Race 09-101 Helen Klein 50 Mi.

October 31, 2009
50km - 38th/122 - 9:22:15

I broke from my rule of not running more than a marathon on the road and entered the Helen Klein 50 miler. Chikara and I made the trip up together. It also (hopefully) marks the last time I need to get up super early for a race in 2009. In addition to a 50 mile race they had a 50k and 30k which would start shortly after the 50 mile runners started. We left in the dark and got to the start in the dark. The first person I saw when we got there was Wally Raposo who was volunteering at the registration table.

I was optimistically hoping to be under 7 hours because I ran the AR50 in 7:20 and the HK50 does not have nearly as many or as difficult trails (or hills). I was realistically thinking anything around my AR time would be decent. There were many familiar faces there with optimistic hopes including Sean Lang, Jean Pommier, and Ray Sanchez. The course is an out and back, mostly on a paved bike trail along the American River. I had run on well over 50% of the course before.

I started near the front but was careful not to start too fast. Due to construction the first mile+ was on trails. I enjoyed this part although I was anxious to get on the road where I would be able to move faster. I was also eager to get the part of the trial that overlaps with the AR50 because I know that section. Once we got to the road I started to settle in although a few people passed me as the miles were still in the double digits. I thought that a couple of people that passed me may have been in the 50k because they were moving so fast.

I enjoyed the race until around mile 12 when I started to struggle. I had no reason for it, especially considering I had run a good 50k the previous week but for whatever reason the course seemed a lot harder than it should have. I was purposely running in the dirt shoulder to save my feet from the pounding. Adrian Jue who was in the 50k caught up to me shortly before his turnaround and I told him I felt like I had run 40 miles already.

I pushed on lowering my goal to just finish but I made no improvement. Around mile 21 I saw Chikara coming the other way – well on his way to winning the race. This was in a stretch where the aid stations were a mile more apart than was marked (the next 2 were a mile closer) so I had a difficult time not getting to an aid station when I expected. I got a second wind a little as I got to that aid station and Jonathan Bretan in his 50 mile debut catching up to me. We exchanged friendly waves as I left the aid station he was coming into.

I got to the turnaround under 4 hours much to my surprise. I felt like I was going a lot slower than that. My biggest problem was landing on the ground, not leg fatigue. I felt OK for the next couple of miles and ran with Jon as he closed the short gap between us. Eventually I let him go, mostly because I didn’t want to push that hard until I was at least at mile 40. I continued to slow down but pushed on. Some people passed me but not nearly as frequently as I thought would given how slow I felt I was going.

By mile 35 I was running quite alone. I didn’t see many other racers, the other runner traffic had died down a bit, and the bike traffic was more sporadic. About 1/3 of a mile before an aid station where we cross over the river I saw a rattlesnake in the middle of the trail. Chikara and I had had a couple conversations about what to do if that ever happened with the 3 main choices being 1)wait 2) try to go WAY around it 3) stand at considerable distance and throw a rock or stick to scare it away. It was in plain sight far enough away and it was moving from right to left so I briefly though about quickly running by when I got there it was already in the middle of the trail so I opted for choice #1. After about 10 seconds I went around it on the right in the space it had just vacated. I warned several cyclists approaching from the other way and moved on.

Only a few runners caught up to me after that and I tried to hang on with each of them. I felt a bit more confident after I got 47 miles in (“I can always run just a 5k”) so I tried to pick up the pace. I chatted with a guy who ran faster than me on downhill, slightly faster on flat ground, but could not stay with me going uphill. As we got closer to the end I pulled away. When we hit the trail for the last 1+ miles I caught several people. I felt like I got a second wind around mile 49 (nice time for it) and finished very strong.

I finished in 9:22:15 (yes, slower than Firetrails 50mi. and over a 1:00 slower per mile than Miwok 100k). I wasn’t really disappointed because I had been running too much this fall (6th week in a row with an ultra, 3 of them being 50mi.+) and the reason for going slow wasn’t due to fatigue. Jean Pommier took a picture of me covered in sweat which was solely a result of my effort in the last 1+ miles (and it was warm out). I learned Chikara won and didn’t set a course record but came within a minute of doing so (later found out he was :02 away). I got to formally meet both Helen and Norm Klein. Norm gave me a Bald Eagle finisher prize and Chikara and I discussed how we could fit the clock he won into my car – worse case would be put the roof down and sit it up in the back seat like a person but since the top half of the clock can be unscrewed we took it in 2 pieces. I enjoyed the race although the distance is farther than I will want to run on a road (and flat) again. I would consider doing the 50k next year.