OWL-DRAGON

HAT 50K

My first Ultra is complete. Did I say first? I meant to say my one and only.

This is a baby ultra. An ultra is technically anything over the marathon distance of 26.2; a 50K (31 miles) is the shortest ultra.

The Hat 50K has been evolving over the years and at the pasta dinner and at the start/midway/finish point they displayed a history of the event. It takes a great deal of effort to organize an event like this, especially one that went so smoothly.

I decided to ride down on Friday so I would be fresh for the run. It also gave me a chance to attend the Pasta dinner and talk to some of those who would be running the next day. I met a couple of other first timers as well as some experienced ultra runners.

We were blessed with perfect weather - maybe a tad warm. Despite a forecast of cloudy weather, we had brilliant, blue skies all day. Much of the trail runs along the Susquehanna River which was particularly beautiful- a cold, dark blue. I had a great
view of Port Deposit where my father-in-law was born. He would have been 102 this month.

The course is very varied: wooded trails of course, but also fields and a long portion on a wide cinder trail. Parts of the wooded sections were very rocky. There were beautiful white stones that someone told were quartz. The last lap I picked up a small piece as a souvenir and a charm. Several waters crossings but I never got wet, unlike many runners who chose to simply run across. I also saw a couple of spills by some less nimble runners. (The rock hopping necessary to avoid getting your feet wet wasn’t bad the first loop but by the second those hops were a lot more tricky.) I had one runner argue it wasn’t bad getting your feet wet but I worried that running wet would create blisters.

I ran 29 miles well but had some problems toward the end with cramping - I used Succeed but probably could have taken more. The aid stations were about five miles apart. They were well stocked with food (boiled potatoes, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, pretzels and chips) and drink; even ibuprofrin was available. Unlike marathon water stations where at the most runners slow to a walk, Ultras stopped, refilled water bottles and actually ate food.

I liked the laid back Ultra approach - walk the hills, enjoy the aid stations, lots of talking even late in the race. The first hour flew by and even the whole six hours seemed to past quickly. Although many were first timers like me, some runners were dedicated ultra runners; a woman I ran with was using this run as a training run for a fifty miler 9 April (Bull Run).

I finished in 6hr14minutes. I even took time at the mid-way point to change shoes and shirt.

I'll do better next time - wait a minute there WILL BE NO NEXT TIME!

Oh and I left one of my favorite shirts and my finishers hat at the finish pavilion. Wrote the race director. Not much chance for my shirt but maybe I can get another hat.