I found this link on mapmyrun.com. It maps the runs nicely.
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Here is a collection of quotes I found on the ultra-marathoners list.
I also collected a bunch of different correspondence about this race.
What's normal is anyone's perspective...This just proves it.
Here is Andre's race report.
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Here is the entrant letter they sent and the 50K course guide.
They have a 25K and a 50K and this race is 6 days after the L.I. Marathon and it's a trail run. Been scouring the web for a while and it's been easy to find some info and not to find other info.
Emailed Jerry. He says it a "roid" as in hemorrhoid.
Emailed glirc.org. Useless people. The woman who answered kept telling me she just posted the info on their website. I couldn't find it. Finally she gets annoyed at me, tells me that my p.c must be broken and sends me the pdf document for the Caumsett run. Useless. Emailed her back and she tells me that they will post it after the 1st.
Emailed the RD (Nick), no answer.
Emailed a few people with Blogs and Frank answers. Awesome!
Here's what I know so far. The race is a 7.8ish run out and back. The 25Kers do it once. The 50Kers do it twice. Apparently the first 3-4 miles are decent. The last 3ish miles to the turnaround are tough up and down hills. There is some steps(?) to the turnaround. You go to the turnaround and then do it again in reverse.
To add to the mystique, if you don't get lost then you're doing it wrong. Apparently most people get lost at least once or twice. Scary stuff.
I plan on trying to go and preview the course. First get through Goofy and then we will see. Andre also plans on previewing the course. Maybe we can get Frank to take us. Who knows.
My long term running goals are: 50K this year(this trail race) - 50K next year(Caumsett) - 50M the next year! I have my sight on the Ocean to Sound relay. It will be a team of 1. Gathering info on that too but this isn't the place so who cares.
Going back in time...
Sunday was the L.I. Marathon. Monday and Tuesday I rested. Wednesday I swam. Some heavy intervals but ultimatly the distance wasn't to bad. Something like 1,600. Need to get refreshed but not too exhausted. Thursday, put kids to bed and drove to BJ's. Needed supplies badly. Needed stuff in general as well as stuff for the weekend. Wanted to go to sleep early but after 10. Had trouble sleeping. Funny thing is, it wasn't about the run. I was worrying about the Sunday lunch. Friday had Jessie's Siddur Celebration at school. Lee lost her voice so she cancelled her homecares completly and we went to the school. Love being at the school. Things went well. Finished and went home to clean and organize. Lunch was about a belated I_don't_want_to_celebrate_my_40th_birthday and Mothers day. Lee didn't want it because the house was a "mess". I promised I'd get things ready. Cleaned and organized the whole day.
Went to sleep at 9:30.
The weather forecast is NASTY thunderstorms. Starting Friday night and into Saturday morning. Heavy thunderstorms. Approx 75 percent chance.
Woke up at 2am. Breakfast and getting ready. Still dry. What does it mean? Rain delayed? I don't know.
Took LC for a walk at 5am. Chilly but OK - not raining.
Left the house at 5:50. Looked at the sky and horizon and I didn't know what I saw. Wasn't getting bright. Sort of was but gloomy too.
Long Island Expressway (LIE) East to Sunnyside Blvd. I knew I recognized the name. Biked there before. Found GLIRC HQ. Found a good parking spot. Good thing about being their at 6:15 for a 6:30 pickup is that you can find a great parking spot and then still have plenty of time to move the car to a spot that you won't be towed from. Yes - I asked and Yes - I'm glad and No - it WASN'T a legal spot. Oh My God! Moved the car lickety split. Wanted the car to be there when I finished.
About the whole car thing. Initially I was hoping to maybe get a ride from Andre or Donald. They were doing the 25K and starting an hour after me. They didn't want to get there earlier and defintly weren't gonna hang around. I thought of asking my mom for a ride but it would have been nuts for her. I was hoping maybe Jim can give me a ride but he wasn't gonna work out that Saturday. Decided to take the car and ask my mom to take Lee and the kids to the YMCA and to hang out with them. Glad I had the car.
