The OSS/CIA 50 Mile Night Run was definitely one of the most challenging events I’ve been lucky enough to take part, but at the same time, also one of the coolest. I never would have predicted trail running at night could be so demanding. Last night and in the early hours of this morning, I chipped away at a fairly technical course in tough conditions, and came out the other end a happy runner.
I went into the race doubting my fitness, wondering if my hip/glute injury would return and not even sure if I could complete the 2-loop, 50 mile course. With just one 20 mile training run logged since the end of the January, there were definitely a lot of unknowns. Good friend Andy O. had also signed up for the race (crewed by Janet C.), and I was lucky enough to have the support and crew skills of Ally S.
The first hour of the race took place in the remaining daylight of Saturday evening. It was good to get into a groove on some of the more technical parts of the course with vision not being a factor. I ran behind first-time-50-miler Chris for several of the early miles, and thankfully he knew the trails well enough to direct us up Mawavi Drive to an aid station where we would have our bib numbers punched. (The lead runners missed this turn and had to run this short out-and-back twice on the second big loop of the race.)
I moved away from Chris in the next couple of miles and reached the Oak Ridge manned aid station feeling pretty good. From here we were to run the almost 3-mile Farms to Forest loop, and it was during this section of the course where my headlamp batteries quickly died. Think darkness and no light and you can guess how tricky the next couple of miles were. I tiptoed the next couple of miles back to the aid station, but not before taking a big face plant coming off a small wooden footbridge.
Operation headlamp-battery-swap was fiddly, and even with the help of an enthusiastic volunteer, it seemed to take minutes. Frustrating, but definitely a necessity. Finally I was able to refill my handheld bottle, stuff down a handful of the most delicious strawberries I’ve ever eaten, and make my way to Oak Ridge Trail.
The 10 or 11 miles back to the start-finish area/main aid station were fairly uneventful, although I did stub my toe numerous times on rocks, roots and small tree stumps. I was also fortunate to run some miles with the eventual female winner (running her first ultra no less!), and despite taking a silly wrong turn on one of the main trails, I made it back to base camp in good time and in good spirits. I will say that the trail markings from the suspension bridge back to the start/finish were not great at this point in the race, but thankfully between Annie’s (lead female) map reading skills, my trail knowledge from last year’s 12-HR ATR and another guy’s (can’t remember his name) intuition, we figured out our way back. Note: the race director quickly fixed the trail marking with orange streamers and glow sticks. so the second loop was a much better experience.
As planned, Ally had everything waiting at my make-shift aid station. I also munched on some more awesome strawberries and gulped down some flat ginger ale. Why not eh? Feeling ready to tackle the 2nd loop, I headed back out onto the trail with 3 guys quite a long way ahead of me.
The early stages of the 2nd loop felt completely different in darkness compared to loop #1. My pace was slow, but steady as I made my way across rocks, over roots and around trees. The miles seemed to drag and I kept wondering when the Mawavi Rd would appear so I could visit the aid station to get my bib punched again. Finally I popped out from the trail and saw the line of glow sticks leading the way to the small car pack where the aid station was set up. Coming down the road were 2 of the guys ahead of me, meaning I was only about 5 minutes behind both of them. Weird. I thought I was running slow, but they must have slowed a bit more. This gave my a boost, and I picked up the pace.
I reached the fully-stocked Oak Ridge aid station in good spirits, refilled my handheld and headed off for 2 helpings of the Farms to Forest loop. By this time I’d moved into 2nd place and was running quite freely, although I soon found out a failing headlamp was slowly down the Flying Frenchman, Olivier Leblond. Olivier caught me on the first F2F loop and I enjoyed running a couple of miles with him before he took off in pursuit of the race leader. These pretty much turned out to be the only two miles I saw anyone in the last 26 miles of the race. Um, pretty lonely out there is definitely an understatement.
I took advantage of some more nutrition at the aid station (LOVE the strawberries btw), and refilled my handheld before setting off for the finish. The final 10 or 11 miles were tedious. My headlamp was dimming again and despite grabbing a second headlamp from my drop bag at the aid station to wear around my waist, night vision on the trail was pretty grim. I fell a further 4 times in the next hour – with 2 of them being pretty hard falls and a real wake up call. My feet were dragging a bit and “catching” on anything and everything that stuck up from the trail.
In the closing miles I made another rookie mistake – instead of heading straight up the runnable Pyrite Main Road, I turned left and ran 3/4 of a mile before realizing I’d gone the wrong way. The trail looked familiar, but only because it was part of last year’s 12-HR ATR event. Ugh. And, to add insult to injury, I’m pretty sure the numerous deer in the woods were laughing at me as I retraced my steps.
Eventually I made it back to Pyrite Mine Road (gotta love the gravel in the closing stages of a 50), hit Scenic Drive for the last time and turned left onto North Orenda Road. Ahhhh, almost home. Crossing the suspension bridge for the final time felt great, and before long I could see finish line/aid station lights in the distance. Ally and Olivier were waiting at the trail head, although I think I confused them both with my double headlamp configuration. I made my way up to the finish line, hit stop on the Garmin and promptly made my way to the post-race food and drinks.
Official finish time – 9 hours 34 minutes
Official finish place – 4th
Total distance – 51.36 miles (nice wrong turn, Steve!)
Hanging out post-race was fun. It was cool to watch everyone finish and see the look of accomplishment on their faces. Andy finished in an awesome 12th place overall with a very respectable time on a tough course in challenging running conditions. Nice one, Andy and thanks for the post-race IPA!
I certainly learnt a lot in the 9.5 hours I was out on the trail, and if I ever tackle one of these again, will be a lot more prepared next time. So much fun, and such a cool experience to be running through the night in darkness.
The hip/glute/groin held up, and aside from some quad soreness in both legs, I’m actually feeling pretty good.
PS Forgot to mention – only 20+ finishers out of 70+ starters. Think the race guys said there was a 66% drop rate. Crazy.