Going Long (again) in 2024

Sulphur Springs 50 Mile Trail Ultra

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Location:

Garson - Sudbury,ON,Canada

Member Since:

Apr 20, 2013

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

I ran my first marathon in 1998: "The Friendly Marathon" in Massey, Ontario.  I was 32. I had never raced in a shorter event, and I trained really poorly - ended up running it in 4:00:30.  After that, I gave up running for the most part for 6 years.  I got into karate a bit more seriously, until I got my knee kicked out and had ACL surgery.  Then I became a 'fair weather runner' and started to run half marathons every so often.  As a priest, entering weekend races always meant having to book a holiday, so it just didn't happen much.  My holidays were primarily focussed on various canoe and kayak trips.

At some point, I started training more consistently, and started to think of myself as a runner.  I guess doing that in your 40's is better than never doing it at all.  I even started to wonder if I had it in me to qualify for Boston.  Well, I did.  First time didn't count, I suppose, since I didn't make the "cut".  But the second time was a charm, and on my sixth Marathon, run in Chicago in 2015, I beat my BQ by almost 6 minutes.  And now, running a BQ is routine for me, not that I have any desire to run Boston again.

Through it all, I've made tons of mistakes - and have had lots of injuries to show for it.  Hopefully, now that I'm in my late 50's, I'm a bit wiser and can use that to my advantage to continue running for a very long time.

My PRs:

5k (12 run):      Guelph, ON.     October 10, 2016   (50 yrs.)   20:10

10k (10 run):    Collingwood      October 5, 2013  (47 yrs.)  43:37

Half Marathon  (25 run): Cleveland   May 18, 2014  (48 yrs)  1:33:08

Marathon (12 run):  Ste-Jerome, QC  October 3, 2021   (55 yrs.)  3:22:10

Ultras (5 run):   

Run for the Toad 50k Trail   September 30, 2017 (51 yrs.)  5:31:23

Niagara Falls 100k   June 17, 2018 (52 yrs.)  12:26:30

That Dam Hill 24 hours   September 15-16, 2018  Completed 100 Miles in 23:20:44

Sulphur Springs 50 mile Trail   May 25, 2019  10:37:27

Haliburton Forest 100 mile Trail   September 7-8, 2019  26:46:27

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Pacing my sister in her 1st Half Marathon.

Short-Term Running Goals:

After a broken right foot in 2022 in the later stages of a marathon training cycle, then adjusting to a 1/2" heal lift in my right shoe to compensate for a leg length discrepancy, and then a left plank plate rupture in the late summer of 2023, I had to decide:  go fast or go long.  I opted for long, for this year at least.

May 2024:  Sulphur Springs 50 Mile Trail (revisiting it after 5 years)

July 2024:  Limberlost 54KM Trail

September 2024:  Haliburton 100 Mile Trail (also revisiting it after 5 years).

Everything this year is really focussed on the Haliburton 100 as my key event.  After that, and depending on how things go, I'll reevaluate.

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run until this old body of mine won't let me run any more.  I was inspired in the Spring of 2016, watching the start of the Ottawa Marathon.  Near the back of the pack was an 'old man', running with his walker.  I loved it!  I thought ... there's me in 20 years.  Maybe.  

Personal:

I am a Roman Catholic priest of 30 years, ministering in the Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie.  I spent 8 years ministering in the small town of Wawa (where I helped establish the annual Blackfly Run) and 9 years in Sault Ste. Marie.  I have been in the Sudbury region now for 13 years.  Currently I Pastor 2 small Parishes:  St. John the Evangelist in Garson, and St. Bernardine of Siena in Skead, covering the area just Northeast of the city, surrounding the Sudbury Airport.

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to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 28.00 Month: 189.50 Year: 588.50
Mizuno Wave Sayonara 2 Lifetime Miles: 412.40
Brooks Cascadia 11 Lifetime Miles: 302.00
Salomon Speedcross 4 Lifetime Miles: 160.25
Brooks Launch 8 Lifetime Miles: 153.00
Asics Metaspeed Sky Lifetime Miles: 32.20
Brooks Ghost 13 Lifetime Miles: 358.50
Saucony Triumph 18 Lifetime Miles: 372.50
Ghost 13 Blue Sole Lifetime Miles: 363.00
Hoka Bondi Lifetime Miles: 386.00
Triumph 18 Treadmill Lifetime Miles: 120.50
Hoka Bondi 8 Treadmill Lifetime Miles: 102.50
Race: Sulphur Springs 50 Mile Trail Ultra (50 Miles) 10:37:27, Place overall: 44, Place in age division: 35
Total Distance
50.00

It wasn't pretty, but I finished.  And I'm happy with my performance, especially given the conditions.  I went in thinking a 10 hour finish was unlikely, but possible, and that coming in less than 12 hours would make me happy.  So, I'm happy.