So, people started trickling in more and more. Started talking to a guy from Pennsylvania. Wayne drove in the night before and stayed at a hotel about a mile away. Lots of traffic for him and the 2 hourish (long) drive took over 4. Then 6 drunks had a party close to his room. Tired and tired. It is what it is. He had done a 50K about 3 years back so knew what to expect. Seemed nice so we decided to try to stay together for the first out and back and then to figure things out from there. Andre showed up early for the 25K. He showed up approximatly 7:10. Very early for him.
Pickup was a none-event. Got a tech shirt and a bib. That's it. Had them print out a copy of the turn by turn directions just in case. Useless in the woods but whatever.
Had indoor plumbing which was no problem at 6:30. Later there was a long line. I used the porta-wall near someone's car.
Put suntan lotion just in case. Learned my lesson too many times. No one else did. Who cares.
I spied Emmy. Never met her so I went to introduce my self. She couldn't talk because she needed to use the bathroom IMMEDIATLY. Emmy is a friend of Frank whom I never met either. Introduced myself to Frank. Real nice guy. Emmy is a "young" 51 year old. She recently did the Umstead 100 miler with Frank and then a little later, the Boston Marathon. These guys are nuts.
As Wayne and I were waiting we heard Geese. He told me a funny story about Mountain Biking with his friend when they got attacked by a killer Goose. Apparently they got too close to a nest or something. Anyway, this thing flew up, landed on the handle bars and preceeded to attack the guy. The guy dropped the bike. The 2 of them couldn't figure out how to get the bike away from the circling Goose. Also, when exactly they lost control of the situation. More on this later.
About 10 minutes out and everything seems surreal. About 5 minutes out and still strange.
I have NEVER started a race in the back. Not near the back...Wayne and I were the back.
Race started and were off. Many people left drop bags. I didn't. I don't know better. It's just 5 more miles past a marathon, right?
We ran about 1.5 miles on street roads. We ran and turned in the middle of the street around a cone. Cars coming by, traffic not closed. Lead guy is flying. I saw a broken fence and joked to Wayne that that is the trail head. Turns out I was wrong but the trail head wasn't anything fancy either. It wasn't marked or anything.
So we got 1.5 miles and we are now in the trails and that's when I got drenched.
Very humid in the woods. We're running well. Started catching up to people. There are about 5 road crossings and we get to the first one. No traffic for now. Wayne and I take turns leading. The route is very well marked most of the time.
The course is blazed with white paint on the trees. Also, to supplement, there are yellow arrows and yellow tape. They did a great job most of the time. Few places tho...Glad we caught up to some people. After the first crossing, we lost the trail. Both of us stopped. Couldn't find it. Suddenly, Wayne spotted 2 runners a little away. Cool. Ran across the grass to get to them. So far Wayne saved the day a few times and so did I.
My foot at one point caught on a rock or root and I almost face planted. Caught my self because I didn't want Wayne crashing. He also caught himself too once.
Besides the 1.5 street we have 7.5 out - 7.5 in and repeat. What I read so far is right. The first 4ish miles are OK. Single track, mud, fun, ups and downs. Crossed Jericho turnpike. Crossed route 108. Lawrence is coming. Lawrence is gonna be tough.
There is a section where we leave the trail near the LIRR and then go right back in. It was weird because Wayne almost missed the trail. It looked like we were gonna go right into these 2 richy driveways. Into the trail, there is a sign that says "Watch out for Pandas". Seemed funny and out of place until we realized why. There was a canopy of bamboo. Really cool.
We caught up to more and more people. Strange as that may be. Caught up to Emmy and Elizabeth (noonie). They asked us if we started running late. Nope. We just started slow like you're supposed to.
Lead guy for the 50K is still in the lead and he is coming back. He is rocking or should I say FLYING. A few minutes later, 2nd and 3rd are coming.
