Sulphur Springs 2014

[Spirit Unleashed]

Tim, it sounds like this might be your first 50 miles race?

If so, you will be surprised at how bad you can feel on the last loop. Don't sell yourself short on fuel, S caps, or liquids. People eat on 50 mile runs for a reason.

[timc]

Not trying to sell myself short on anything. More trying to avoid carrying more than I need. There's a balance somewhere in the middle.

[Robinandamelia]

Not trying to sell myself short on anything. More trying to avoid carrying more than I need. There's a balance somewhere in the middle.

I'm trying to figure it all out too Tim... I tested out a new waist belt that holds a bigger bottle then I usually carry (I think 20 oz) and also has a place for two of the small gel bottles. I think I'm going to use that at Sulphur. I like to have my hands free. I'll bring a hand held bottle and keep it in my bag in case I change my mind though. I like the fact that this course is loops you can just try something on one loop, then bag it the next if it doesn't work out

Running my first 50 miler so will see you out there I'm sure!!

[timc]

Yeah, I'm hoping to learn a lot from the experience. I'm not counting the backpack out of the running yet, especially if the temperature climbs up towards 30 degrees. If it's too much of a pain, I can switch to something lighter.

[trailzen]

its always trial and error to find what's right for you, you can leave a variety of options at the start finish in your drop bag so don't be afraid to do a loop with that small handheld and have the pack there for later on if you want it. Last year I was averaging 30 oz water for every 20k and 4 gels per loop. 1 s cap per loop for first 3 then 3 in loops 4-6 2 in 7 and back to 1 in 8. I think the only real food I had was a few bites of these ginger cookies that looked so good around dinner time and a bunch of watermelon when it was hot. dont be afraid to throw some stuff in your drop you probably wont even use, much nicer to have it there than want it there.

[Robinandamelia]

its always trial and error to find what's right for you, you can leave a variety of options at the start finish in your drop bag so don't be afraid to do a loop with that small handheld and have the pack there for later on if you want it. Last year I was averaging 30 oz water for every 20k and 4 gels per loop. 1 s cap per loop for first 3 then 3 in loops 4-6 2 in 7 and back to 1 in 8. I think the only real food I had was a few bites of these ginger cookies that looked so good around dinner time and a bunch of watermelon when it was hot. dont be afraid to throw some stuff in your drop you probably wont even use, much nicer to have it there than want it there.

Thanks, very helpful

[Mega Mo]

RD got back to me and bumped me down to the 50mile, thank goodness. Way undertrained, silly thing called life getting in the way. I would have grinded out an ugly 100 (again), but this makes things easier. Still paying for 100 though, so looks like I'll be paying over $4 per mile! I'm going to eat my money's worth at aid stations. See you all next weekend...

Morgan

[dbank]

Did anyone else in the 25km have issues with the course marshalling, or lack thereof? I heard (and I'm not sure if this is accurate or not) that the marshall who was supposed to direct runners onto the 5km "spur" didn't show up in time, hence the number of runners who did the 20km loop first. I came through 20km in first, but had to stop and ask several people involved with the race what was going on (more than once), and was then misdirected again and ran an extra 2-3km. This is a great course and it was a beautiful day but I found the experience pretty frustrating.

Report on my blog: http://runtofailure.ca/

[Jwolf]

Did anyone else in the 25km have issues with the course marshalling, or lack thereof? I heard (and I'm not sure if this is accurate or not) that the marshall who was supposed to direct runners onto the 5km "spur" didn't show up in time, hence the number of runners who did the 20km loop first. I came through 20km in first, but had to stop and ask several people involved with the race what was going on (more than once), and was then misdirected again and ran an extra 2-3km. This is a great course and it was a beautiful day but I found the experience pretty frustrating.

Report on my blog: http://runtofailure.ca/

Thanks for the report-- I can see how that would be frustrating! Looks like you would have had one of the top times if they had done it right. Congratulations on a fast time nonetheless.

[cbaker1]

Sorry to hear of the error. I have never been lost at this race, but can guess that you followed someone onto the main 20 km loop instead of turning for the 5 km spur. If there was no one to see your bib and direct you to the left, I can see how you missed it.

If you do trail races enough, you eventually get lost. My top 3 reasons for getting lost!

Either someone not with the race has moved flags or signs (and then I wonder if they stand in the bushes laughing as we all go the wrong way)

you somehow take a wrong turn and then don't look for flags and just keep following the path you are on or

sometimes as well marked as the course is a runner will misinterpret the flags and do something that the RD doesn't expect a runner to do.

I would give the race another chance. Usually it goes like clockwork. I have volunteered at a 5 Peaks race in past years and 3/4 of the people were off course due to an issue away from my marshal point. Its a series that rarely has issues, but somehow the course marking was not clear that year. As a volunteer sometimes its hard to tell you where you went wrong as we are assigned to certain areas of the course and dont always know the entire course ourselves or where the runner error occurred.