More than anything I consider myself a trail runner but every now and then hitting the road can be a good thing. Especially with MadCity 100K. No roots or rocks to trip over, you don’t even have to worry about carrying water, just run. Personally I think the MadCity course is a good one. Not flat or straight, a couple of hills, really nice. The down side is you have to do the loop 10 times.
The race started out chilly but for the first time I’ve been doing this race I knew that it was going to be a warm day. I’ll save you the loop by loop replay and keep it shortish.
Went out on the first loop a bit fast. I think it was around 8 minute pace. Which for me was fast considering it was 62 miles long. Just about a ½ mile from the start is the first of 2 maybe 3 hills of considerable length. In normal circumstances I would be walking up this hill but in this case I was running it. Just a casual run not with any real effort. At the top it’s a left turn downhill on a city street another left through a park, more left turns and you’re through bike paths, along a golf course to the second hill. So do I run it or walk? Hell I’m running it. Couple more left turns and we are going through the Arboretum. Coming up to the 5K aid station is the 3rd hill on the course, still running hills. Walked through the aid station just to slow myself down and grab a gel. Finished the first loop in just under 49 minutes, yikes kinda fast but so what, go with it while you can I say. Got rid of my bottle, sleeves and gloves and headed out for lap 2.
My lap times were a bit more reasonable, keeping them under an hour all the way through the 6th lap. Had a 4:23 50K, which I thought may have been a bit fast but so what you have to stop questioning yourself and just go. At this point I’m still running the hills and not considering walking them.
Going into the 7th lap was where I started to slow down. Let’s just say the whole 7th loop hurt. But I continued to run the whole thing. Going into lap 8 things were getting better. I had my bottle with my own special drink and it may have started to kick in.
Laps 7 through 9 were just over an hour but I was still running the hills and walking through the aid stations. After finishing the 8th loop there is a mental boost knowing that there are only 2 laps to go and it was time to push it home.
That last loop was a tough one, but knowing it was the last one made me push the pace with whatever I had left. There was a guy just in front of me and I used him as the carrot. It took me until the last half mile but I caught him as well as another guy and just hammered it home. Crossed the line in 9:30:50, found a spot in the grass and collapsed. Couldn’t believe what I had just done. 9:30 is a PR by about 1hr. 25 mins. OMG, WTF, and whatever else that came out of my mouth.
Timo and his crew put on another class event. Big thanks to them. Wish I would have caught her name, but there was a woman at the top of the hill just past the golf course that must have been there for hours. Probably past her 3 times and every time she was there clapping and yelling for everyone. That kind of stuff is a huge help when you’re out there hurting. Thank you to her.
I’ve recently been asked this question, so here are some numbers
So far this year:
12 races
7 of these races were Ultras (hopefully #8 this weekend at Chippewa)
404 racing miles
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