Saturday June 1st was my 4th running of the North Face Endurance Challenge. My first year was the 50 miler and it's been 50k ever since. I love the course but three times around the Great Falls area is a little too much of the same for me. It's a beautiful trail though and makes for a great 50k. Some of the out and back sections can be a bit mind dumbing but once you get to the falls you forget about everything but the view! It's a very runnable course too - with rolling hills and long sections of single track. As always the volunteers were awesome - North Face is of course a major outdoor retailer and they have the time and money to put on a spectacular event and it shows in the details of the aid stations. Everything a thirsty, hungry, tired runner could need - except in one section. There is a dreaded stretch of miles (7.6 this year) with no aid and no water and this year was especially brutal with unexpected heat in the 90s. Plenty of people dropped due to this section and I really can't blame them. Several became severely ill with trips to the hospital as a result. I was told this stretch is private property and they are not allowed to have aid here - but a solution is really needed as I'm afraid something deadly serious will happened here one year. The course runs long at 32.64 - and it was tough this year. Again the heat took a toll. Last year was a mud fest making for difficult running and I was still an hour faster than I was this year. It made for a challenging day and if I wasn't ready for heat racing before this event I am now.
Once again I had my pose down with Dean - and once again Dean edged me out. The man appears to be carved from stone. He's the reason my ultra training contains bicep work. One year though....
So this leaves me with two weeks to recover for the Mohican 100 and whatever that day brings. I've blogged my goals for this race before but once more I'll just say that I have no expectations for the race other than to run for as long, as far and as happy as I am able. After that it's a crap shoot.
Oh, pinole. I liked it. During the long stretch without water I felt unable to consume anything - so I didn't even bother. Yet after I refuel at the second to last aid station I was able to take off and run steady at a better pace than almost any other time of the race. I do credit this to the "clear burning" calories of the pinole - it's substantial, sustainable energy that's easy on the stomach. I felt that it kept me well fueled between aid stations and allowed me to skip the junk and concentrate on fruit and potatoes once I reach them. Definitely a keeper for the next race.
Thanks for reading!
Peace,
Eric
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