The Hungerford Trail Races popped up on my radar late last
year when I didn’t really have room or time in my schedule to consider it. I had only run 2 50 mile races and thought
that this would be a good one to consider since it is easy to travel to and in
an area of Michigan that I haven’t been able to check out. Plus, everyone I’ve talked to has raved about
the Manistee Forest area, so I kept it in mind for this year in case I
recovered from Eastern States well enough.
Well, since I didn’t finish Eastern States, I decided that I needed to
go for another 100 miler for the year, or something like it. When I couldn’t find a 100 that fit into the
schedule very well, I went back to the drawing board. I got to thinking and I realized that I have
PR’ed every distance this year with the exception of 50 miles and
Marathon. My decision was made almost
instantly.
One of the reasons that I failed to finish Eastern States
was just plain fear. I was scared to
tackle the second half of the course in the dark and thought I would end up
getting hurt. I decided I wasn’t going
to be afraid to run this 50 mile aggressively and without fear. I lined up at the front of the pack and
started off fairly quick and found myself in 1st place. After about a half a mile or so, the eventual
winner took the lead and quickly separated from the rest of the pack. I bounced between 2nd and 3rd
for the first two miles or so. I was
having some trouble with my shorts which were loaded with gels. Generally, I run with a pack and either have a
crew with frequent contact or a central location to leave my bag for
restocking. This race has an aid station
roughly every 3 miles, so I figured I would go minimal and carry a single 20
ounce bottle. I did misunderstand the
course a bit and thought that there was a full 25 mile loop repeated twice and
I could leave a bag at the main station and restock. Nope.
My bad. Either way, going with a
single bottle was awesome. So nice to
carry so little. Anyhow, I kept moving
swiftly through the aid station and early miles of the race. I was surprised to see how sandy the course
was. I knew that there was supposed to
be sand, but I definitely underestimated it.
The miles clicked by and I remained in 2nd
place. At mile 14, there is an aid
station just prior to an out and back.
On the out and back, I finally caught up with 1st place,
Shelby. He seemed to be moving pretty
well, and was really focused. I started
to think I could battle with him for the win if I could hold it together. I stayed patient though – there were still a
ton of miles to go. The rest of this
loop was really uneventful. I ran nearly
every, if not every step through mile 25.
I eased off the gas in the powerlines section which I think is the
hilliest and sandiest portion of the course.
Toward the end of this section, I looked back and saw a runner and his
pacer maybe 100 yards back. This woke me
up a bit and as soon as I filled up at the next aid station, I made a big push
to create some separation between he and I. We would do battle constantly for
the next 10 miles or so. It seemed like
no matter how hard I would run, I would look back and he would be there. I fell into a pretty rough patch in this area
and I resorted to a 2 minute run/1 minute walk strategy to keep moving and try
to stay ahead of 3rd place. I
figured if I could hold him off long enough and maybe make up a little ground
Shelby, I could still be in a good spot for the late stages of the race when my
second wind came. (Hopefully).
The miles kept adding up and I kept thinking about Eastern
States and how much of a disappointment it was.
I thought about how well my body felt overall and I was really happy
that I was feeling strong and that my hamstring was holding up despite tweaking
it last week. With 10 miles to go, I
began to push harder and harder. I had
gotten word at one of the aid stations that Shelby was limping, but still far
ahead. I had a really strong final
section, but I couldn’t manage to catch him.
In the end, I finished in 8:40, 11 minutes behind Shelby. I found out that at around mile 38, he was 31
minutes ahead of me. I’m really happy
with the ground that I made up. I’m also
really happy with lowering my 50 mile PR by an hour and twelve minutes. At the finish, I chatted with Ben the RD and
thanked him for a solid race. I congratulated
Shelby on his victory and waited for 3rd place (Brian), expecting
him to arrive any minute. It turned out
that I had built a 27 minute lead over the later stages in the race.
It’s now the day after the race, and I feel surprisingly
good. My quads, shins and calves don’t
hurt at all, but my hamstrings are a bit sore.
I expected this soreness, but this is like nothing. I could easily go out and run now. So now, I have 3 weeks to prepare for the
Detroit Free Press Marathon and the goal is to break 3:42. That should be easy enough in itself based on
the general strength, speed and fitness that I have gained since my last
marathon in 2011. I think a more aggressive goal is in order.
Time to get to work.
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| Photo Credit - Brandon Seaver |
