Race Review: Winona Lake Ultra Trail 50 Mile Race

Image via Wikipedia

    By: Brent

At 2:10 I arrived at beautiful Winona Lake to get signed in and receive my swag. White running gloves. Very nice. I have always been given shirts and other odd things so a pair of legit running gloves was a nice change of pace. As I met my teammates, mostly for the first time, I could tell this was an enjoyable group and we were going to have a good time at this run. The plan was to shoot for 90 minute, 10 mile loops. I knew from the beginning I was going to struggle with that 90 minute formula for a couple reasons. First off, the furthest I had run in quite some time was 5.5 miles and secondly, when I launched, at best would be around 9 p.m., so I would be dealing with the dark.

As the field lined up there were 3 groups. The 10 milers lined up and launched, 5 minutes later the 30 milers and then another 5 back started the 50 mile runners. If you were in a relay, you still started with the distance overall you were competing with. I thought that a little odd. You would think you could pace better with the 10 mile runners, yet with the breakdown of people it was probably better. There was roughly (60) 10 mile runners, (30) 30 mile runners and (10) 50 mile (fools) runners. Impressively this race, in its second year of existence about doubled in size. The field was from all over. From Wisconsin, Georgia, Ohio and everything in between.

As the 50 mile group took off you could tell fairly quickly how people were going to do. There were all sorts of runners. Some that looked like they did this every weekend, and of course some looked like they had made a wrong turn out to this trail and had no intention of doing this. Alas, everyone left the chute. Knowing I now had about 6 hours before my lap, I then ran into town and grabbed a Subway. Some for now, some for later. It was going to be a long wait.

Whilst partaking of my tuna sub, the first runner from the 10 mile race came through at a BLISTERING 1:00:29! Insane! I didn't know the course at that point in time, but looking back at it now, I can't even begin to figure how someone does that. Second and third came in at 1:05 and 1:06 looking just as impressive. A short time later, the future first place 50 mile runner came in for his first lap running it at 1:10! Our first runner came around our figured 90 minute time frame, handed over the bib and runner 2 took off.

As time went on the parking area cleared out significantly. You could see the faces of the support groups and family members who were in for the long haul. People sleeping in cars with doors wide open. It looked like a Grateful Dead concert without the grilled cheese sandwiches. Temperatures jumped up 10 degrees from the day before so Indiana was touching its first 80 degree day of the year. Time kept running and so did the people. Runner 2 stomped out a time a bit over our 90 minute hopes, but there was no cares in the world. Runner 3 put in our best time just under 90 minutes. As my friend Trevor was heading out I tried talking him into taking a light of some kind. He refused saying he knew he would be back in time.

When 8:30 started rolling the sun really started hiding. Temp's started dropping so I made a wardrobe switch to long sleeve's and stood in the chute, headlight ready, flashlight in hand. Finally the stomach started telling me how nervous I was getting. Nervous for 2 reasons. One, Trev wasn't back in yet and most of the runners crossing at this point were wearing headlights, and it was now over 95 minutes in to his lap, and second, I was next. A few minutes later Trev popped into sight and you could only see him because of his "please don't hit me with your car, neon yellow" shirt that must have lit his way on it's own. I grabbed my GPS watch from him, the bib with our timing chip, clicked on my lights and began my trek out in to the wild.

All started fine. I had not seen this course before but luckily I have ridden on mountain bike single track before so I at least had an idea what I would be running on. The down side to it is that the bikes that are normally on these trails really dig a groove so when you are running on them your ankles constantly fall inward.

At roughly 2 miles in I came to a spot that stopped me. I figured I missed a turn so I went back. Nothing. After running back and forth and shining all my lighting on anything I could, I never found the trail forward. As I was becoming frustrated and debating starting to head back to regroup and find my trail, I saw another headlight in the distance. I hollered over to them to figure if they were coming up behind me and they were so I waited as patiently as I could. Finally the other runners headlight poked out from behind a hill and I started running toward him. I got turned in the right direction and went on. I probably gained a minute on him and kept pushing. The Winona Trails are impressive. On bike I can't fathom some of their climbs. You had to side skip down some hills and get a running start on some of the ups. I was grabbing trees on the way down one stretch just so I didn't face plant. I ended up catching and passing 2 girls along the course. One at about 6.5 miles who still had another 10 mile lap to go and one lady at about 8 miles that had 2 laps still to go! After seeing the results the next day the first girl I passed finished at 1 a.m. and the other finished at 6 in the morning. 15.5 hours after starting!

