My Adventure at the Zumbro Midnight 50 Mile
Current Weight: 180 lbs.
Miles Ran Last Week: 53 miles
Long Run This Weekend: 41 miles (at the race)
Quick Stats:
Theilman Minnesota | Race location is 1:45 south of the MSP
International Apirport | 50 Miles (3 x 16.7 mile loops) | the Zumbro
Endurance Run was established in 2009 | Elevation Gain 9,294 FT |
Elevation Loss 9,294 FT | NET Elevation Change 18,588 FT | 15 Aid
Stations | 18 hour time limit | Field is limited to 200 runners.(Source: https://www.zumbro100.com/race-info/50-mile-info/)
On Friday came the day to put our training to the test. It was my first Ultramarathon, and my running buddy, Tony's, first of the year. As fate would have it, just getting there proved to be a bit of a challenge. The race was held just outside the little town of Theilman, MN. We were set to meet at my house at 3pm, and be on the road by 3:30pm. On my way home from work, I noticed my front drivers side tire was a bit flat. Turned out my stem valve had broken. I attempted to make it to a Tires Plus in time, but by the time I got to North Minneapolis, it was totally flat. After getting the spare on, I picked up Tony from my house and we loaded the car up, and then brought it in to get both the tire and stem valve replaced. After that was taken care of, we stopped to get gas. The first place we stopped would not accept Tony's credit card with the zip code he entered and they would not allow us to pre-pay. We ended up going to a different gas station, the card was accepted, but the gas cap had gotten improperly lodged in the tank opening and it was impossible to get it out by hand. After about 30 minutes of fiddling, and borrowing a wrench from the stations shop, we managed to break the cap and get it out. A new gas cap and a few minutes later, we were on the road...just two and half hours after we had expected.
When we got to the Zumbro Bottoms Campground, the start point for the race, it was dark except for the picnic covering under which the whole race operation was headquartered. We hung out until we were allowed to check-in, and then we prepped for the race. The forecast was 35-45 degrees with a chance of thunderstorms around 4am. With the ground already saturated from the spring melt, we hoped the rain would stay light, or hold off entirely.
The race began at 12:00 midnight Friday night. After the race director gave the pre-race briefing, the eclectic group of brightly dressed runners, gleaming with neon and bright LED headlamps, headed through the grass of the campground to the trail. The beginning of the trail was narrow single track, and within a quarter mile we were scaling our first of about 10 major accents on each loop of the race. Going into the run, I had the expectation that 12 hours was a very reasonable, maybe even high, expectation for a finishing time of a 50 miler, even if it was on trails. I soon realized this race was unlike anything I had ever experienced....and it was a blast! The course was about 60% "runable" with the other sections being places where speed-hiking was the only option because the accent or decent was so steep (Net Elevation Change 18,588 FT). Imagine putting the treadmill at the full incline of 15%, and walking as fast as you can. Then imagine jacking that incline up another 10 degrees while climbing over rocks and trying to gain your footing in the gravel trail. That's what the hills were like on this trail. It was a fun challenge, and the best part was that I felt like though the hills were challenging from a muscular standpoint, they felt like a break for the cardiovascular system. This made the course varied and interesting, and I was loving every minute of it. Tony on the other hand found himself feeling sluggish and beat up by the challenging terrain. It was clear from the start that he wasn't having a good race. At about the halfway point in the first loop, he advised me to split off from him and "run my own race." As much as I was going to miss my friend and the guy that helped me get to the point of being able to do a 50-miler in the first place, I knew he was right. I took off and was able to finish my first 17 mile loop in just under four hours, slightly ahead of my goal pace. I knew without being limited by the crowded field of runners snaking single file through the single track trails that we had experienced the first lap, I could pick up some ground on the second lap. During the second lap I met a few people that I ended up talking with for significant portions of the course. The first was a financial analyst from Maple Plain, MN, doing his first 50-miler as well. The second, a Personal Trainer from Minneapolis, who I hung with for at least 10 miles talking about our experiences with clients, ultrarunning, and life in general. It had been lightly raining on and off since the tail end of the first lap, but by the end of the second lap it was pouring. At the end of the second lap I was still on pace, coming in under 8 hours. There was thunder, lightning and heavy rain accompanied by five minutes of small hail. Needless to say, I pulled into aid station five (the start/finish, end of loop) soaking wet. I pulled some extra clothes from my drop bag, and suited up in my windbreaker. I was shivering violently from the cold and rain, and felt like I needed to get moving quickly to avoid losing too much energy from shivering. On the other hand, I wanted to wait out the worst of the rain. I ended up waiting about 30 minutes before starting to wonder if Tony had dropped. I ran over to my car, only about 50 yards from aid