North Face Endurance Challenge 50K
This second year event is hosted in the nearby Kettle Moraine State Forest at the Ottawa Lake Campground. I arrived ninety minutes before the start and simply sat in the car with the heat on to stay warm. Thirty minutes before the start I dropped a gear bag off to be transported to the 22 mile aid station. In it I packed a complete change of clothes, including shoes. Temperatures were in the low forties and it was overcast with high humidity.
Shortly before 8AM, the PA announcer began rounding up the participants to the starting area. My friend Jeff stopped by to wish me well. He wasn’t running this morning but wished he’d signed up. The race started and we were off like a heard of turtles as the start of an ultramarathon is rather casual in nature. It’s sort of like – – okay, lets get going now — versus the all out sprint you’d see at a neighborhood 5K. As we headed out of the campground on the access road, another friend – Nic – pulled up along side of me. I congratulated him on expecting his first child and wished him well for his race. We made our way along Highway 67 then into the woods.
Not long after getting into the shelter of the woods, I realized I was a bit overdressed for the occasion. While running along the trail, I wrestled myself out of my 2002 Boston Marathon jacket and attempted to tuck it into my tri-top I was wearing over a technical top. That didn’t work real well. As we approached the first aid station, I decided to dump the jacket with a volunteer. Shortly thereafter I got to greet local legends Kevin Setnes and Tom Bunk. (Tom’s wife was running the 50K as well)
We made our way through the Scuppernong trails which are familiar to me as I’ve trained out there a number of times. The terrain rolls up and down sometimes through pine tree alleys that have pine needles laying about the ground. (Those areas are my favorite.) As I made my way along the northern section of the trails, I was able to greet octogenarian and local legend Paul Gionfriddo with a “Good Morning Sir” as I passed. (He was enjoying an early start for the event.)
We left the Scuppernong trails and made our way east to the Ottawa trails which are more rocky in my opinion. I was feeling rather good at this point and had no problem following the course as it had been well marked with blue colored ribbons on branches along the way. I rolled through the second aid station (eleven miles) and headed south on the Ice Age Trail. This section is also a bit rocky and there are some steep hills to navigate. To add to the fun, I had a nice little sinus/migrane headache coming on which made “spots” appear before my eyes as I gingerly stepped over the terrain. For the record, it’s not the first time something like that happened to me during a race. I had packed Sudafed in my 22M drop bag but I was a long way from there at this point.
The route crossed Highway 67 and headed out into the open. At this point, the wind was from the south and it was still in the lower forties. I put my head down and made my way along the Ice Age Trail as it led us into the marshier section of the race. The rain from the preceding days left the trail with some patches of standing water and made the boardwalk bridges rather slippery. Have I mentioned that it is also “Duck” season and that the area is sanctioned for hunting? No? Oh, well a hunter dressed in blaze orange with a shotgun and pooch were walking along the trail. In the distance the sound of shotgun fire could be heard. I simply kept my ipod going with tunes to try and keep me focused on the task at hand. That being said, I could feel myself slowing down in this section, which was confirmed by other participants beginning to pass me. At aid station #3, just past 16 miles, I remarked to a volunteer that being in the open fields wasn’t real comfortable. I grabbed two cups of Coca-Cola and headed back on the trail.
More open marshland greeted me after leaving the aid station. More fellow competitors came streaming by me. By this time, I was really regretting I had dropped my jacket off early on as I was awful cold. Still, I kept the music on and kept putting one foot in front of the other. Even with the music on, I could tell there were more hunters in the area as the shotgun fire had grown much louder. By perhaps twenty miles, the route turned north and into the protection of the woods. Not long thereafter, a huge white horse and rider made their way southbound on the trail as I was heading north. As I passed, the rider “parked” the horse to the far side of the trail as to avoid spooking it – – I guess. (If you haven’t picked up on it, I’m a bit more “city” than “country”) As I emerged from the woods I could see in the distance Aid Station #4 (22 miles) which would allow for an opportunity to refuel and get to my gear bag.
I was able to quickly find my gear bag and slumped down into a folding chair. Rifling through the bag, I located two technical shirts so I peeled off my tri-top and tech shirt and quickly through on the two other shirts. Next was a change of shoes as my left foot had a “hot spot” from all the rolling around avoiding rocks and such. I changed my stocking hat to a dry one and dug down to the bottom of my bag for a yellow windbreaker. I repacked my bag with my discarded gear and tossed it back where I had found it. The next stop was the aid table where I grabbed a handful of M&M’s, three cups of coca-cola and refilled my water bottle — with water. With that I departed the aid station at a walk and slowly eased back into my ultra shuffle.
By this time, the sun began to show itself from time to time which was very welcome. It didn’t take long with dry clothes and a windbreaker to get my body temperature up to a more normal range and it felt like the pace had improved a bit. Regardless, at this point, hopes for a solid finishing time were out of the question. I opted to turn off my ipod and focused on moving forward along the trail. Speaking of the trail, horses are allowed on this section which also means we got to encounter big piles of droppings from time to time.
I pulled into Aid Station 5 (27 miles) and swigged a few more cups of Coca-Cola plus refilled my water bottle before heading out. Not too long after leaving, my left quad cramped on me as I was rolling down a hill. I immediately slowed to a walk and let it work itself out. Once it was gone I slowly began shuffling again.
The route wound itself north back to the Scuppernong trail head. Knowing the area helped with the motivation to keep moving along as I knew it wouldn’t be long until I reached the finish area. However, first we had to navigate a long uphill section followed by a steep downhill section. Honestly, the downhill was toughest on me as my quads were pretty well gone by then. Mercifully, we emerged from the woods and ran along the shoulder of Highway 67 before turning into the campground. A few more zig-zag turns then the final stretch to the inflated archway that I had last seen in the wee hours of the morning.
After finishing, I walked to my car to get into some dry clothes. The finish area included a number of tents with sponsor displays as well as food. Included in the event registration was a hot meal, which I took advantage of pretty quickly. The PA announcer rolled through raffle prizes and race awards while I had my fill of turkey sandwiches and white chili. I picked up my jacket which I had dropped earlier in the morning then headed back to my car for a short nap while waiting for my gear bag to return from Aid Station #4. After retrieving my gear back, feeling refreshed from the nap, I drove home and took a hot shower.
Looking back on the effort, I definitely made a mistake with my gear selection. I should also consider keeping a Sudafed on me if I get one of those headaches again — however taking one would likely be considered doping. Additionally, I should have more training miles in the months preceding the event – – especially in the woods. I made due with the bare minimum. Regardless, it was a first class event that I would definitely recommend to others.
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