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| Start Line of Race 6am |
On April 20th at 6am the first annual Indiana
100/50 Ultramarathon in Chain O’ Lakes State Park began. The course is a 16.67 mile loop( So the 50
milers completed 3 loops and the 100 milers, 6). It has the makings of a pr course; not many
hills, not technical and very pretty.
What no one was expecting was for the temperatures to be at freezing and
for the State Park trails to be flooded.
The race officials attempted to re-route the course as best
they could. But, in many instances there
either was no way to re-route us or the re-route was still treacherous but the
better option. For some of the loop we
were going through areas with water up to our knees. Actually, a few spots it might be as long as 25
yards that you had to make it through with water up to your knees. Other times, you were slogging through mud up
to your ankles and this obviously got worse as the day went on as more people
trampled on it.
Coming out of this mud, as you can imagine, it felt like you
were lifting your legs that now weighed an extra 5 pounds each (each shoe all
wet and muddy). The frigid temps also
made it hard to keep warm after coming out of the water.
We tried to laugh about the conditions, make light of the
situation “quack quack” and kept our spirits high. We joked saying this sure makes for a good
story. But, as the day went on, people
began dropping out and chatter was going on with some of the runners running
the 100 that they were dropping back to the 50.
I had fully recovered from being sick back in March. I was feeling great and ready to have a great
race. I knew the course was forgiving so
was ready to blast out a great 50. What
you can never plan for is the conditions.
Kinda like life, there are some things you just can’t plan for and you
have to adapt.
My mind set was to dig in and get to the finish line. It took a lot of extra energy and time to get
through the water and mud; but, I got through it and tried to make the best of
the dry parts of the trail.
I had lots of time to myself out on the trails and some of
the time, I chatted with the fellow runners. I met some interesting folks along
the way.
My mom went with me to this race. My husband stayed home to care for the kiddos
and get them to all their sporting events.
It was so nice to have my Mom
with me. I know it was just a training
event for the big race in August but 50 miles is nothing to laugh at. 50 miles is still an undertaking and it was
nice to have her there…especially under the conditions. It was great to see her face and hear her
voice as I would jog up to the aid station.
She was right there to help me with whatever I needed. My shoes and socks were so wet and muddy…and
my feet were so cold that I could not feel them. I would switch my shoes and socks each loop
and even though they were only dry for a few miles, it was nice to warm my feet
back up.
My mom met me at the last aid station before finishing (8
miles to go). And I looked at her and
said, “Do you want to pace me in?” My
mom knew I would not ask her if I didn’t need her. So, she said” sure”.
Mind you, she was not prepared to do
this. Thankfully, she had tennis shoes
on; but we laughed at how she was dressed otherwise for an ultra event. She had a black hat on with a flower and a
pink scarf. Many runners were in gear
that looked pretty rough and tough and there is my mom in a hat with a
flower. It gave us a few good
laughs. And that’s what I love about
her, “she doesn’t care, she just wants to get the job done”. This 8 miles with my Mom was so special. Experiencing this life experience with her
was amazing. It says so much about her character. She didn’t flinch when I asked her to come
along. I needed her and she was there….and
she’s not really a runnerJ
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| Go Momma Go! |
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| The Sun did Shine:-) |
This race was a great character builder; anything worth
getting in life is never easy (or as they say, everyone would be doing it). To finish under conditions like that makes
you feel like you can do anything. The
results show only 57 out of 152 runners finished the 100 miler and 77 of 100
runners finished the 50 miler. I share
this not to share in someone’s frustration that he/she was not able to finish;
but, the numbers really illustrate just how hard the course was under the
conditions.
I look back on yesterday and am so grateful; grateful for
the time in nature, grateful for the challenge, grateful for the time with my
Mom, grateful for the camaraderie with the other runners, grateful for my
mental strength and for FINISHING.
When you face a challenge in your life, no matter what area,
and you can not control the situation; control how you react to it. You have a choice to fold or to dig in; to
face whatever it is head on and get it done.
***If you are thinking of running the Indiana 100/50 next
year, I do think it would be a great course under most normal conditions. And I have to say, the race directors and
volunteers were top notch.