After the results coming in here was the breakdown...

Runner 1 1:31:19

Runner 2 1:38:21

Runner 3 1:29:40

Runner 4 1:37:47

Runner 5 1:59:30

Total time 8:16:37

How did first place do in the 50 mile SOLO? 7:00:40!!!!!

I had a great time. Our team was great and everyone did very well. I told the team before I went out "just know now, if I come in at 90 minutes, I cheated like crazy!"

Nothing you can do about getting lost in the dark of night. I feel I could hit 1:45 on the same course, in the same conditions, but you can't make up for walking around for 10 or so minutes. Either way, I look forward to doing it again next year.

The things we can say "Yes!" to....

Image via Wikipedia

By: Brent


So I was talking with my good friend and co-worker Trevor, and he says to me, "Hey, wanna try a 50 miler!?!" My swift response, "NO!!!!" yet the more he talks about it, the more interesting it becomes. It is a trail race at Winona Lake on the mountain bike trails. The biggest kicker is that you can enter into relays so Trevor and I have entered in with 3 others so all we have to run is 10 miles apiece. Mind you, I have only run one time since my 5k on the snowy golf course, but still, It's not like is could snow in April in Indiana..... I think. So we get our 5 guys that all say YES to this hair brained idea. Then Trevor says to me, "You run at night a lot, how well does your headlight work?" I respond curiously, assuming that he is planning on starting to run after hours and he says "Oh no. the race doesn't start until 2:30 p.m., so by the time the fifth guy starts, it could be 10 o'clock at night and the runner are responsible for their lighting." AWESOME!!!!! For some reason, NOW I am more than interested. I requested the last leg of the race, with no argument from the team.

So today Trevor officially signed us up. Last year there was 66 "groupings". There is multiple ways to enter this trail race. 50 mile solo, 3, 4 or 5 man groups or they offer a 30 and 10 mile option also. As of our sign up there are 77 entered, with our team being the only 50 mile 5 man. I have no idea what to expect. My understanding is that you run on the mountain bike trail that follows a days worth of mountain bike races. If that is the case, there should be pretty good clearings and watching the roots in the ground should be the only major issues. My understanding is that Winona Lake does a very good job hosting races that are run and ridden so I have a lot of faith this will be another great new experience.

As of today I have 19 days to get a bit of running endurance built back up. I know you can't turn into a real trail runner in 19 days, but I figure if this is at midnight, I shall start working on my list of excuses as to why it took me so long to finish my leg of the race.

1) I got chased off the trail by Big Foot

2) I made a wrong turn and ended up in Illinois, then turned back and ran back

3) My headlight batteries went out a mile in and I ran the rest in the darkness

4) I was in the line at the port-o-potty at mile XX (find port-o-potty)

5) Mexican sample platter dinner was a bad idea

6) I found a portal that led to a mystical land

7) In all the excitement, I must have gone around twice

8) I may have dozed off

9) I waited at the wrong checkpoint for so long

10) I thought this was a preview of the course so I walked and took notes. I am ready now though.

This year has been interesting for me and fitness. I am so focused on riding right now I can't seem to get all worked up about running. Yet, I have done a trail/snow 5k run, this 50 mile trail relay, I am signed up (yet NOT training) for a road half marathon, and I want to do the 10k Steve's Run that is half trail and half road. I have a handful of biking events I want to do also and I would like to find a couple sprint triathlons this summer so very different from the last 2 years that I have run 14 road races and one of them being trail.

