I am behind a post or two. Time does seem to go by fast.
Last week, I ran the Catherine’s Furnace Fatass 50K. I enjoyed it a lot. The trail course turn by turn directions were not as hard as I thought. There were only a few turns.
The trail itself was not as technical as I thought. It was nothing I could not handle. The 50K still took me 9 hours to finish. I was not in my best state. There were couple long climbs. The course was runnable, but I mostly walked it. The weather was not as hot.
We started at 7. I arrived a little before 6:30 and almost everyone did too. I almost could not find a place to park. There were about 75 of us trying to squeeze to a parking lot made for 35 spots.
I saw many familiar faces. Wayne and Costi, friends I made from MMT race were there. Both Larry were there. One of them ran in the Western States this year. The other was whom I met at Old Dominion 100. I met up with Elana, who was my hero from MMT. Her husband still talks of how they found me on the trail completely exhausted. I was glad to be able to run the first section with her and later finished the race together. Amy whom I ran with at the Bull Run Run 50 was there as well.
Physically, my ankle has improved. Now I have recovered enough like when I ran Blackbeard Revenge 100 in March. It still feels uncomfortable but it is no longer hurting. I think this is the best I could do. My ankle has regained the flexibility. I could handle the trail in an acceptable way. I was still wary of not to put too much strain on it.
The run was nothing much to say. We hard 4-5 aids stations. Larry (from Old Dominion) manned one of them. Tracy and several others volunteered at the Bird Knob station. Most of the run was uneventful.
I was able to help someone during the run. The course was like a lolipop. I was on my way back with maybe 6 miles left. I just passed the Bird Knob Aid Station, maybe a mile in. I climbed the road, passed the gate and was a bit on the Ant Hill. There I saw a guy laying across the trail on his side. He did not look okay. I called out to him. He gave some vague answer. I think he wanted me to go past him. I would have done so but I felt I need to check on him first. He said he has stommach pain. His eyes were closed. Most of the time he was not responding to my questions. I believed I was there for 10-15 minutes. People who were behind me started showing up. They seemed not stopping for him.
I know he has two choices and staying where he was was not one of them. The race is almost over, unless he moves or else he be stuck on the mountain. Based on my morning run of that section and my MMT experience, it would take 2 hours to reach the finish. We just passed the last aid station about a mile ago. So I asked him if he wanted to go back to the aid station or continue to the finish. He said he wanted to go back. Now, I know from experience the aid station should be closing soon. So he said, why don’t I run to the aid station to let them know to wait for him. I did. They sent people out to pick him up. By then he had recovered enough to walk and he was able to make it back to the aid station. They took him off the mountain.
As for me, I continue on with my race. I lost about 45 minutes. To me it was not a big deal. I had my training in. I know I would still finish. I ran hard to catch up to the last person who passed me (it was Elana). I still took me almost an hour to catch up to her. She was descending from Bird Knob by then. Together with her we chased down Stuart and his son. It was not long until we reached the finish.
Many of us stayed a long time after the race to chat. The food was good. We had burgers. I stayed till almost sunset.
This brings us up to the present. This weekend I will be running the Burning River 100. I signed up not long after finishing the MMT in May. Now it is the end of July. The last 2.5-3 months have gone by fast. I did not get as much training in as I had hoped. It is what it is. I am about to go to Ohio for the race.
I am excited. It is a big race. Surely, I am nervous. I have done enough 100 mile races🤗🍊 that I should not feel this way. Personally I think I will finish but who knows, 100 mile races are always hard.
Not related, I renumbered my last two posts because the “date” was off by one, in case anyone wonders why they are seeing post 568 twice.
In awe 