Ben Nephew's USATF 50k Championship Race Report

USATF 50k Championship 2010
Caumsett Park, NY

My main reason for doing the USATF 50k this year was frustration at having run so poorly in my two previous attempts. The first time I ran, I suffered through a 3:26, and last year I only ran a 3:21. Considering that my first 50k was a 3:14 on a rolling course, and that was followed by a 3:11 PR the next year, I wasn’t too happy with my times at Caumsett. The weather is never that great at Caumsett, but others were still running solid times while I couldn’t manage a decent race. There are various potential explanations for my poor runs, such as less time for training, or my growing aversion to any road running, but I still think I should be able to put together a reasonably fast 50k.
I usually am on snowshoes all winter prior to this race. This year, I managed to force myself to do 2 fast long runs on the roads in my racing flats. Low 6 minute pace felt pretty comfortable, and I was thinking I might be able to hang on for a time in the mid-teens on a good day. Since it was my wife’s birthday the day before the race, I decided to drive down from Mansfield on race day, or almost race day. We went out to dinner with friends Saturday night, and after everyone went to bed, I packed up and hit the road at 11pm. I was at Caumsett Park at 2:20, threw a sleeping bag over me, and got about 3.5 hours of sleep. I ate breakfast, had some coffee, and hung out in my car until 7am.
As I picked up my race packet, I saw Scott Dunlap, who was shooting for a sub 3:30. I told him that Dan Verrington would probably be running somewhere in the 3:20’s, and they might be able to run together. I was planning on starting at low 6’s and seeing how things went. I then ran into Dan, who informed that he was running 6 flat pace for as long as he could. I didn’t think Dan was in that kind of pace, but I’ve known him long enough to not doubt him. At that point, we realized we might all be running together, and headed over to the start after our warm-ups.
I almost forgot to mention meeting my newest CMS teammate, Jesse Regnier. I asked Jesse what he planned to run, and he said 5:37’s. There are only 2 people in the country that have run that fast recently, so I was a bit surprised to say the least. I wished him luck and welcomed him to the team. Mike Wardian was back again, so there was probably going to be at least one guy under 3 hours, and Mark Godale also made the trip to NY for the race. Mark very nearly ran me down for 3rd place last year, so I was a little nervous about going out too hard. The field also included top master runner Scott Jaime, as well as Malcolm Campbell, who led the North Face 50 miler in DC for much of the first half last year. It looked to like it was going to be an interesting run.
The gun went off, and a whole bunch of people took off. Mike and Jesse were chased by Malcolm, who gave that up by about a mile. Scott was running solo, and then there was our 4 man group of Dan, Scott Dunlap, Mark, and myself. Mark didn’t seem comfortable with the pace, and dropped back after a couple of miles. My legs felt a bit tight, and I tried to convince Dan to ease back on the pace a bit. He seemed good with 6 minute pace, so he ended up doing all the work for our 3 man pack. I felt bad about not leading, but I could barely stay close enough to draft. It was a great day for running, but it was windy on a few parts of the course, so I was hoping to have some other runners to work with. Dan really dropped us at the start of the 4th lap as he lowered his pace down to 6 flat. Scott took a picture of me with his camera as he seemed to be going after Dan, but he backed off the pace after a mile or so.
I knew that I couldn’t maintain our pace of 19 minute 5k’s, and I wanted to do some damage control before it got too late. Right when I was going to suggest to Scott that the two of us should work together and share the lead at regular intervals, he made a pit stop at the start of the 5th 5k loop. If he had stopped by the side of the road, I probably would have slowed, but I thought he would be a while when he hopped in the toilet. He made an incredibly short stop, and I probably would have run faster in the end if I had waited to run the next 2-3 laps with him. I couldn’t believe how upbeat he was late into the race as we passed on the out and back sections. My legs were pretty much done with the pavement by halfway, and I wasn’t excited about the suffering to come.
Earlier in the race, Jesse apparently had annoyed Mike enough to induce a 5:12 4th mile, which left Mike alone to chase his course record of 2:55. Dan’s mid-race surge brought him past Scott Jaime and into the lead for the master’s title, but Scott was hanging with him. I thought Scott Dunlap might run me down for another photo opportunity, but everyone was slowing down at this point. I knew that I was not going to run a 3:10 after coming through the 25k at 1:35, but I thought I could manage 20 minute 5k’s for a 3:15. That worked for 8 laps, but my legs were done at that point. Everything was getting tight, and I had a few minor cramps in my hamstrings and calves. My lack of road running was catching up with me. I’m guessing that the 5:12 mile came back to haunt Mike, as he was struggling as he passed me during my 8th lap, and didn’t run that much faster. Malcolm ended up averaging under 6 minute pace for his solo run. Scott Jaime passed Dan late in the race on his way to a solid 3:13. Despite struggling through a 23 minute last 5k, Dan still ran a 3:15 to set a new 45-49 50k record. Not bad for a grandfather.
I thought I was done getting beat my Dan, but I could only manage 21:30 5k’s for the last two loops, and ended up with a 3:18. I guess I have 13 years or so of better ultrarunning ahead of me! It’s possible that I might have run faster towards the end if I slowed the first few laps by 10 seconds a mile, but it could also be that my legs weren’t ready to run on pavement for that long. Scott Dunlap almost skipped the 3:20’s altogether by taking his PR from 3:37 to 3:21. Mark closed on Scott in the second half to run a 3:23, and Jesse hung in there after his 16:45 opening 5k to finish 8th in 3:28. That makes me hurt just thinking about it! Dan and I didn’t help things by telling him he needed to finish so CMS could get a team score, but hopefully there was no permanent damage! Jesse was the youngest guy in the top 10 by 12 years, so he’s got a couple decades of racing left if he can stay healthy.
The race directors did a great job, and the new, longer 5k loop was appreciated. I’m still not sure why I do road races, but I think I almost had a good time this year. I guess that means I might have to give it another try in 2011….