The race: The 2nd annual Winona Lake Trial Ultra 50

Outside Finally - First Group Ride of the Year

Image by neotint via FlickrBy: Jeff

This is just a real quick post to mention that the weather has finally warmed up enough in northern Indiana to ride outside!!!  Last night four of us from the bike shop went out for the Wednesday night group ride.  It was a blast!!! I/we are so ready for spring to be here, and to be outside.  Here is the data from Brent's garmin, from last nights ride:

Daytona Beach, Warmer (Slightly) Than Indiana

Image by Joe Shlabotnik via FlickrBy Jeff

Last week I took a business trip to Daytona Beach.  I know, I know, sounds exactly like a business trip right?  With air travel, convention setup, and working the convention, I was only able to get out and run/walk once.  So a nice run along an ocean walk in sunny Florida ----- Ya Right!!!  How about 45 and windy!!! Ok so nicer than -6 in Indiana, but still not typical Florida weather.  Immediately I could tell that I have been doing a lot more bike riding than running. But with running by the ocean, early morning with no one around, it was rather peaceful. In addition it made for a great opportunity to test the Google My Tracks app on my phone.  So there I was, running along, feeling good about myself, smelling the ocean breeze.....and, wait for it........BACON!!!!  Come on Jeff keep running, breakfast isn't for another couple of hours......Conrad Hilton was up cooking though.  Man what a distraction.  That man makes some seriously good smelling bacon.  After a few minutes I was able to regain my focus and complete my run.  Over all it was fun, and the change of scenery was an added bonus.  And yes I did order bacon at breakfast.

From My Tracks Phone App


View 2011-01-21 06:13 in a larger map

Apple Cider Century 2010 - 50 Mile Review

Rider Braclet

[sorry this review is a little late, but better late then never]
By: Jeff

The day was finally here.  Brent and I had been waiting for this day for awhile now.  Bright and early on Sunday morning Brent and I headed up to Three Oaks, MI.  The temps were in the high 40's, needless to say we had multiple layers on.  It was partly cloudy, but overall looked to be a great day to test our legs on our first official biking event.

As we approached Three Oaks we were seeing more and more cars with bikes attached to them.  This only added to the excitement of the ride ahead.  The Apple Cider Century attracts 5,000 cyclist every year!!!  When we finally entered town, the realization of how many cyclists this is finally hits.....Holy Cow that is a lot of people on two wheels.  I have to give it to the organizing committee though, there were plenty of people to direct you to parking, and also plenty of people to direct you where to go for packet pick up.  After packet pick up we went back to the car and unpacked the bikes.  We got everything ready to go.  We got on all our geeky bike gear, helmets, gloves, drink bottles, cycling computers.  We were ready to go!!!

ACC Starting Line

Brent Fixing Flat

 At this point we headed away from the parking lot and towards the start/finish line.  Honestly with so many cyclist around I was just thinking, "don't hit anyone". We then proceeded through town and then towards the countryside.  I wouldn't say it was crowded, but still a good group of cyclist were all around.  The only hills of the event were as we crossed into Indiana.  (Now let me point out that I am talking about northern Indiana and southern Michigan, if you live here you know that it is flat. So if you are from a mountains type region please disregard all talk of hills....you would be laughing at me.)  About 10 miles in a pack of racer wanna-be cyclists passed us....oh they were all decked out in their "team kits".  As they zoomed by us I thought, hmmm we'll never see them again.  But then Brent says, "do you know that guy?"  After looking ahead I thought, hmmmm maybe I do.  So I stepped it up a bit, and was able to latch onto the back of the wanna-bees.  I was actually a bit surprised I was keeping up.  I finally got beside one of their riders and asked for the guy's name that I thought maybe I knew.  Turns out it was not him.  So then Brent says, "does this mean your going to slow down now?" , "No I'm feeling pretty good". As we started up a incline that is when it happened.  15 miles into the ride I hear Brent say...."Jeff.......Flat".  So we got a slight break as Brent put a new tube on. At 25 miles in we got to the first SAG stop.  It was a nice setup.  Again you are reminded how many cyclists are there.  Everything was orderly, Food and drink tents, and bike repair tent.  It was great having a bike repairman on duty, Brent was able to get his tire properly inflated, and had his shifting tweaked.  We are not sure where the repairman was from, but thanks for the help!!!  The food setup was great, grapes, bananas, Clif Bars, cookies, hot potato soup, and of course apple cider!  It was pretty comforting knowing that we were all ready at the half-way point.  The rest of the ride was pretty uneventful.  The wind picked up a bit, but wasn't unbearable.  Over all we had a really great time and a really great ride.  We finished the ride and then had the included spaghetti lunch. Next year we plan to do the full century.  Can't wait!!!

