Door County Fall 50

LPTRunner Christine Crawford's race report...

Sean Ryan, the RD for the Fall 50 owed me a free entry for winning the event a few years ago. I tried to make good on it in 2009 and 2010 but wasn’t able to run due to health reasons. I decided to cash in this year since my husband wanted to get away for a weekend in Door County, it worked out well.


I packed 2 small drop bags that I never used. The aid stations were sufficient. The bus ride to the start was filled with lots of chatter, mostly Bruce and I! We discussed the fact that his training wasn’t as strong as he would like it to have been and that I shouldn’t be on the bus to the start. 

 The solo runners started at 7am sharp! This was my fourth running of the Fall 50. I let lots of girls run ahead of me without giving chase. I was of the mindset that I was not racing this event so I found a gear and locked in. At this point, I still hadn't run more than 15 consecutive miles without taking walk breaks and haven’t run any pavement. 

That translated into sore quads at mile 18 which is where Kevin Grabowski and his family saw me first. They were up visiting his grandma. Kevin asked if I was feeling good (as Alison and the girls cheered me on) and I said from the waist up I felt great but that I already had sore quads and I wasn't hammering the speed and I was running on the soft shoulder so how could this be? He laughed and said it was because I had zero training for this kind of event. He said keep moving and he'd find me later. 

Two miles later I made up my mind I was dropping because now my calves hurt. However, I didn't have plans to meet Scott until mile 36. Shoot. So I started walking for a few seconds then would shuffle. Ouch! I've never had dead, sore legs this soon! Well I made it to the marathon mark in 3:44. Not bad I thought but wished my legs would cooperate. I was in the zone and missed the next rest stop. I had hardly enough water and no gels but I didn't want either of them anyway. In the mean time I passed 2 girls. I maintained my walking and running pace and completed a 4:25 50K. Based on my fitness level, I was pleasantly surprised.


Around that time I happened upon Kevin and the girls as they were walking the dog. I stopped and walked with them. The girls said they could run faster and I agreed. I told Kevin that mentally and fitness-wise I felt great but my leg muscles hurt so bad that I was done. I asked him to call Scott to tell Scott I was early pulling into mile 36 and could he come and get me because I was dropping. I had no idea how I was going to run another 5 miles so instead I walked until I saw a girl up ahead so I ran to her then walked with her so I wasn't alone. 

Turns out it was last year’s winner and she was throwing up. She didn't look good but had a crew. I was going to hang with her but she convinced me to try and jog so I did. I made it to the rest stop and Scott just drove up. He asked what was wrong so I told him my legs were dead and it hurt to run. He said "just muscle pain?” I said yes. He said "I think you should finish what you started". He said walk and move forward. I agreed to walk/jog another 4 miles to get to mile 40 because that sounded like a nice round number to drop at. He told me he'd check on me at mile 38 and pick me up at mile 40. Well he stuck with the first promise but he wasn't at mile 40! Wise-guy! He was at mile 42 aid station. He gave me some coke and pushed me out of there.

I saw Kevin one last time at mile 45 aid station. Kevin knew I'd claw my way to the finish so he showed up to congratulate me and snap a photo. Five miles to the finish but nothing left in the legs so I walked the next mile then decided to suck it up and get this thing over with so I could enjoy the rest of the day with my husband. Scott road by my side for a mile then drove to the finish. I completed the Fall 50 in 7:33. Not bad! Well that's about it. Now my legs are toast! We came back later for the awards and the party. I still think this is a top notch event so give it a try.