Bethel Hill Moonlight Boogie 50 miler
Anyway, the short version of the this weekend….
Race started a little bit late. It was still 96 degrees and humid. It seemed a little bit less humid or I’m a bit more acclimated. My aunt who lives about 90 miles away came down to see me off. She hung around for a couple of hours to see me complete my first loop, left for the hotel, and then was back to see me finish. I love that lady.
The first lap went fine. It was hot and I was sweating like a pig before I hit mile 0.5. I know it will surprise you but I started talking to everyone around me. I can’t say anything spectacular happened during the first 10 mile loop. I took off on my second loop before sunset. I was toying with the idea of taking my head lamp with me but choose not to. It was dark (very dark) before I finished that 6 mile portion and passed by my car once again. So now that it was pitch black I worked on catching a group in front of me with lights and stuck with them for a while. Within 10 minutes of running with this group the folks with the headlamps spotted 2 copperheads crossing the road…they were both just 10-20 feet in front of us when we found them. I had enjoyed running w/o my head lamp but that was enough justification to pick it up for the next loop.
I picked up the head lamp and finished loop #2 – 20 miles. Someone in the group was starting to have some trouble and I decided to hang back and help encourage him. Although this sounds like a nice thing it was mostly because the other folks in the group were only doing the marathon and it was dark/scary out there alone. I’ve got no issue with slowing down for a piece of mind. This wasn’t the best idea. The guy was seriously undertrained and ended up walking 30/50 miles. Sadly being a big chicken that meant I ended up doing the same. It took forever to finish.
All of that said I got what I came for. I wanted to run through the night and see a sunrise and I did. I wanted to be totally exhausted and have the will/determination to keep pushing through and I did. It was exactly what I expected.
Also, the volunteers are so amazing. They would fill up your water bottle, get you food, and give encouragement.
I had the fun of watching folks vomit and then later stepping in someone else’s vomit on the course. I know you are all jealous. :b
| 