Running with hard core beasts

They call it The Beast - running all six trail races in a year's time, as part of the Lynchburg Ultra Series. With race names like Hellgate, Mountain Masochist and Grindstone, well, you get the idea. I thought I'd try on one of the tamer races this past weekend, the 50k-plus Holiday Lake race near Appomattox. At 32 miles it measured just over 50K.  I'd already run a 50-miler in Nashville last fall but my time was very poor (almost 12 hours, since I had to run-walk run walk much of the race due to knee and leg issues.)

Since then I've been P90-xing, and that exercise program has a number of ways to strengthen the legs. So I'd thought I would give the Holiday Lake 50K a shot. First impression: much like the Mountain Junkies followers and runners in Roanoke, the Lynchburg Ultra Series is sort of like the Junkies but on steroids, since the race distances are much longer - up to 100 miles, with up to 23,000 feet of elevation gain/loss.

Holiday Lake was much tamer; only 2300' of elevation gain/loss. There were two time cutoffs that had to be met but I felt pretty confident about that - except I had missed a time cutoff on an attempt at Damascus last September, the Iron Moungtain 50-mile trail run that featured 9300' of elevation gain.  I flamed out after the fourth time checkpoint - and thoroughly appreciated the ride back to my car. I also lost my cell phone at Iron Mountain, so the whole experience was less than satisfying.

Anyway, as for Holiday Lake, I felt great despite concerns over a still-sore rib that I cracked in Nashville (falling like a drunkard on a downtown sidewalk in the middle of the 50-mile race). My legs were a bit sore in the second half of the run at Holiday Lake but I finished in 6:29:27 -  more than 90 minutes before the time limit.

What was neat about the people gathered last Friday night at the Holiday Lake 4H facility (most of the runners slept there in barracks-style lodges, listening to 20 other people snoring) was the community that has sprung up around the Lynchburg Ultra Series and its race director, Dr. David Horton from Liberty University. A one-time runner of some note himself, Horton has thru-hiked the AT and trails out west, and once ran all the way across the country. Another one of the 270 or so that have done that also was on hand to run the Holiday Lake 50K.

Horton underwent "7 way" bypass surgery about eight weeks ago, proudly showing off his zipper-like scar for the crowd of people that gathered after a carbo-loading meal. Dr. Horton was funny, irreverent and outspoken - and very knowledgeable about long distance running. He demonstrated that again after a pre-race meeting by offering pointers to first time "ultra" runners. Horton seemed to know more than half of the 360 or so on hand for the Holiday Lake 50K, pointing out some of their accomplishments when not ribbing them.

The running community, something I've been drawn in to over the past few years by running 5K, 10K, half marathons, full marathons, 10-mile races and now ultra-marathons, features people of all ages and backgrounds. Some of them look like they haven't had a good meal in years, others look, well, like you and me. I met some interesting folks before and after the race - like Matt and Julie Urbanski, a young couple in their 30's that have through-hiked the Pacific Coast Trail and the AT. Matt finished second at the Holiday Lake run (about 3 hrs 51 min); Julie was the first female finisher several weeks before at a race in Indianapolis.  They've made enough money in the business world to take some time off, running races around the country and writing about it. See urbyville.com; I'm reading Julie's book now on her Pacific Coast Trail thru-hike, The Trail Life.

Like many folks who take on long distance running or hiking, she was no expert when starting out. Its been trial and error to an extent. Just like my growing running "resume" which now includes three full marathons (26.2 miles) and three races at longer distances. At age 55 I wish I had tried this earlier,although I've always ran, but losing 40-50lbs in recent years and keeping it off has made running easier. Its a bit of an obsession now and I'll never be fast enough to challenge anyone, but there are worse things to be obsessed about I guess. See
 http://www.extremeultrarunning.com/ for more on the Lynchburg Ultra Series and The Beast.