Ice Age 50k - 2012

Race Report from LPTRunner Tom Schiessl...

I am a pretty deliberate person, so I really considered entering the Ice Age 50k for quite awhile. I blame Jim Blanchard for my entry to the race. He said I could do it, and damned if he wasn’t right. 

Once I committed, I hit the training pretty hard, and threw in the MS Fat Ass 50k for good measure. I was very nervous, but really looked forward to this one.

Jeff started us off with a casual “Go” and off we went.  I immediately latched on to Raul for the first 6.5 miles out to Horserider’s  aid station, where I lost Raul in the mix of getting fuel, etc.  I continued on to Nordic where I met up with Krishna and we talked the last mile or so into the aid station. I started the first loop alone, not a soul in sight.

A couple miles in, I caught up to Mark Scallon who filled me in on how his race was going. He took a couple of diggers up to that point, but seemed to be not bothered by it. Not long after that a familiar voice behind me says “mmmmm beeeer” and I turned to see Bruce on his second loop and third place overall. I saved a homebrew for Bruce at the end.

Slowly I caught up to what turned out to be my running partner for the last 13-15 miles. Andrea is a veteran of the IA 50K, and as we talked about anything and everything, the miles slipped away.  We started to pick people off, which really felt good, as I really had no idea what place or pace we were running.

Andrea and I made a pact that as we came into sight of the finish line, we would make every effort to return to good running form and “sprint” across the line. Turns out it was very easy, as the cheering and cowbells really spurred us on. I caught a glimpse of my parents as we zipped by, and finished exhausted but happy. We thanked each other for a job well done, and I met up with my parents. I was thinking my time would be closer to 7 hours, so I was thrilled to see I did it in 6hrs and 13 min.   

Afterwards I traded war stories with Raul, Krishna, Bruce, etc and enjoyed the atmosphere. The last half hour was spent cheering all the 50 milers that were finishing up. Just as I was about to leave, around the corner came Dawn and Tina, grinning from ear to ear, as usual.  My race went well, and I felt pretty good throughout.

A job well done to all, and an incredible race put on by Jeff and all the volunteers.

I will be back!