Lawrence: Lawrence is tough. I've biked it. I've run up it. It's a bad one. Last time I ran it, I realized we are gonna have to cross it. I saw the trail head on both sides. We get a dip and then bad up. Cross Lawrence. Bad place too since there is a blind curve thing going on. Up the trail is stairs and up-Up-UP! We run up and a little down and more up. Eventually, down the hill. Bad drop with stairs to help straight to an aid station.
The course promised 2 minor aid stations and 2 major aid stations. Also you must check in at the aid stations. At the bottom of the stairs (Cold Spring Harbor), I show my bib to the marshall and tell them 162. The woman says 182. I say 162 and she says 182. This goes on again and then I give up. Hoping for the best.
Now with aid stations so spaced out, hydration becomes a factor. Also, during a marathon I would NEVER anymore consider stopping. At every station I took a pretzel or 2. Also, decisions as to liquids. They had water, 3 flavors of Gatorade and Coke. I always read about people during an IM drinking Coke and that it helped their stomach. Well, tried it. Kinda stupid trying it during a race but then again this was an adventure. Drank it. Little afraid because I used to be addicted to it and it felt good. Well, except for a few killer immediate burps, it felt fine. No GI distress whatsoever. From that point on, it was always watermellon, pretzel or two, 2 cups of Coke and water in the hat.
Left Cold Spring Harbor, 1.5 + 7.5 in the bank, and started up the wooden stairs. A beagle started running too. I don't know whose it is. I told the 2 women taking pictures that he is "First in Dog". Only one of them got the pun. You know first in place, first in age...First in Dog... I was tired what can I say.
Again those 2+ miles to and from Cold Spring Harbor were bad. I had to let Wayne go after Lawrence but I caught him at the Aid station. We both took off and he really took off. What can I say, he "had" it.
Remember I said the route was well marked "most" of the time...? It was but I got to an intersection where I just didn't know where to go. Took the correct turn but didn't see any blazes or markers whatsoever. The RD and the directions kept telling us that if we go 60 yards and no markers head back. I can admit being lost and I knew I was lost. I started screaming "ANY RUNNERS OUT THERE?" And absolutly no one answered. I was lost. I didn't know what to do. Suddenly a runner broke through from the direction I was heading to. The direction I thought was right but was dead wrong. He was the leader of the 25K and he was lost and circling for 20 minutes! A FOOL is what he was. He should have turned back. We retraced our steps and ran into Emmy and Noonie. They pointed us in the right direction and he headed back. Ran with Emmy and noonie and then ahead of them. Started seeing more and more 25Kers.
Saw 3 guys and the last of them was Andre who yelled "Told you so! Told you so! Told you so!". Putz. Every other runner whether it was a 25Ker or a 50Ker kept saying good job to people and wishing luck to each other. Andre? Whatever. I yelled back that it was easy. Eventually got to the easier 3 - 4 section and got out of the trail head.
Somewhere in this I also told a marshall who wrote my number down that there was confusion about my number in Cold Spring. She corrected it.
Emmy and Noonie both went to pee behind a car. I couldn't wait so I started the 2nd out and back. Again got to a not well marked section and took the wrong turn. This time, didn't take long before I stopped. Heard runners and screamed to them. Found Emmy and Noonie and this time stuck with them. No more being ahead of them. It's a waste of time. My goal is to finish so who cares about time.
Cold Spring Harbor again. Watermellon finished. Took a Tylenol and gave my last away while the other got an Aspirin. Something you should NOT take. Too dangerous. Bad for you. On the way back, Noonie spied a beautiful turtle which Emmy had to save. Turns out later another runner also saved the turtle but the stupid turtle was commited to going a certain way. Guess nobody told him there was a race going on and that it was a good way to die.
Almost done and we are all sick of the trail. Funny as Emmy had just run an "easy" 100 at Umstead so why complain for a 50K...Noonie really had enough. Tell the truth we power walked some big bad hills. Apparently all ultras do this and if it was a 25K I would never run but it wasn't and I walked.
