Midnight 50K Report

Saturday night I was in Arkansas for a nice 31 mile long run. It was the Midnight 50K, put on by my trail friends in AURA. This run is on part of the Arkansas Traveller 100, and is gravel roads and long hills. Truly, in 15.5 miles out and back, there was less than 1/4 mile that was actually flat. Great for running the downhills, and the uphills were not so steep that they could not be ran as well.

There was nine of us from TATUR running with seven running the 50K.Pictured from left to right are Michael, Jeff, Randy, Rob, Kathy, Brian, Vicky, Kathryn, and T Z.

Race director Suzi barks out pre-race instructions all while practicing her comedy routine. Quite the funny chick!



Kathy with her Princess Leia hairstyle. Moments later as the start of the race drew near, she puts on her game face.

Brian predicts an 8 hour finish, but instead runs a 5:20 which solidifies his reputation as a sand-bagger.

Despite having a 3 foot height disadvantage, Rob stayed right with Randy in the race and finished just a few minutes behind him....just one potty break away from beating him. Hooray for the short people!

I started out running slowly with several walk breaks as the 1st 4 miles are uphill. My shin was barking a little and I gulped down a handful of vitamin "I", which worked well. After 3 miles of this climb, I felt like running and sped along at a decent pace. I passed several people, all of whom were just doing the 25K. At the 1st manned aid station, I caught up with Vicky and Kathryn. Kathy had just left, out, Vicky was turning back as she was doing the 25K, and Kathryn was thinking about dropping down to the 25K. I knew she was a very accomplished runner having done 40-50 ultras, and I knew she could and should finish the 50K. She was a little nervous about being last, and being all by herself in the deep woods. Ya never know when a mountain lion, black bear, or 6 foot copperhead snake will come calling. I agreed to run with her if she'd go ahead and do the 50K. I was a little worried that she would push the pace a little more than I was capable of running, but actually our pace was just fine. We chatted and ran the remaining 25 miles with no problems.

Kathryn and I at the turn-around.

We ran steady....never really slowing down, and since the last 4 miles on the return trip are downhill, we pushed the pace on the home stretch and finished in 6:51 which was 4 minutes better than my finish 2 years ago. :-)

Our friends were there, waiting and carbo-reloading with barley-and-hops flavored sports drink. After telling all our stories and lies, at 4:00 am we headed back to the motel to shower and sleep. Five hours of napping, and we were on the way home.