44th out of 142 (99 of whom finished), and 35th out of 99 men.  Those finishing numbers might change, as I'll explain below.  EDIT:  Changes made, now that the timing issue has been resolved.

The course is a somewhat challenging 20 km loop.  From what I can tell, that would work out to 12.43 miles, but they are calling 4 loops 50 miles, so I won't argue the point.  Still, my Garmin tells me I ran 48.65 miles, so I don't think it's quite as long as they say.  But again, I'm not complaining.

So, 4 loops.  That worked out to an elevation gain of 5,558 feet.  As I didn't do enough of my training on the trails (due to snow), my legs took a real pounding.

As predicted, the temperatures were a reasonable 12C/53F at the 6am start and got up to about 22C/72F, with significant humidity.  And 2 thunderstorms.  And LOTS of rain.  And mud.  I'll return to the mud (reluctantly) in a bit.

First loop:  Just going with the crowd.  Steady pace.  Walking up all the hills.  30 minutes in, the rain starts.  30 minutes more, and the rolling thunder makes itself heard.  It just got louder and louder, and the rain fell harder and harder.

Second loop:  Starting to feel tightness/pain in the groin.  I think it's from the slipping of the feet to the side.  The trail is a river of mud now.  No avoiding it.  The focus is on keeping the mud below the knees.  I failed about halfway in when I fall the first time.  Not hard, but what a mess!  Now the water is just gushing down the hills, so it's tricky with the footing on both the uphills and downhills.  Most of the flats too, actually.  Towards the end, my quads are screaming.  I'll have to remember to take some ibuprofin at my drop.

Third loop:  The rain stopped towards the end of the second loop.  The sun came out.  It's really humid now.  I changed shirts at the drop.  But I forgot to take the ibuprofin.  It's too late now ... I'll have to suck it up this lap.  What a mess out here!  In many places, the mud is past ankle deep.  I fall again!  Goof.  Harder this time, but I don't think I hurt anything.  Of course, I hurt pretty much everywhere now:  both hips, groin, left knee, hamstrings.  All of them are screaming at me.  Walking up the hills is not too bad, but running is agonizing.  Towards the end, I can no longer run downhill, and end up walking down a 3/4 mile slope where you usually make up a lot of time.  I don't know if I want to finish.  Just kidding - I do!

Fourth loop:  Remembered the ibuprofin!  Changed shirts again.  No sense changing shoes or socks.  The pills help - at least they take the edge off.  I don't recall ever taking those in a race before.  But now I can run the downhills again.  Not too many people left on the course.  The shorter distances are mostly finished.  Just us 50 milers and the 100 milers still out here.  Amazingly, only 15 of 51 will finish the 100 miles.  Well, maybe not so amazingly on a day like this.  So I'm mostly alone this lap.  But I'm confident in my finish, and quite emotional when I do.  It was a tough race, but I did it!

So, I just got home a little while ago - took a couple of days in Toronto after the race.  And, to my dismay, I noticed my results showed a completion of just 3 laps.  The time was correct, but 3 laps?!?  Thinking I messed up somehow, I downloaded my Garmin data ... nope - I DID FOUR LAPS!!!

So, I e-mailed the timing company and got an almost instant response from the owner.  Due to the extreme weather, a few timing chips malfunctioned and did not record a lap.  They promised to update the results later today (they haven't yet - I'll report here when they do).  EDIT:  It has all been resolved; my results are official and correct.  It's not that it matters to anything - I know what I did - but it still bugs me.  What's funny too, is the day before the race, we all got an e-mail from the organizers telling us we would have to wear ankle bracelets in addition to the bib timers because of the extreme weather predicted.  Go figure - even with the 2 chips, I had a malfunction.

Officially, I ran a pace of 12:44.  According to my Garmin, I ran a slower 13:06.  I'm guessing my Garmin is more accurate, due to the slightly shortened course.  But I'm SO happy they didn't have a surprise mile tacked on at the end!

Saucony ISO Triumph 4 Miles: 50.00
Weight: 157.50
Comments
From Tom K on Thu, May 30, 2019 at 07:20:32 from 47.206.60.114

Wow! What a race! What a mess! What a foul up by the timing company! Proud of you for finishing that one! Great Job!

From Nora Jo on Thu, May 30, 2019 at 16:58:48 from 73.102.192.105

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about your adventure. The weather can make or break a race. Great job hanging tough and finishing!

From Michael on Fri, May 31, 2019 at 06:27:44 from 24.235.56.63

Thanks both. One sign on a killer hill read: "First half with legs; second half with heart." Pretty much sums up the entire race.

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