Thursday, September 13, 2007

mckenzie river 50k



last weekend there was a whole bunch of races... Superior, Wasatch, Mckenzie, i think that 100 in Canada (Halburton 100), Plain 100 and of course a bunch others.

well, i chose mckenzie long ago. i think it was april 1st that i signed up. the first day of registration. and like many races now it fills. this one fills on the first day.

i ran it last year for the first time. this year was the 20th year of it's running. Phil Vaughn has been RD the whole time!!! incredible!!! there used to be a 50 miler and a marathon but now just the 50k. bummer, i wish i had known about ultra's long ago. i would have really loved doing the 50 miler.

this years race, one word, STRUGGLE. that's it, plain and simple.

started off my usual slow pace. but everything just seemed like so much work. frustrating. i was getting passed in the first 10 miles by a million people. and i was not passing anybody!!! arghhhh. working way too hard for how slow i was going.

skipped the first two aid stations as planned. fluids in the third and fifth aid station. oh fell, and got passed by five people and NEVER caught up to them. arggghhhhh.

finally, at the halfway it just said, "screw it". "i'm just going to run". put in the i-pod, saw jeff at an aid station, told him the story. he was nice, "it's all downhill to the finish except for the uphill sections." yea, thanks jeff. see you sunday at the invitational.

well, the second half went pretty well. i enjoyed the river and the running wasn't all that bad. did i pass anybody you ask, hell no. i was a slug. but the good thing i could at least count on one hand the people that passed me. didn't have to get out the abacus like in the first half of the race.



finished 4:55, 11 minutes slower than last year. oh, well. the protein drink tasted pretty good at the end.

now i get to have fun sunday watching the fast dudes run at the invitational. i took a bunch of pictures. it was fun. first time ultra runner dan olmsted from eugene held off the likes of hal koerner and lewis taylor all day. winning in 3:44, two minutes off course record.



















dan olmsted











hal (winner of western states 100)












lewis (winner of way to cool 50k)

meghan arbogast got the course record for women in 3:58. very cool. what a year she is having. she won waldo outright!!!








now for rio. hope not to be too much of a slug on this one next week.

















4 month old alice taylor

7 comments:

Sarah said...

Great pictures, as always! I'm definitely doing this one again next year. Sorry it wasn't your best day, but I think you still had fun, right?

Ms Eva said...

The McKenzie is beautiful to drive along... I imagine a run is breathtaking. I'd love to do it someday.

I certainly wouldn't consider your pace slow... You finished the 50K before I finished a marathon. Besides, with such a beautiful course, it is worthwhile to take time to enjoy the scenery. :)

Backofpack said...

Great pictures Tom! Good call on relaxing and enjoying the 2nd half. Some days and runs are just like that - might as well find a way to enjoy them.

Olga said...

Dang, I didn't know you're making a come back to Rio. Have a great time, put no pressure on yourself, and it'll fall in place!

Stephanie said...

You must have really speeded up the second half to make such a good time!

Now I'll check out the pictures.

Scott McMurtrey said...

hey tom, thanks for stopping by. looking forward to seeing you notch some more great adventures on the ol' belt.

great photos!!

Meghan said...

nice run at rdl. looking forward to your report after proper recovery and beer drinking. :)