Run JMC

So, my first east coast ultra done back where it all started for me (well, not running and definitely not ultras but where life started for me, so yeah- bad analogies will be all over this little essay here, bear with me…)

I have to say that I didn’t really have my nutrition dialed in like I had hoped, my parents threw me and my fiancee an engagement BBQ the day before the race so I had to forgo the day-before sweet potato I have come to know and love. I did get that little bit of carb I try to get in the day or two leading up to a race in the form of white bread (gasp! GLUTEN?!?! What was I thinking?)

That being said, I ran the exact race I wanted to, give or take 1 or 2 minutes. I had a 4:39 (or a 9:00 per mile) target that I missed by a little more than a 2 minute margin (official results: 4:41:43) which was good enough for 15th overall.

Here’s my splits:

7.5 miles / 1:02 (8:16 per)

15.5 / 2:14 (8:39 per) (segment pace: 8 @ 1:12 for 9:00 per)

23 / 3:25 (8:55 per) (segment: 7.5 @ 1:11 for 9:28)

31 / 4:41 (9:04 per) (segment: 8 @ 1:16 for 9:30)

I remember thinking, am I going out too fast? I felt really good, legs felt light, the weather was perfect (probably 52 degrees at start time, which was about 8:14 am, first time I’ve ever been to a race that didn’t start on time…) I figured I’d stick to my game plan which was to try to run as close to 9/min miles as I could.

I figured on this terrain I’d be able to really push the pace when I needed to and run as much of it as I could- which was about 99% of it. Since there was such an alarming lack of hills and climbs there really wasn’t a lot of the walk breaks I’m used to taking in ultras, so that contributed to a faster than average pace.

The volunteers at the aid stations were really friendly and had their stations neat and orderly. The only downside I experienced was the fact that they had Gatorade (wtf?) as their electrolyte drink, so I stuck to water until mile 23.

Anyway; official results:

4:41:43, 15th overall (of 118), 13th male, 8th in the 30-39 age group