Mad City 50k Relay

Does it still count as a PR if it was part of a relay?  I think so.

The Mad City 100k event is three races.  There is the 100k and 50k race for the hardcore ultra marathoners.  And then there's the 50k relay.  The instructions for the relay were simple.  At least 2 members for a team, and each member must do at least a 10k.  Age brackets were calculated based on aggregate age, with someone's age twice if they run two laps.  The 100k started at 6:30am and the 50k starts at 8am.

Ear warmers as race swag for the relay runners.

Barry suggested back in February getting a team together to run the 50k relay.  He suggested Ellie as a part of our team with Ellie doing one lap and me and him each doing two laps.  But Ellie wasn't sure she'd be in town that weekend, so we asked fellow runner and trivia teammate Joe to join us and run our fifth lap.  Come the day before, Barry and I reassessed our abilities to do two laps.  I'd been sick all week after my 20 miler and Arboretum Spring Sprint and hadn't gotten any miles in because of a sore throat.  The course for all three races was my beloved Arboretum loop. I've been training on the Arboretum loop for almost all of my runs outdoors, but I've always ran it in the "wrong" direction, i.e. I run it clockwise on a map so the mile posts count down rather than up. Joe warned me that the "correct" direction feels like quite a different course and the hills more difficult.  I tried the course the "correct" way Friday morning with 20 mph wind and hail blowing in my face.  I ran it in 1 hour and 20 minutes because I had to stop and walk.  Oh boy.  Barry had ran the course on Monday in 54:01, but he felt terrible after.  Neither he nor I felt sure about a second lap.  So Friday morning, after my trial run on the course, I asked Ellie again if she wanted to take a lap since she will be in town after all.  She thought about it, looked at her schedule for work and said, "ok," if she can take the first lap that starts at 8am so she can make it to work by 10:30am.  Hooray, Barry and I thought, and decided that he and I would flip for the last lap depending on how we felt after the first one tomorrow. 

Every solo racer and nearly every relay
runner gets a one lb box of truffles.

Friday evening, we're picking up race materials at the Vilas shelter, and chatting with people and mentioning that we wouldn't mind having a fifth runner.  About 5 minutes later, a woman comes up to us and says that she heard we might be looking for a fifth runner.  We met Lesley and Kerri from the Twin Cities.  It was quite kismet as they had parked right next to us and I had noticed Kerri's sweatshirt when I got out of the car.  Kerri was wearing the Get Lucky half marathon sweatshirt.  We told Lesley we'd discuss and get back to her.  After some discussion of logistics, we called Lesley and let her know that we'd have a 3rd lap for her if she's interested.  So the order became: Ellie, Christine, Lesley, Joe, and Barry. 

Race day morning was chilly with 31 at the start and a mild wind.  Barry met Ellie and me at home and we walked down to the start line.  I walked back shortly after to get ready for the race so I wasn't able to see Ellie start.  About an hour later, it was my turn.  Ellie came through smiling and looking like she had a great time.  She handed over the baton and Lesley helped me attach the ankle timer.  I was off.

The Mad City 100k isn't a big race but it's well organized.  The course was impeccably marked with a sign post every 100 meters or so.  Because it's a small race there wasn't the crowd of other racers to sort of carry you along, but that was also one of the things I really enjoyed about this event.  I ran past some 100k or 50kers on their third or second lap and I was also getting past by elite 100k or 50kers who were running their fourth or third lap.  Most of the time I was on the course by myself.

As I'm coming out of the Arboretum,
on my way to a PR!

I ran the first two miles fast.  I knew I was moving at quite a clip and I was a bit worried about how all this may come back to bite me by mile 3.  I kept the hills that I knew were still ahead of me in mind, and I utilized all the downhills to the best of my advantage.  Before I started my lap, Lesley asked where I thought I'd finish.  "You're thinking 54 minutes?"  I played it down and said, "something under an hour."  But really, I wasn't sure.  On a good day, definitely under an hour, but I wasn't sure yet what kind of day it was.  My light warmup jog said it was a pretty good day, but Friday's performance undermined my confidence.  As I ran, however, I had Lesley's 54 minute prediction in my head.  She saw me as a 54 minute 10k runner and well, I just had to meet her expectations.  It also helped to know that I was only running a 10k.  "Leave everything on the course," I told myself.

I felt good the entire way.  It was cold at the start, but there wasn't much wind on the course and I warmed up nicely after the first 2 miles.  I made sure not to go into a sprint when I came out of the Arboretum.  I kept a steady pace and I didn't push it during the last mile until I was ready and could see the finish line.  This was the second time where I'm coming upon the finish line and somebody else comes barreling behind me and I sprint in to make sure I don't let them get too far ahead of me.  I came through at 53:57 and the rest of my team clearly weren't expecting me.  Barry had figured I'd be 56 something (and rightly so), so Lesley was just starting to strip down to her running outfit when I came running through. 

Because of that, the changeover with the timing chip and baton took a little bit longer than usual.  All in all, the majority of our team felt good about our performance.  Lesley had been sick but felt she could've shaved a couple more minutes off her 56:24 time if she weren't.  Joe did fantastically coming in just under 58 minutes, and Barry was our star with a 53:06.  The results on the right are from Barry's watch and memory.  The official time has me in about 12 seconds faster than what Barry wrote down, but I'm happy to record his result.

The only negative on this race is the lack of food at the finish.  But it makes the most sense for a race like this.  There was a ton of food at the water stop at 6k on the loop, and having the food there instead of the finish ensures that the ultra marathoners would have plenty left when they're on mile 25 or mile 53.  Plus, the race was so close to home for me that I didn't really care.  Find four friends and run the 50k relay.  Part of what makes the relay experience so awesome are the team members who cheer you on and watch you come through.  I had a great time at the Mad City 100k.