Bicycle Indiana

By: Jeff

In a previous post [Here], I have talked about cycling awareness.  Recently an organization in our state, Bicycle Indiana, has successfully manged to get a license plate made to help promote cycling awareness.  Here is a post from their recent blog:

I SHARE THE ROAD LICENSE PLATE

We Did It! We’re pleased to announce that the BMV has approved Bicycle Indiana’s application for a special group license plate. That means beginning Jan. 1, 2011, you can pay an additional $40 for an “I Share the Road” plate, and $25 will go to Bicycle Indiana. This milestone was accomplished because of all of you who signed petitions in support of the plate, so thank you! Stay tuned for details on how to get your plate. In the meantime, thank you for helping make this happen!

We’ll be sending out information to all who signed the petition, but you can also indicate your interest in the I Share The Road license plate by completing this form: License Plate

My First 5K! Sunburst 2010

 By: Jeff

Since January I have been preparing for my first 5K.  This past Saturday (June 5, 2010) I took on this challenge at the Sunburst races in South Bend.

On Friday night I drove over to South Bend to pick up my bib and my timing chip.  I was pleasantly surprised with how easy that process was.  There were a few people, but it was by no means crowded.  Saturday morning I woke up early to take my son to the babysitters.  I was in downtown South Bend about 40 minutes before the start.  It was fun to watch people mill about and talk about their race strategies.  Fifteen minutes before the start time they announced everyone to begin lining up on the road for the start of the race.  There where 3,169 runners in the 5K.  The road could not handle the mass of people, so I just stood off to the side of the road, towards the back of the crowd, and took a picture with my cell phone. There was the singing of the National Anthem.  And then the gun went off, the race was underway.

The Start:

So as people started to move towards the start line they would move, and then stop, and then move, and then again stop.  Brent has talked about this before, and apparently it is a common phenomena at most races.  After a couple of minutes I crossed the start line and eased into a nice beginning pace.  I was feeling pretty good, Brent joined me for the first half mile, then he had to return for the start of his 10K race.  I ran the first, lets call it three-quarters of a mile.  Then there was a little downhill towards the St. Joseph River.  Once you crossed the bridge over the river, which is a little over a mile into the race, the course goes uphill for about the next three quarters of a mile.  This was defiantly the toughest section for me, and I probably walked more of it, then I ran.  I passed the two mile marker, and honestly felt like I was having a slow race.  Mile three was mostly flat, and I ran more then I walked.  Finally I saw the stadium.  By far the coolest part of the race was entering Notre Dame Stadium through the tunnel.  The finish line is at the 50 yard line in the stadium.

The Finish:

So I made sure that I ran all the way through the tunnel and all the way to the finish line.  When I crossed the line they announced my name on the P.A. system, which was kind of cool.  After the race I got some grapes and some water.  People mostly just hung out on the field.  I got to watch the winner of the 10K cross the finish line.  I also got to see my friend Gary cross the line.  I stayed and watched as Brent had a strong finish to his 10K.  Overall it was a lot of fun and I finished with a time of 0:46:16, which is better than I thought I did, but not as good as what I wanted to do.  So that means I have to keep training, and start working on my next race.  Brent will have a review of his 10k posted soon.

Schwinn Magnetic Bike Trainer

Image by JeffKamp via Flickr

By: Jeff

This summer I was doing well.  I was regularly riding my bike back and forth to work.  Going on weekend rides.  Brent and I even tried to do a two day ride that was well over 100 miles.  But in all disclosure we failed due to hurricane like conditions in the middle of Indiana corn field country.  Seriously.   40 MPH wind gust and rain the whole way!  Then late fall I decidided I wanted to start running.  So for about three weeks I was doing well on that.  With the weather turning cold my running eventually stopped and with the snow my biking ended too.

Well thank goodness for Christmas!!!  One of the gifts I recieved was a Schwinn Magnetic bike trainer.  There are many types of these on the market.  This one in particular is an entry level model.  It has three settings for different resistances.  Basically you mount your rear tire on the frame.  Very easy screw like setting to hold your bike in place.  Then you turn the resistance wheel until it makes solid contact with your rear tire.  Finally pick how much resistance you want and start pedaling.  It is a lot like being on a treadmill, only with your bike instead of running.  A helpful hint would be to get a fan in front of you, your body temp will rise much faster than being on the open road.

So with that being said, I am at least back to getting some excercise in this cold weather.  Today it is a warm 12 degrees farenheight by the way!!!

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