Initially I ran in front of them but after the 2nd Cold Spring Harbor, we did an Elik sandwich. Noonie in the lead, followed by me, followed by Emmy. At one point, Emmy moved into the middle. Well, oopsie and she did a face plant. Skinned her knee. Helped her up. Chased Noonie.
Got out of the trail and stopped for liquids again. Noonie and Emmy didn't. They had to chase some woman down. I didn't.
Last 1/2 mile to the finish on streets. Basically 2 lefts and a right. MAde the first left down hill and saw Jay(?) coming up the hill. He took a wrong turn. Another left and a right into the driveway to the finish. Automatic PR!
Got a good job and a bag. Looked inside and I thought I dropped the finishers medal. Asked someone and the bad is supposed to be empty. I must have been dazed because I asked 3 more people to make sure. The bag was empty on purpose...Sucks. No finishers medal. Would have really treasured it.
Looked for food and they had 3 6 foot heroes with 3 meats and some cheese. Not me...Drank 2 sprites which was weird for me and iced my knee a little. Schmoosed a little bit and then left.
I was amazed by the comradery at the race. Everyone wishing everyone else good luck. Everyone saying good job. The 25Kers actually moving out of the way of the 50Kers. There was a guy who parked near Wayne who was doing leg 2 (coming back for the first time) while I was completing leg 3. He said Good job to me and wished me luck. I grabbed his hand and did the same.
The weather we had was nuts. In certain areas we had a nice breeze. In other areas we had high humidity and no air. In another area we were facing a head wind. Twice, there was a nasty thunderclap accompanied by a torrential thunderstorm. I was so happy I put my car keys in a ziplock bag inside my spiel belt yet I was worried that the clicker would get wet and that I would not be able to get into my car. It was that kind of day.
Also, approaching this race, I wasn't sure how to think about this race. There are 3 ways to think about it:
I treated it as both a 2 loop race and a 4 section race. That was the only way to approach it. Every section counted - every loop was a success.
Something else happened. In section 2, coming back from Cold Spring Harbor for the first time, I got scratched by a branch. I have a 2 inch gash on my right shoulder to show for it. Well at one point, I looked at it and accidentally swerved to the right. Unfortunatly, I was on a narrow trail with a mountain climb on the left side and a mountain drop on the right. When I swerved right, I immediatly corrected myself and went left. Buy it was too much and I started climbing up. Immediatly corrected again (too much) and went right. This time, my foot went on the drop and the ground started giving in. I started sliding down. Luckily I corrected and caught myself. Could have been real ugly. As is, I still have the scratch (scar?) on the shoulder and a 1 inch scratch on my calf although I am not sure where and how that happened. Take a look at the crude image I put up. The red "X" is where I put my foot down and the part of the trail that started collapsing under my weight.
My official time is 7:04:20. Came in 37 of 55 people. I'm happy. All the Ultra-Marathoners I talked to tell me that I did very well. A 7 hr for a first Ultra is good. For the Greenbelt 50K is awesome. Frank who has done so many Ultras and 100's and 50 milers and 50 K's himself did a 7hr the first time here. He was humbled and got lost 4 times that initial time but has come back now for the 3rd time and has improved every time.
Through either Emmy or Frank, I got a new friend on Facebook. His name is Chip and I'm just now starting to scratch the surface of Ultra's. This is what e posted on Facebook to me.
I did the LIMarathon, too. And the SL50K the Sat. before and the Boston Marathon 4 days b4 that. :) All training for the Bighorn 100M on June 18-19.
These people are nuts...And no, my name is not Mr. Kettle.
Anyway, other than that, legs are fine. I promised my self a whole week of no exercise and so far I have kept that promise. Last night I played tennis, for fun, while Jeremy was in his tennis class. I was freezing and I used it to warm up. It was fun.
Looks like I could join "Marathon Maniacs" which is something Frank suggested. I am actually fine and this morning thought about doing another marathon or ultra this weekend. What?!? Where did this come from...? Anyway, not going to...Not going to. Gotta heal. Gotta take time to rest. Gotta get back to 100%.