues. I signed up back in March, and it seemed like a good idea at the time. However, since then, my running has dropped off to just a maintenance level. I think my longest run in the last two months has been 10-miles, so I knew I was going to be in for a lot of hurt.

I really thought about taking a DNS. My top priority for this year is to prepare for the RR 100-mile in Feb, so I thought toughing this out might be worthwhile mental preparation.......tough conditions, middle of the night, and running on "hurting" legs. Right or wrong, I decided to go ahead and give it a whirl.

First two hours were pretty good. I was maintaining a comfortable pace....then I started to have some stomach issues. Spent a little time in the Port-a-loo, and did another lap. Right around the end of lap #5 (around 19-miles), I began feeling bad....stomach issues and a general sense of fatigue and feeling that I should be curled up in bed. The temptation to call it a night was POWERFUL, but decided to head back to the Port-a-loo, start the next lap & see what happens. I ended up taking a walk break for the first bit of that lap, and once I started jogging again, I felt much better. This was probably about as close as I've ever come to taking a DNF.

Once the 25k people finish, this course gets pretty empty. The field had less than 100 people for the 50k, spread out over the 5k course. You see people, but there's a lot of space. My mood and feeling continued to improve with the last few laps, and I finished feeling pretty good.

I collected the finisher medal & pin, hung around for a bit, then made the 4-hour drive back home. All in all, quite a night.

When I got home Sunday and looked at the results, I found that my disposable shoe tag only registered for the first five laps. Luckily, I've got the garmin data, but I really question whether those tags are a good idea for ultra distance races.

Easiest 50k course there is, if you can handle the drudgery of the same loop over and over. Race difficulty comes from the July temps and the midnight start.

Volunteers are excellent. I have no idea how they convince so many people to stay up all night and work the aid stations!