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Running through the dark side!

    I took the opportunity to run my first 100K on February 18th at the Iron
Horse Endurance Run. This was held on an old rail-trail near Palatka,
Florida. They had 3 consecutive races going at one time. A 50 miler, a 100K
and a 100 miler! I picked the 100K which is 62 miles. I did this before my
March birthday. Why you ask?? I am 62 and the race was the same, 62
miles. Had I waited a couple weeks, I would have had to run 63. Don't know
if I could have gone one more mile, let alone one more foot!
    The race director did a great job, so the run was very well organized.
The course was flat! Two great combinations for sure but there was a kink
in that equation. Railroad rock! All the rock that is piled up between the ties,
just gets spread out when the ties are removed. Some get pushed down into
the mud and sod. That is great! Some just stay piled up and that is NOT
good! There was also a 320 foot trestle to cross. If you have never crossed
a railroad trestle, it is a mind game looking down. They did not allow people
to run on it. Way too dangerous!
    My run went well the first 50 miles. The last 12 miles were not the best. I
had gone out way too fast! We all know better than to do that but it felt
good (then). I ran with a 100 miler named Al. We just talked and found
ourselves going under our desired pace. The first 25 miles was in 4:18, the
first 50K in 5:22 and the first 50 miles in 10:18. Way too fast! The temps got
up to nearly 80 degrees. On long endurance runs, the heat and sun are not
your friends! It wasn't pretty from that point on! With 9 miles left, the sun
had finally gone down and I had to run/walk with a head lamp on. I had a
great light but the old railroad rock decided to show me who was the boss! I
walked for nearly all of the last 4 miles!
    When the results were in, I had covered 62 miles is 13 hours and 23
minutes. That placed me10th O/A out of 45 runners in the 100K. I am pretty
sure I was the oldest runner in the 100K so my trek to the dark side was a
fantastic experience.
    Last but not least...I thought I would sleep a little in my truck before
driving back to Panama City. Couldn't sleep! I started the old Ford up and
drove 5 hours home, arriving at 2:30 a.m. still pumped from my great
experience. I finally got my belt buckle!

JOE