Sunmart 50K-Finale

Geez...this report is lasting longer than the actual race! I've been swamped at work this week and had to take a breather last night to go see Duran Duran in concert! (John Taylor is still hot)
Anyway...I digress..

As we started the second 12.5 mile loop, Amy tripped and fell. I could tell she was in pain even though she said she was doing fine. Ten minutes later, she told me to just go on. She was going to take her time and she could tell I was itchin' to pick it up a notch. After we went through the whole, "Are you sure? Are you really sure?" speech, I started to gradually pick it up. What I didn't realize was how much others seemed to be slowing down. It was incredibly warm, but my body was responding well. I kept it under control, but had definitely taken it to another level. There's another out and back area and I got another look at several of the women who were ahead of me. My friend Ashley (originally in 5th) was really fading. In fact, with about 6 miles to go, I actually caught up with her. We exchanged some words of encouragement and she gave me a huge boost. Gradually, over the course of the next few miles, I was just passing people left and right. I swear, it didn't feel like I was running any faster. Little by little, the women that were several minutes ahead of me were now behind me. For some reason, I had targeted this one woman who had an Ironman visor and six-pack abs. She became my rabbit. You can imagine my inner shouts of "Yes!!!" when I saw her up ahead with three miles to go. I felt like a freaking rock star when I passed her and "green shirt" girl. At one point, I was running in a small pack of men and one of their watches beeped. "We just hit mile 29," said the dude. That's when it hit me. I had NEVER run this far before in my life. I was entering mile 30 of my first ultra-marathon. Wow...I totally got goosebumps (probably because I was also slightly dehydrated). I passed those guys and a few others before I headed towards the finish line. I felt GREAT when I crossed, mainly because I had finished strong.

Immediately, I saw Chad (who had dropped out after 18 miles). He said, "I think you came in the Top 10. In fact, I know you did!"

"There's No Way," I said. "No freakin' way."

After hugs and hi-fives from Shawn, Perry and others, we waited for Amy to cross the line about 25 minutes later. Ashley had come in about 15 minutes after me and after Amy crossed, we went to look at the results. Lo and behold, I was 8th female and 2nd in my age group. Amy was 4th and Ashley was 2nd in her age group! We all kicked serious butt and walked away with a very unique bronze horse statue! The only thing that made it better was more food! Of course, Sunmart had a wonderful BBQ working after the race...chicken sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, chopped beef, veggie burgers, mac and cheese, egg rolls, cheese sticks, cole slaw, potatoes...The food onslaught just didn't seem to end with this event.

After some serious grub and a quick shower in one of the primitive camping showers, we headed back towards Austin and actually rallied to go see Big Head Todd and the Monsters on Saturday night! (Katie Holmes has nothing on me) :-)

I can't say it enough, this event is a must-do. In fact, Trail Racing in general is a blast and I can't wait to do more of it. The atmosphere is just so different. People aren't intense and the surroundings are so beautiful. I've already vowed to do it again next year! Now, I just have to convince others to head back with me!

Here are my splits. They're another good example of negative splits and just being patient at the beginning of the race.
Mile 1 9:42
Mile 2 11:11
Mile 3 9:56
Mile 4 10:03
Mile 5 10:03
Mile 6 9:26
Mile 7 9:35
Mile 8 10:04
Mile 9 11:21
Mile 10 9:10
Mile 11 9:04
Mile 12 9:43
Mile 13 9:50
Mile 14 9:36
Mile 15 9:40
Mile 16 9:38
Mile 17 10:15
Mile 18 9:53
Mile 19 9:58
Mile 20 9:08
Mile 21 9:02
Mile 22 9:14
Mile 23 8:35
Mile 24 8:36
Mile 25 8:17
Mile 26 8:55
Mile 27 8:43
Mile 28 8:17
Mile 29 8:51
Mile 30 8:38
Mile 31 8:49
Mile 32 7:34 (.28 miles)