Vermont 50 Ultra Run
September 30, 2012
I drove up to Brownsville, VT to run the Vermont 50. It is a well-known mountain bike and ultra run that has been around 19 years. I looked at previous years results and noted a usually high DNF rate of 15%. As an ultra runner its sometimes better not to know a course. When your feeling really bad and know its only going to get worse due to a big climb
September 30, 2012
I drove up to Brownsville, VT to run the Vermont 50. It is a well-known mountain bike and ultra run that has been around 19 years. I looked at previous years results and noted a usually high DNF rate of 15%. As an ultra runner its sometimes better not to know a course. When your feeling really bad and know its only going to get worse due to a big climb
it can make those little voices in your head to quit to get louder. I chose to study the course and develop a plan to start slow and walk all the up hills. That plan would have worked if it were not for the 9000 feet or so of accumulated elevation gain. Too much walking leads to a DNF.
It was already raining when the race started at 6:25 am. Prior to our start, all of the mountain bikers rode the same course. With the rain and bikers, I knew it was going to be a mudfest. The first mile was gravel road and downhill, then level for another 2 miles. I started around at a 9:30-10 min pace until I hit the first long uphill climb. I walked the hill and then hit the trails but didn’t feel myself. My legs were dying on the hills and a quick check of the heart rate monitor showed 170-175 bpm. I guess it wasn’t the best idea to run 2 ultra races within 3 weeks of each other. I knew it was going to be a long day.
I hit the aid station at Skunk Hollow (12 miles) and since it was raining so hard decided changing socks was useless. The hills were starting to come more and more and at mile 20 was Garvin Hill (1812’) the highest point in Hartland. The rain almost felt like it was coming sideways at the summit. I couldn’t believe how happy the aid station staff was. While I have only have done about a half dozen ultras, they by far were the most helpful and knowledgeable. I couldn’t have imaged how cold and wet they were waiting at that summit all day long. They were awesome. I filled my bottle, drank some soup and ate an orange. I decided before the race not to eat or drink anything with sugar until the 30-mile mark, when I really needed a boost.
After Garvin Hill came a really long decent, I couldn’t help but to think how much fun (and faster) it would be to mountain bike down vs. trying to run. The next 11 miles were almost exclusively trail sections with slippery mud, but through some beautiful New England forest.
So far in the race I met and ran with some really cool and interesting racers. I met 2 PhD mathematicians who were passing time by trading complicated logic problems, and a fireman from Brooklyn. I also talked with a northwest pacific native transplanted to Boston and a woman who both missed the 47.2 miles cutoff the prior year. They told me that the 5:45pm cutoff is strictly enforced. I started to do the math in my head and knew I was going to be in trouble.
I hit the 31.9-mile Greenall’s aid station and decided to change my socks and put additional hydropel on my feet. I also drank a water bottle of Ensure since it worked so well during the last race. While leaving the aid station I heard a volunteer mention it was closing in 10 minutes.
I started to pick up the pace a bit and hit the Fallon’s aid station (37.3 miles) with 20 minutes to spare. I still felt like I didn’t “have it” and wasn’t my usual self.
I ran right through the 41.1-mile aid station to save time. I had to run the next 6.1 miles in 1:10 to make the cutoff. That little voice was getting louder, at moments I found myself walking, thinking just cruise to the aid station and get a ride to the finish…. NO WAY!
Somewhere between mile 44 and 45 I ran past a backyard with a cooler and sign that said “free beer, racers only”. Pretty funny, I knew time was tight, but took about a minute to down the best bottle of Blue Moon I ever had. The cold beer immediately fueled my body and spirit. I decided I had to try to make it. I ran the next 2 miles as if a pack of wild dogs were chasing me, passing 4-5 runners.
I hit the 47.2 miles cutoff with 4 minutes to spare, AWESOME! I was going to make it. I also ran past a volunteer that asked if I needed a pacer. Man did I look that bad? Of course I said yes, and while I didn’t get his name, he really made the last 2.8 miles go by quickly and pushed me the whole time.
I spent a total of 12 hours and 16 minutes running in the mud and rain. Man did I get my money’s worth!
It was already raining when the race started at 6:25 am. Prior to our start, all of the mountain bikers rode the same course. With the rain and bikers, I knew it was going to be a mudfest. The first mile was gravel road and downhill, then level for another 2 miles. I started around at a 9:30-10 min pace until I hit the first long uphill climb. I walked the hill and then hit the trails but didn’t feel myself. My legs were dying on the hills and a quick check of the heart rate monitor showed 170-175 bpm. I guess it wasn’t the best idea to run 2 ultra races within 3 weeks of each other. I knew it was going to be a long day.
I hit the aid station at Skunk Hollow (12 miles) and since it was raining so hard decided changing socks was useless. The hills were starting to come more and more and at mile 20 was Garvin Hill (1812’) the highest point in Hartland. The rain almost felt like it was coming sideways at the summit. I couldn’t believe how happy the aid station staff was. While I have only have done about a half dozen ultras, they by far were the most helpful and knowledgeable. I couldn’t have imaged how cold and wet they were waiting at that summit all day long. They were awesome. I filled my bottle, drank some soup and ate an orange. I decided before the race not to eat or drink anything with sugar until the 30-mile mark, when I really needed a boost.
After Garvin Hill came a really long decent, I couldn’t help but to think how much fun (and faster) it would be to mountain bike down vs. trying to run. The next 11 miles were almost exclusively trail sections with slippery mud, but through some beautiful New England forest.
So far in the race I met and ran with some really cool and interesting racers. I met 2 PhD mathematicians who were passing time by trading complicated logic problems, and a fireman from Brooklyn. I also talked with a northwest pacific native transplanted to Boston and a woman who both missed the 47.2 miles cutoff the prior year. They told me that the 5:45pm cutoff is strictly enforced. I started to do the math in my head and knew I was going to be in trouble.
I hit the 31.9-mile Greenall’s aid station and decided to change my socks and put additional hydropel on my feet. I also drank a water bottle of Ensure since it worked so well during the last race. While leaving the aid station I heard a volunteer mention it was closing in 10 minutes.
I started to pick up the pace a bit and hit the Fallon’s aid station (37.3 miles) with 20 minutes to spare. I still felt like I didn’t “have it” and wasn’t my usual self.
I ran right through the 41.1-mile aid station to save time. I had to run the next 6.1 miles in 1:10 to make the cutoff. That little voice was getting louder, at moments I found myself walking, thinking just cruise to the aid station and get a ride to the finish…. NO WAY!
Somewhere between mile 44 and 45 I ran past a backyard with a cooler and sign that said “free beer, racers only”. Pretty funny, I knew time was tight, but took about a minute to down the best bottle of Blue Moon I ever had. The cold beer immediately fueled my body and spirit. I decided I had to try to make it. I ran the next 2 miles as if a pack of wild dogs were chasing me, passing 4-5 runners.
I hit the 47.2 miles cutoff with 4 minutes to spare, AWESOME! I was going to make it. I also ran past a volunteer that asked if I needed a pacer. Man did I look that bad? Of course I said yes, and while I didn’t get his name, he really made the last 2.8 miles go by quickly and pushed me the whole time.
I spent a total of 12 hours and 16 minutes running in the mud and rain. Man did I get my money’s worth!
