DC North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Miler

Okay, here we go – race recap time. Have to be honest, in the days leading up to the event, I didn’t feel too confident. The 24 hour race four weeks ago took a lot out of me and the legs haven’t felt “normal” in quite some time. I also gambled on disturbing an annoying foot blister which was taking a long time to heal, decided to wear a brand new pair of inov-8 f-lite 195s and also put a lot of faith in a sports massage a couple of days before the race to help clear up some glute & groin issues I’ve been having. Not exactly ideal preparation leading up to my first 50 mile race.

Pre-race: Uneventful, but stress-free drive to the host hotel on Friday night. Stuck with my traditional pre-race meal of a gourmet hamburger and pint of the dark stuff – in this case a Giddy Up Stout from the Sweetwater Tavern. After laying out my race gear and nutrition I retired to bed pretty early, and managed a solid seven hours of sleep before the alarm woke me at 3am. Breakfast was my usual Hammer Nutrition Sustained Energy which I sipped slowly as wife Ally drove the 4 or 5 miles to the race site.

Packet pickup was quick and easy and on the way back to the car we bumped into Brodie W. who was happily preparing his race nutrition and looking very relaxed. We chatted briefly and wished each other luck. I headed back to the car to pin my bib number, attach my chip and strip down to my race gear. The minutes ticked by pretty quickly as I sprayed on bug spray, jogged a quarter mile or so to “test the legs” and make one last trip to the port-o-johns. It was also really cool to exchange a few words with local runner, Andrew A. – a great guy who was destined to run a very solid 50 Miler.

The race: Finally we were called to the start line – several hundred runners, all kitted out with headlamps and flashlights, and all with the same goal of running 50 miles before the 13 hour cut off time elapsed. Ally wished me luck, stepped off to the side to take some pics and left me to get in the zone and focus on the task in hand. It was also pretty cool to have Martin Solveig – Hello blasting out over the loudspeakers as the race announcer counted down the seconds to the start of the race.

At precisely 5am we were off. I tried to settle in to an easy 9:30 pace, but found myself ticking along in the mid to high 8:00s. It “felt” easy, so I decided to stick with it and enjoy the ride. The first hour or so was run in darkness. I was lucky enough to latch on to the back of a 15-20 runner train, and enjoyed just following the guys and girl in front. The early miles passed quickly and before I knew it my Garmin beeped loudly to signal time for the first batch of Endurolytes.

Aside from one or two short, steep sections, the first 13 or 14 miles were surprisingly very runnable. The average pace was slightly ahead of my goal and apart from a weird ankle pain in the first 10 miles (turned out I’d tightened my timing chip ankle strap too tightly!), things were generally going well. I reached the 3rd aid station where I’d decided to leave a drop bag, quickly filled up my handheld with Perpetuem powder and water, and set off for the first of 3 roughly 8 mile loops, which were apparently the most challenging of the whole race.

The scenic section of boulders high up above the river messed with my rhythm slightly, but I was surprised that my average pace per mile wasn’t that much slower than the early miles. I entered the aid station/drop bag zone for the second time, still feeling good and keen to top up on fuel before setting off for another of the technical loops.

It was cool to see Andrew and Brodie in this section of the race – both guys were still smiling and it gave me a boost to exchange a few words and wish them well. This section of the course was pretty much all up or down, and mainly on gravel. My groin was pretty stiff and I found it difficult to power up the hills. Going down was also tricky as all the braking force seemed to channel to the groin/quad area too. Oddly enough, I quite enjoyed this multi-loop section though. By this time there were 50K runners on the course too, and time seemed to pass quickly, as did the miles.

The Great Falls aid station was a bit congested. The flow of runner traffic wasn’t great and everyone seemed to be bumping into each other. All I wanted to do was refill my handheld with Perpetuem powder, top off with water and go, but it never seemed to be as easy as that. I also lost a bit of time waiting for the one and only port-a-john to free up, but in hindsight the 3 or 4 minutes were well spent stretching instead.

After the third and final loop it was time to head back to the finish area – approximately 13-14 miles on the same trails we ran earlier. I looked forward to opening things up on the flattish section of the course and finishing the race out strong. I refilled the handheld for one last time – this time opting for 3 scoops of Sustained Energy in about 20oz of water. The distance to the next aid station was about 7 miles (I think), so I figured I’d sip the Sustained every half mile and keep the fuel supply ticking over nicely.

The next two miles went well. I picked up the pace and was really feeling good, but all of a sudden realized my mouth had gone dry and I’d forgotten to take in any fluids for about 15 minutes. I really wanted water to quench my thirst, but all I had was the thickly-mixed Sustained Energy which didn’t help the situation at all. The next five miles or so were a struggle as I focused on just reaching the next aid station to chug down some water. I passed several 50k runners on this section of the course – several of them were looking worse for wear and also desperate for the next fuel zone.

The sound of volunteers clapping and cheering in the distance was such a welcome relief. I dumped out the remaining Sustained Energy and gulped down several cups of water as the aid station lady refilled my handheld and reassured me I was still looking really strong. I also gulped down a cup of flat coke and ate two pieces of salty boiled potato. It sounds weird, but was the perfect pick-me-up! As I exited the aid station I noticed a “You are at Mile 42.1” sign – another boost as my Garmin was only reading 40.9 something. Nothing like having to run 1.2 miles LESS than you thought you had to. I also did a few calculations in my head and realized that barring a disaster I’d most likely break 8 hours which was my outside goal for the race.

I pressed on strongly knowing there were two more aid stations ahead, feeling good about the race once more and fully recharged and revitalized. It was almost like having a virtual pacer on the course as I ticked off mile after mile, getting closer to the finish with every step. I briefly stopped at the penultimate aid station to pour water over my head – temperatures were rising but with a handful of miles to go, I knew I could hang on.

Crowd support in the last couple of miles was great, and after a few final twists and turns on the course, I finally caught sight of the finish area. By this time by Garmin battery had died, but I didn’t care about the time. I was about to finish my first 50 Miler and feel great doing it. I rounded the final bend, raised both arms in the air and crossed the line with a big smile on my face.

Ally was there taking pictures and ran over to congratulate me. She told me I’d run a 7:34 which didn’t sink at first – I just wanted to keep moving and grab some drinks. The finish area festival was great – tons of food & drink, massage tables, ice baths and a whole host of other stuff. I attempted an ice bath but my body couldn’t handle it, so ended up standing in the bath washing myself down with an icy cold towel instead – most refreshing and highly recommended.

We hung around for a while, but headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up before heading back to the awards ceremony at 5pm. I’d placed first in the 40-49 age group and 12th overall in a time of 7:34:23 – far exceeding all three goals I had going into the race.

On reflection, the whole North Face Challenge experience was a great one – a race distance for everyone, and really well organized considering the numerous events taking place over the weekend. The course was challenging, but runnable, with very scenic sections along the river.

Thanks everyone for their support leading up to the race. I’m really enjoying these ultra races and love how they test you in different ways to the road races I’m used to. I can definitely see myself doing more of them in the future. 😉