La Chua 50K Ultra
by Charles Cohn
Last Saturday, April 22nd, I celebrated my 69th birthday three days early by walking this ultramarathon. It was part of the Paynes Prairie Running and Walking Festival, held on the Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail, which borders the Paynes Prairie nature preserve outside of Gainesville, FL.
At 7:45 am I was ready to go, and the start was called. The first mile was downhill, allowing me to get through it in 13:04. All the runners immediately moved far ahead of me. There was one racewalker who passed me at the start, moved back a bit later, and finally passed me again and stayed ahead.
Mile 2 passed through an areas known as the "Sink" with quite a few hills. These hills were significant, although not up to Atlanta standards! Although this trail is a rail-trail, I wondered what kind of a railroad they could run on this section! I got past that one in 14:02.
Mile 3 took a detour on a path to the Alachua Lake overlook. When I reached the overlook, I didn't take time to look at the lake, but immediately turned around and headed back, finishing the mile in 12:42.
The rest of the trail was more railroad-like. Mile 4 took 14:12, mile 5 took 14:37, mile 6 took 13:53, mile 7 took 13:59, mile 8 took 15:46, mile 9 took 14:01 and mile 10 took 13:51. Up to this point I had seen only one aid station, at mile 3. (The race director had trouble finding enough volunteers to staff the number of aid stations they really wanted.) I figured aid stations might be sparse, so I carried a Camelbak full of Gatorade. I probably needn't have, because I was grossly overhydrated. After three tree-watering stops in ten miles, I was disgusted with the time I was losing. Therefore, I decided that from then on I wouldn't make any more stops, but just allow Nature to let it out as needed while I kept moving.
Mile 11 went by in 13:43, mile 12 in 13:22 and mile 13 in 13:19. At that point I had just about covered the half-marathon distance in three hours flat. Mile 14 took 13:32 and mile 15 took 14:11.
At that point, I expected to find the turnaround in another half mile. However, it took me 13:48 to reach the turnaround, at which point I had gone a total of 3 hours and 42 minutes. Clearly the turnaround had been set half a mile too far along, so I would be walking 32 miles instead of the expected 31. Also, at this point I had passed a couple of aid stations and had taken a GU packet at each.
On the way going, I had seen all the runners passing me on the way back. About the middle of the 16th mile I saw the racewalker going back. I asked him how he was and he said his instep was hurting. I figured he was only a mile or so ahead of me, and possibly I could pass him. However, I never saw him again. I was told later that he had dropped out at mile 22 because of his instep. (He had hurt his foot playing golf.)
Going back, taking a GU packet at every aid station, and sprinkling the trail a few times, I made mile 17 in 14:02, mile 18 in 14:33, mile 19 in 14:40, mile 20 in 14:22, mile 21 in 14:30, mile 22 in 15:06, mile 23 in 14:26, mile 24 in 14:18 and mile 25 in 15:24. I missed the mile 26 marker, but I got through miles 26 and 27 in 29:42. I had been going 6:23 at that point, so I must have passed the marathon distance in about 6:10, comparable to my slower marathons.
Going on, I made mile 28 in 14:42 and mile 29 in 13:41. During mile 30, which took 14:37, I again took the detour out and back to the overlook. Again I didn't stop to look at the lake, so I never got to see it! A race official on a bicycle came out to check on me and said he would be back.
I got through mile 31 in 14:35. At this point, I had gone the normal 50K distance in 7:20. That compares unfavorably with my previous 50K finish in 7:06.
I got through the final mile, 32, in 14:03, with the race official escorting me in. I finished dead last in 7:34:58. Fortunately, I was well within the 9-hour time limit.
What made me so slow? I can think of just two reasons why I was slower. First, the course had hills, while the previous course was flat. Second, my shoes were worn out. It's the kind of wear you don't really notice unless you do something extreme, but I could feel that the soles were definitely pushed down on the medial side. When I got home I tossed these shoes aside and started another pair of Asics-Gel DS Trainers that I had in reserve.
My recovery has gone extremely well. Wednesday and Thursday I walked 3.8 miles comfortably each day on the Silver Comet Trail. I'm primed for two 5K's this weekend.
(If you found this account dull and boring, I apologize. However, I'm convinced that, in marathons and
ultras, as in car and plane trips, the uneventful ones are the best.)
Charles Cohn
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