2019 Black River Trail Classic 50k.
This was my first race of the year (Oct 19, 2019). The year
began with disappointment in my skipping the 9th Harbison 50k. I had
run the first 8, so my streak ended with lingering left ankle/foot and right
hamstring pain. After taking a few months of winter off from running, and using
our rowing machine more than ever, I started back in late March with some
walk/runs around the lake. I didn’t get up to 30+ miles in a week until
mid-May. The summer was busy with work-travel and vacation-travel, so that
didn’t help e keep my momentum up. I finally chose a new race for me – the
Black River Trail Classic 50k, in Millston, WI. The race director knows what
he’s doing, and reached out with a personal note and sticker to thank me for
trying them out. That was super-nice! This was their 3rd year and
it’s still fairly small, under 60 in the 50k.
So – after finally getting back to Afton for 5 training
runs, and getting my mileage back up to 36mi/wk for 6wks, I felt I had done
enough to get another finish. I should have done longer runs than just 15.5
miles though.😊
Race
day comes around and I woke up at 4am to make the 2:15 drive in time for the
7:30am start. Got my bib, free collapsible cup, sticker, checked out the shirts
(bought one afterwards), and hung out until the race started. It was a
comfortable 50° at the start, and only went up a couple degrees the whole day.
Once
the RD’s adorable daughter said ‘go’, we were off down the road, eventually
heading into the forest.
Side
note – no one really started when they said ‘go’, so I ended up being first for
about 40 yards. Probably first and last time being first in a race!
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| 1st Lake (technically 'Pigeon Creek Flowage) |
 |
| Sand |
 |
| Gravel |
 |
| 'Wildcat flowage' about mile 14 |
So
this was basically a flat, slightly overgrown forest/ATV service road. Scenery
was nice and the sun peaked out a few times and we passed a couple of lakes.
We
made it to a road and soon turned off into a parking lot to hit the first Aid
Station at Mile 5 (in 48:45). I bypassed it as I had my UD vest and a Gu.
Back
into the forest, and the ‘road’ turned out to be sand. It wasn’t terribly hard,
and not ridiculously soft, but still, it was sand. For miles. And miles. At
least it was flat. I knew I could pay for it later, but I kept moving and it
eventually turned into a gravel-covered road. Spent more effort trying to find
the least-stony path. Miles and miles of that too.
Finally at Mile 12 we hit
another AS(in 1:57 total). Filled my bladder with Gatorade out of my drop bag,
grabbed some snacks, and headed out.
 |
| Mi 12 Aid Station |
More
service roads, and some gravel sections as we headed to the next AS at mile
16.4 (arrived in 2:37).
I
had pretty much run the whole race by myself with the exception of a couple of
miles early on with 2 females. They were certainly in better shape, but I tried
to stay near them before that first AS. (One had just run Chicago Marathon the
week before, and the other was in her first ultra, and won her age group I
think – awesome on both accounts!)
Anyway
– at Mile 16.4, we were on more hiking/biking trails for the 3.6mi Wildcat loop.
Ups and downs with some nice views. I think I took a photo at each overlook the
whole race! It stayed cloudy, and it finally lightly rained the last 2+ hours.
Mile
20 AS after 3:17 and I had started some walking during that last section. The
rest of the race was all pretty similar, some winding trails (all very wide,
like it had been all day), some steep ups and steep downs.
Some nice views,
just a few 25k runners shared parts of the trail with us in a few spots, and aid
stations at 24(4:08) and the last one at 26.6 (4:52). One AS had moved ~1.3mi,
so that had me confused with the mileage for a bit. Total race distance was
given as 31.5mi. I had some ab/hip/groin soreness at about mile 25, and was not
able to run much after that. I found I could do a shuffle where I didn’t really
bend my right leg much, so that worked on some of the downhills. IT band and lower
back got sore too. Not sure how much of it was a direct result from the
sand…who knows?!
Hit
the last steep uphill and had a longish downhill before it flattened out to the
finish, still in a light rain. Finish time: 6:06:15. So – pretty typical for me
(faster that I expected), and pretty happy with it overall. Had some chili, cornbread,
and coke in the warming house, before driving back
home.
So
–well run event, nice area, state forest really brought me back to some SC/GA
races I’ve done – so that was nice. I will likely do another of their “runco”) races
– the High Cliff Ultra next year.
Post-race
– hips and hamstrings were tender for two days, and then I was perfectly fine.
Good, because I have the Icebox480 in 2 weeks (planning on 28mi
there).
