The Big Race

Once I decided I really was going to run an ultra, I had to find a race.  Now that would seem simple.  However, when my husband and I laid out our schedules for the next 7 months it got complicated.  I need time to train (properly is the key word here), DH is away for a month this spring, and with our potential move this summer that left only 3 potential weekends. As much as I would love to have my family come to the race with me, realistically they would all be miserable waiting around for me.  I've made them do that enough at shorter races. So that means my husband will have to stay with the kiddos leaving me to be (necessarily) self-centered for the weekend.

Photos by Jeff Black

 

I also wanted a relatively close race so I don't have to spend lots of money getting there.  I settled upon the Sun Mountain 50K in Winthrop, WA on May 18.  It's the Sunday of the long weekend, meaning I have a day to get there and a recovery day after the race before I have to work. Perfect! The other issue with ultras as I'm learning is that the registration cut-offs are relatively small.  Because they are such a huge logistical endeavor and often take place in national or state/provincial parks, they don't allow that many people and the races fill fast.  Only 101 people did the 50K in 2013 and I'm not sure what their cut off is, so when registration opened for Sun Mountain on Feb 19 at 8:00 am, I was sitting at my computer ready to go.

Case in point: One of my choices was the Diez Vista.  Registration opened at noon on Dec 4 and by 1:17pm all 150 spots were filled.  Keep that in mind if you chose a popular race!  You need to plan ahead and COMMIT both for your training and registration. 

50 K Course Elevation Profile

50K Course Map

The best part: two of my best girlfriends are coming to crew for me.  We plan to make a whole weekend of it.  I am so excited!

Next post: WHY in the world would I want to do this?