HURL 53miler race report

With great excitement and some nervousness for my first 50miler, I found myself running in the chilly morning air by headlamp out of the Willard Creek trailhead in the Elkhorn Mountains outside of Helena.  Having never ran further than ~34miles, my race plan for the day was a conservative start for the initial 30miles and 8000vert to the town of Elkhorn.  For these 6 and a half hours, I was feeling great, enjoying the surprisingly cool overcast conditions as the miles clicked by at an easy pace, hiking most of the climbs and slowly moving up through the field from approximately 13^th to 8^th place. 

I switched to fresh shoes/socks and stuffed my face at the Elkhorn aid station, excited for the big 3000ft climb ahead.  After a few minutes of hiking, there was a mile or so stretch of flat road running that took me by surprise, and having just eaten a ton of food, my stomach took a nasty turn from totally fine to super upset in a matter of minutes.  What would ensue was nearly 3 hours of GI issues and some nausea that slowed me way down, forcing me to lay down on the side of the trail several times, able to eat little to no calories.  I was feeling a little better by the aid station at mile 36 and was able to stomach some salty foods. 

By aid at mile 42 my stomach was mostly settled and back to normal so I was able to mentally switch gears from simply “keep moving” to actually pushing hard/racing.  In doing so I was able to catch and pass a few racers that had overtaken me when I was hurting and moving slow.  I reached the aid station at mile 46 feeling the best I had in several hours and pushed hard on the remaining ~7 miles (mostly downhill) to the finish.  I was behind schedule with what I had told my mom for anticipated finishing time so it was a great surprise to see her cheering about a mile before the finish.  I ended up 8^th overall in 13:08, well behind my race goals of sub 12 hours and top 5 male.  Oh well.  I was excited to have finished so strong, rather than limping (figuratively) across the line.

start/finish area - great low-key race environment

low quality picture before they took the banner down

strawberry lookout the next day

My mom and I had a great evening cheering on other finishers and camping that night.  Hot sunny conditions ensued on Sunday but we got in a nice bike ride together to Strawberry Lookout before parting ways and heading home.

Stats: about 53miles and 13,500 vert in 13:08

Rose: closing strong on my first 50miler

Thorn: my ~3 hours of GI problems and ensuing snail’s pace

Bud:  this was a big boost in confidence for me to tackle longer outings in the future (teton crest trail in a day, gannett peak in a day, etc)