station 5, and sure enough, he had dropped. I jumped in the car to talk to him about what had happened, and I found myself questioning if I should even go out for lap five. Even after the light rains we had by getting all day, the course was beginning to be more mud than trail. I knew if I went back out for lap three it would be a grind, it would not be run-able, and there was no way I would make my 12 hour goal. I had something to prove though, I needed to get out there and finish. I headed back to the course and headed back for the trails. Immediately I started to realize just how slow this lap was going to be. The course was total putty, sinking beneath your feet with each step. There was no hope of keeping dry feet, so I just ran through the standing water and mud when I needed to, and ran along the sides of the trail when it was possible. The 3.5 miles to the first aid station were slow, but the rain had stopped for the time being, and I thought that I would be able to pull through. As I was starting the second leg of the course, the rain started pouring again. I found myself loving the hills more than ever, because they were the only portions of the course dry enough to maintain a good clip. I was beginning to lose hope of finishing. The trails were not only not run-able, but not even walkable in many portions. A single hill near aid station 2 took me more than 15 minutes to descend...on my hands and knees because there was no hope of gaining any footing in the sliding mud. It was after that hill that I realized my condition; freezing, dizzy, and nauseous. In addition, the last two miles had taken me an hour to cover, and that was with me giving a good effort to navigate and push through the mud. Going into aid station two I found myself wondering if it was safe for me to tackle the next leg of the course knowing that it would likely be nearly 90 minutes before I got to the next aid station. At aid station two, I drank some HEED (a water/electrolyte drink) and attempted to eat a few fig newtons. I nearly threw up and began to get very dizzy. I dropped at aid station 2 on my third loop, 41 miles into the race. It was a hard decision and a disappointing decision.
While I'm not proud of dropping in this race, I'm looking to the future. 41 miles was still the longest distance I've covered before, and I can appreciate the fact that I had been maintaining a good pace and feeling remarkably good up until the third lap. I am feeling very ready and excited for the Chippewa 50k in two weeks. I have a bone to pick with the 50-mile distance, though, and I plan on putting another trail 50 miler on my calendar for the near future. After the race, I took a look at the finishing times and results. Neither of the individuals ran with on the course finished, and overall only 61 of the 139 people registered completed the full 50 miles. Apparently we weren't the only ones that had some difficulty. I will be looking forward to registering for this race again next year. It was a very well run event, and a hell of a course.
This week we are back to training, though keeping mileage a bit lighter with our next 50k race, the Chippewa 50k, just two weeks away. We will be focusing on getting some miles in on local trails and hills, hills, and some more hills - that is the name of the game with the upcoming races.
Miles Ran Last Week: 53 miles
Long Run This Weekend: 41 miles (at the race)
Quick Stats:
Theilman Minnesota | Race location is 1:45 south of the MSP
International Apirport | 50 Miles (3 x 16.7 mile loops) | the Zumbro
Endurance Run was established in 2009 | Elevation Gain 9,294 FT |
Elevation Loss 9,294 FT | NET Elevation Change 18,588 FT | 15 Aid
Stations | 18 hour time limit | Field is limited to 200 runners.(Source: https://www.zumbro100.com/race-info/50-mile-info/)On Friday came the day to put our training to the test. It was my first Ultramarathon, and my running buddy, Tony's, first of the year. As fate would have it, just getting there proved to be a bit of a challenge. The race was held just outside the little town of Theilman, MN. We were set to meet at my house at 3pm, and be on the road by 3:30pm. On my way home from work, I noticed my front drivers side tire was a bit flat. Turned out my stem valve had broken. I attempted to make it to a Tires Plus in time, but by the time I got to North Minneapolis, it was totally flat. After getting the spare on, I picked up Tony from my house and we loaded the car up, and then brought it in to get both the tire and stem valve replaced. After that was taken care of, we stopped to get gas. The first place we stopped would not accept Tony's credit card with the zip code he entered and they would not allow us to pre-pay. We ended up going to a different gas station, the card was accepted, but the gas cap had gotten improperly lodged in the tank opening and it was impossible to get it out by hand. After about 30 minutes of fiddling, and borrowing a wrench from the stations shop, we managed to break the cap and get it out. A new gas cap and a few minutes later, we were on the road...just two and half hours after we had expected.When we got to the Zumbro Bottoms Campground, the start point for the race, it was dark except for the picnic covering under which the whole race operation was headquartered. We hung out until we were allowed to check-in, and then we prepped for the race. The forecast was 35-45 degrees with a chance of thunderstorms around 4am. With the ground already saturated from the spring melt, we hoped the rain would stay light, or hold off entirely.
