American River Run 50 Miler 2013 (AR50)

On April 6th, 2013 I ran the America River 50 mile ultra marathon (AR50) for the fourth year in a row.  I've managed to cut around 30 minutes off my time every year.  This year my goal was to run the race in under 9 hours.

Going into the event I was a little nervous.  I was driving up from Fresno to Sacramento the day of the race.  This meant that I had to leave Fresno around 2:30a.m. on Saturday morning to get to the start area of the race on time to pick up my race bib.  Like usual I procrastinated on packing my gear and found myself doing a lot of last min running around.  I ended up getting about 2 hours of sleep Friday night, then another 90 mins of sleep while my wife Lori drove my niece Samantha, my parents, and I to the race.

My previous finishing times were 10 hours 54 mins in 2010, 10 hours 25 mins in 2011, and a 9 hour 55 mins last year in 2012.  I knew I could run an even faster race if I kept my stops at the aid stations shorter and if I just moved faster.   My event schedule for 2012 was light at the end of the year, and the start of 2013 was looking pretty empty as well.  I decided that this year I would do my best to train for the AR50 and once again finish a little faster than my previous years efforts.

This year at AR50 I wanted to cut down on wasted time.  The one spot at this race I tend to waste a lot of time is at the Beals Point aid station.  The first half of the AR50 is pretty much a road race.  There's a few short trail sections, but it's mainly road up until the Beals Point aid station at mile 26.53 of the race.  After Beals Point the race is all beautiful trails until right before mile 47 where the race goes uphill to the finish line.  

The reason I tend to waste time at Beals Point is because when I ran the race in 2010, 2011, and 2012 I wore road shoes for the first section up to Beals Point, then I changed into my trail shoes for the second part of the race.  Changing shoes always takes me a long time.  Once I sit down to change shoes I usually don't want to get back up.  I sit there and talk to my crew, I eat, and I lose my drive to run after awhile.

This year I decided to eliminate the wasted time changing shoes at Beals Point by running the entire race in my trail shoes and not wearing road shoes at all.  The beginning part of the race is on a paved road, but there is a nice compacted dirt shoulder along the road for most of this section and I decided I would just run on that with my trail shoes this year.

I wanted to hit Beals Point just before the 4 hour mark, pick up my friend Leigh who graciously accepted the job of pacing me, and then be back on the course running asap.

When I hit Beals Point I was right on schedule.  I saw the clock when I came running into the aid station.  I was around 3 hours and 55 mins into the race.  I found my crew (my wife Lori, my niece Samantha, and my parents) along with my pacer. We changed out my water bottles, they handed me some food, and Leigh and I were off on the second section of the race.

I was feeling really good and Leigh was making sure I kept pushing along at a decent pace.  I looked down at my watch at the 50k point (mile 31) and was happy to see my time of 4 hours and 45 mins.  My 50k pr was 5 hours and 28 mins, and I had just broken it while running a 50 mile race.

Leigh and I were pushing through the miles.  When we came to the aid stations we filled up on water and left as fast as we could.

At mile 40.9 we saw my crew at at the Rattle Snake Bar aid station. They filled one of my bottles up with ice and Dr. Pepper, and it was the most amazing thing I had all day.  I often drink Dr. Pepper during ultras.  I like it at the end of most events.  Sometimes I just need something other than water or a sports drink.  It's also an easy way for me to get some extra calories.

We came up to mile 46 I knew a sub 9 hours finish was possible, but I was cutting it close.  I told Leigh I was getting a little worried about the time and that we were going to have to do the uphill climb ahead of us at a decent pace in order to hit sub 9 hours.

Leigh pushed me through the last few uphill miles and when I saw the sign telling me I had 1 mile left I was incredibly happy because I looked at my watch and saw that my current time was 8 hours and 45 mins... and my legs still felt pretty good.

I ran that last mile knowing that I was on the course of beating my previous 50 mile pr by one hour.

As we turned the last corner I could see the finish line.  Leigh told me to take off and run it in.  I ran across the finish line feeling really good.  I found my crew, gave my wife a kiss, and everyone else a hug.  I was happy to see my long time friend Patrick had come out to see me finish the race.

It was a very awesome day.  I can honestly say I ran that race as fast as I could that day thanks to the help of my crew and my pacer.   They all did an amazing job of pushing me, keeping me moving, making my aid station stops smooth, and encouraging me to keep up my pace.

It's amazing to me that the older I'm getting, the better and stronger I'm feeling.

Five years ago would have never imagined running a marathon, 50k, 50 mile, or 100 mile race.  I guess you never know what the next day will bring.


Until next time...

KEEP RUNNING!!!!