Watuppa 50k and My 200th Event

“Most people never run enough on their first wind to find out they have a second.” - William James

This past weekend, I dragged my friends down to Walpole to run a 50k race at the Watuppa reservation.  This had been a long time in the making, as I have been pushing to get them to up their distance for a quite a while now. 

Back in February, Bruin's great, Zdeno Chara, got in touch with my friend Becca and expressed interest in running the Boston marathon.  Over the past few months, we have been working with and become good friends with "Zee" as we helped to get him prepped for the marathon.  Shortly, before Boston (which he went and crushed in a time of 3:38), he expressed interest in running an ultra.  Now we were talking and apparently this was just the push that Becca, Karalyn, and Lisa needed to sign up for a 50k.  

Jump ahead to last Saturday, the five of us lined up to tackle the 5 lap race.  Becca, Lisa, Karalyn, and Zee were all off great performances in Boston and eager (they may not all agree with my assessment here) to see what they could do on the trails.  

I am coming off the biggest volume I have ever run as I was training for the Tahoe 200 and had knocked out over 1500 miles since the beginning of the year.   Unfortunately, due to the record breaking snowfall in California this winter, the Tahoe race got pushed back to mid July and I needed to defer a year based other family commitments.  

The goal for the race was mostly to have fun, but everyone knows that Becca is super competitive.  Already this year she has run 4 marathons (winning 1 of them) and dropped her PR by over 10 minutes.  The course record for the Watuppa race was 4:35 (8:52 / mile), so I volunteered to pace her to 4:25 (or faster if there was some stiff competition).  

Pic Compliments of Chris Wristen

As this was Karalyn and Zee's first ultras, they had more modest goals of closer to 5 hours.  Lisa was back for her second 50k and looking to obliterate her PR that was on a very hilly course many years ago.  

So, with that in mind, Becca and I started the race off in first place overall just a few steps behind the top three guys running the 10k.  After dropping a 7:16 mile, we decided we would just run by feel and get in as many miles as possible for the temperature warmed up.  

We ended up yoyo-ing with 2nd place male for the first lap where he would catch up to us and then drop back off. We finished the first two laps in a bout 47 minutes each (7:24 / mile) still feeling pretty strong. Still knowing there was a lot to go, we tried not to over do it, but the vision of Becca and I winning the race together in sub 4 hours was at the front of my mind.  

Pic Compliments of Christ Wristen 

Towards the end of the 3rd lap it started to get quite a bit warmer and having done zero training in heat so far this year, I started to struggle bit.  As Becca is immune to heat, I let her take off and made a quick stop to drink.  I finished lap 3 in just under 49 minutes (7:52 / mile).  

Lap 4, I was feeling pretty awful and cramping and the next two runners passed me.  Fortunately, with the help of Becca's husband (Joe) and sister (Kristin), I was able to get some more cold liquids and ice washcloths to cool me down.  I was able to keep the 2nd place male in my sights and use that as some motivation to keep pushing and finished the 4th lap just behind him in a time of 55:30 (8:56).  

During the transition to the beginning of lap 5, I was able to open a 20 yard lead and was determined if I could hold that until I got through the hills (roughly half way through), that I would push hard to finish.  One of the funny things about trail racing in general is you rarely have any idea how far ahead or behind your competitors are.  

After muscling through the next few miles, I found that second wind I had been looking for and pushed hard all the way to the finish taking 3rd overall, 2nd male, in a time of 4:12:13 (8:09 / mile), less than a minute behind the top male finisher and 6 minutes head of the 3rd.  

Becca has finished over 12 minutes earlier having barely slowed during the final two laps. To put it into even more perspective, she went through the marathon in 3:22, something that would have been a PR less than 3 months ago.  To say she is on tear, doesn't even do it justice.  

A little bit later, Karalyn and Zee came in together now both having earned the title of ultramarathoner.  A few minutes later, Lisa arrived and along with Karalyn and Becca rounding out the podium.  

As someone that spends a lot of their time coaching and mentoring, whether it be friends running, kids playing soccer, co-workers designing features / writing code, this day really made my heart full.  All of their performances at Boston were incredible, but watching them complete and crush their first ultras was completely epic.  

All and all we had a great time and are looking forward to our next adventure.  Also just wanted to say thanks again for the race directors, Joe, Kristin, Nick, and Chris Wristen for supporting and cheering us on.  

 

My 200th Event

I started tracking my events back in 2005 shortly after running the Jingle Bell 5k in Davis Square Somerville.  Since then, running as taken me all over the country and all over the world.  

In addition to completing 200 events ranging from open water swims, to three day / 270 mile bike rides, to ultramarathons over volcanoes, I have gained a sense of purpose and comradery.  I can't wait to see where the next 200 events bring me.  

- Scot