The race began at 12:00 midnight Friday night. After the race director gave the pre-race briefing, the eclectic group of brightly dressed runners, gleaming with neon and bright LED headlamps, headed through the grass of the campground to the trail. The beginning of the trail was narrow single track, and within a quarter mile we were scaling our first of about 10 major accents on each loop of the race. Going into the run, I had the expectation that 12 hours was a very reasonable, maybe even high, expectation for a finishing time of a 50 miler, even if it was on trails. I soon realized this race was unlike anything I had ever experienced....and it was a blast! The course was about 60% "runable" with the other sections being places where speed-hiking was the only option because the accent or decent was so steep (Net Elevation Change 18,588 FT). Imagine putting the treadmill at the full incline of 15%, and walking as fast as you can. Then imagine jacking that incline up another 10 degrees while climbing over rocks and trying to gain your footing in the gravel trail. That's what the hills were like on this trail. It was a fun challenge, and the best part was that I felt like though the hills were challenging from a muscular standpoint, they felt like a break for the cardiovascular system. This made the course varied and interesting, and I was loving every minute of it. Tony on the other hand found himself feeling sluggish and beat up by the challenging terrain. It was clear from the start that he wasn't having a good race. At about the halfway point in the first loop, he advised me to split off from him and "run my own race." As much as I was going to miss my friend and the guy that helped me get to the point of being able to do a 50-miler in the first place, I knew he was right. I took off and was able to finish my first 17 mile loop in just under four hours, slightly ahead of my goal pace. I knew without being limited by the crowded field of runners snaking single file through the single track trails that we had experienced the first lap, I could pick up some ground on the second lap. During the second lap I met a few people that I ended up talking with for significant portions of the course. The first was a financial analyst from Maple Plain, MN, doing his first 50-miler as well. The second, a Personal Trainer from Minneapolis, who I hung with for at least 10 miles talking about our experiences with clients, ultrarunning, and life in general. It had been lightly raining on and off since the tail end of the first lap, but by the end of the second lap it was pouring. At the end of the second lap I was still on pace, coming in under 8 hours. There was thunder, lightning and heavy rain accompanied by five minutes of small hail. Needless to say, I pulled into aid station five (the start/finish, end of loop) soaking wet. I pulled some extra clothes from my drop bag, and suited up in my windbreaker. I was shivering violently from the cold and rain, and felt like I needed to get moving quickly to avoid losing too much energy from shivering. On the other hand, I wanted to wait out the worst of the rain. I ended up waiting about 30 minutes before starting to wonder if Tony had dropped. I ran over to my car, only about 50 yards from aid station 5, and sure enough, he had dropped. I jumped in the car to talk to him about what had happened, and I found myself questioning if I should even go out for lap five. Even after the light rains we had by getting all day, the course was beginning to be more mud than trail. I knew if I went back out for lap three it would be a grind, it would not be run-able, and there was no way I would make my 12 hour goal. I had something to prove though, I needed to get out there and finish. I headed back to the course and headed back for the trails. Immediately I started to realize just how slow this lap was going to be. The course was total putty, sinking beneath your feet with each step. There was no hope of keeping dry feet, so I just ran through the standing water and mud when I needed to, and ran along the sides of the trail when it was possible. The 3.5 miles to the first aid station were slow, but the rain had stopped for the time being, and I thought that I would be able to pull through. As I was starting the second leg of the course, the rain started pouring again. I found myself loving the hills more than ever, because they were the only portions of the course dry enough to maintain a good clip. I was beginning to lose hope of finishing. The trails were not only not run-able, but not even walkable in many portions. A single hill near aid station 2 took me more than 15 minutes to descend...on my hands and knees because there was no hope of gaining any footing in the sliding mud. It was after that hill that I realized my condition; freezing, dizzy, and nauseous. In addition, the last two miles had taken me an hour to cover, and that was with me giving a good effort to navigate and push through the mud. Going into aid station two I found myself wondering if it was safe for me to tackle the next leg of the course knowing that it would likely be nearly 90 minutes before I got to the next aid station. At aid station two, I drank some HEED (a water/electrolyte drink) and attempted to eat a few fig newtons. I nearly threw up and began to get very dizzy. I dropped at aid station 2 on my third loop, 41 miles into the race. It was a hard decision and a disappointing decision.
While I'm not proud of dropping in this race, I'm looking to the future. 41 miles was still the longest distance I've covered before, and I can appreciate the fact that I had been maintaining a good pace and feeling remarkably good up until the third lap. I am feeling very ready and excited for the Chippewa 50k in two weeks. I have a bone to pick with the 50-mile distance, though, and I plan on putting another trail 50 miler on my calendar for the near future. After the race, I took a look at the finishing times and results. Neither of the individuals ran with on the course finished, and overall only 61 of the 139 people registered completed the full 50 miles. Apparently we weren't the only ones that had some difficulty. I will be looking forward to registering for this race again next year. It was a very well run event, and a hell of a course.
This week we are back to training, though keeping mileage a bit lighter with our next 50k race, the Chippewa 50k, just two weeks away. We will be focusing on getting some miles in on local trails and hills, hills, and some more hills - that is the name of the game with the upcoming races.
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