Nephew's NF Challenge 50 Mile Race Report

A look at Ben's race report reveals some comical ways to ingest NUUN. A great product which offers our athletes a pro deal but perhaps should come with an instruction manual. Regardless a great race by Ben coming off the heels of his 7 Sisters Race only 6 days earlier.

North Face Bear Mountain 50 miler 2009

How not to run a 50 mile

This race account will mostly consist of things not to do during a 50 miler. Don’t get me wrong, I’m pleased with my race, but there is certainly room for improvement.

It’s important to put this race in its short historical context. Last year, the first running, only 19 out of 90 people finished the race. This was partially due to a horrendous storm at the start, and partially due to 14,000 feet of climbing. For this year’s race, they made the course much easier, with only 7,000 feet of climbing over the single loop. I think everyone thought it was going to be a piece of cake. Leigh Schmitt, Brian Rusiecki and me had run 7 Sisters only 6 days ago, and we were just hoping for a rational start to the race. Didn’t happen.

Soon after the 5am start, I asked Leigh and Brian if we were starting with the 50k runners. No? Really? Why is everyone running so fast? I had been part of manic start at JFK a few years ago, so I wasn’t totally surprised, but this wasn’t JFK. I figured it would settle after a mile or two, especially since we had entered some rocky singletrack and it was dark and foggy. Brian jokingly asked if this were a 10 miler. People were passing each other back and forth like we were approaching the finish, and oddly enough, there was some guy running with a walkie-talkie. As we approached the first aid station, someone had a huge flash set up for pictures, which blinded everyone as we came out of the woods. At this point, Brian and I were in the back of a pack of 12 runners, and most everyone tore through the aid station without grabbing anything. We were racing!

Leigh was actually up in the front pack, and may deserve some of the credit for the fast start, but not much, as he was getting passed quite regularly. As we got further into the race, I started to wonder if my goal of top 3 was some sort of pipe dream, as I could not imagine holding the pace were running for 50 miles. I thought that maybe doing 7 Sisters was more than a slightly bad idea. I yelled to Brian and Leigh that my 7 Sisters race of 12 miles (where the three of us tried to kill each other) had actually been done at 50 mile race pace, a tempo run. One of the reasons for my concern with the pace was that the 5 am start had not allowed me to go through my normal pre-race routine. I was in need of a pit stop. I finally decided to pull off the trail around 60 minutes into the race, and wondering if that was the last I would see of the bullet train lead pack. My stop was about a minute, and I picked up the pace a bit to try and reel in the pack when I got back on the course. It seemed as though they had slowed a bit on a technical downhill section, and I was surprised to get back in touch within a mile or so.

At about 70 minutes into the race, we hit some short, steep hills that I would have mostly walked if I had been leading. The large pack started to disintegrate into a lead pack of 4 (Leigh, some guy in orange shorts, and Jason and Ben?) and some stragglers, included Jack Pilla, Brian, and me. At first, I decided to get up with the lead four. I could easily manage the pace, but it just felt way too fast for 50 miles. As we approached two hours, I made a decision to back off. I wasn’t looking forward to suffering through the second half of the race, so I slowed down, waited for Brian, and asked him if he wanted to run together for a while. I do all my training by myself, so I try to take advantage and run with others at races. Brian agreed that the pace was too aggressive, and we wondered how the three guys up ahead would do. We both know Leigh pretty well, and considering his ridiculous win percentage in 50 milers, we wouldn’t be surprised if he kept up the pace. At the mile 14 aid station I decided to try electrolyte tablets for the first time, ever. I didn’t realize that NUUN tablets are meant to be put in water, not in your mouth. That was unpleasant, but I think I managed to get some of the electrolyte foam into my system.

Brian and I caught up with Jason and Ben sometime after 2 hours into the race, and went back and forth with them for a while. I think they made a pit stop, as suddenly, they were gone. None of us had seen Leigh or the guy in orange shorts (who may have been PF Potvin) for a while. I was just glad to be running a comfortable pace, and looking forward to the latter miles rather than dreading them. Brian and I both were betting that Jack Pilla, who is known for running steady races, would pick off a lot of runners and probably finish right in back of us at the worst. By the time we got to the 20 mile aid station, we had been running for 3:30. When Brian predicted a 9:13 finish based on our pace, I almost punched him in the head. With the new, faster course, I was not expecting a 9 hour 50 mile. He said he preferred to be pessimistic, and I commented that he was doing a good job of that. I loaded up on my concentrated Gatorade with some NUUN tablets, and we headed back into the woods. As we entered the woods, we spotted the guy in orange shorts holding onto a tree, stuffing a sandwich into his mouth.

Miles 20 through 40 at Bear Mountain have some nice runable sections, and are not as hilly as the first 20. Although it was not too warm, it was humid, and I was going through quite a bit of fluid. The aid stations in this section were 6-7 miles apart, which seemed long at our pace. By the time we got to the mile 27 aid station, Leigh was gone; I think the aid workers had mentioned he had 7 minutes on us. I told them that was nice, good for him! They laughed, and I then informed them that we were going to go get him.

The hills started to return as Brian and I passed 30 miles. We exchanged the lead a few times on this section, but were still running together as we reached the 34 mile station. Shortly after we left the aid station, my legs began to fade, and Brian picked up the pace. I kept him in sight, but I was starting to really feel 7 Sisters, and possibly my effort to catch up after my early race stop. My quads were tired on the both the uphills and downhills, and I wondered if anyone was gaining on me. My energy level was good, and the NUUN tablets seemed to be working for me, as I wasn’t cramping at all despite the humidity. I was very relieved to hit the 40 mile aid station, as there were only a few more small climbs left in the race.

With my quads worsening, the descents, usually one of my strengths, became more of a weakness. I focused on running as smoothly as possible to avoid more damage to my shredded muscles. The 50k course overlaps with the 50 miler over the last 10 miles, so I had regular traffic to pass, and the trails were pretty muddy. I was still running most of the moderate hills as I passed through the 45 mile aid stop, but definitely walked Timp’s pass, and I’m not talking about the uphill. After reaching the top of this climb, you are faced with a 400 foot descent with some of the worst footing I have ever seen. It looked like someone took all the reject cobblestones and dumped them on this trail, routed a stream down it, and sprayed it with mud from a fire hose. I did actually run down it, but it was ugly, and I passed a number of people who were walking. The last few miles were thankfully easy, and I crossed the line in 8:12. Leigh won in a quick 7:44, and Brian finished second in 8:05. Jack Pilla did end up charging through the field to get fourth, and he also ran 7 Sisters the week prior to the race! The finish of the day had to belong to Amy Palmiero, who beat the finish cutoff by 30 seconds with one prosthetic leg!

I believe that we (me and the 8-10 people in front of me) were on pace to run in the low 7 hour range up through 8 miles, which included a good deal of climbing and a lack of sun. It probably would have been a good idea to back off the pace sooner, but I don’t think it would have changed my finished position much. My legs might be happier right now, though. My Roclite 320’s performed great; no blisters, no falls, no toenail issues at all. This is in contrast to Brian’s Montrails, where the toebox totally exploded at some point during the race.

The organizers did a great job with this race, and the aid station workers were first class. However, despite the decent weather (it was pretty wet through a number of sections), only about half the runners finished. I know these things are supposed to be challenging, but I feel bad for all the people who missed the time cutoffs and had to be pulled from the course.