Beyond Limits Ultra Race Report

BLU was super fun! I did 50 miles, so I had 112 miles for the week. The race was really nice because we slept in cabins right next to the course. The course was pretty nice too because it was flat and was only 1.78 miles long so you were far from the aid station.

I was signed up for the marathon, but Ken, the race director said I could do more miles. The day before the race I was feeling pretty confident that I could do 100 miles, but what I didn't realize is that my body was still recovering from the 100k the week before.

When the race started I was feeling really good. I had some minor pain in my shoulder, but it didn't last long. Since my Mom was still sore from her 100 miler the weekend before and couldn't really run, she decided to walk. Trust me though,  it is a really fast walk! I spent a lot of time early in the race with my dad because he felt good and we ran a lot. As the miles went by I started hurting. The pain just got worse but I was determined to get at least 50 miles. When I hit about mile 30 I found out that my friend Matt who is 13 and was doing his first marathon won his age division, this made me feel pretty good.

When I reached about mile 40 I had this really bad side stitch that wouldn't go away so I walked to mile 44. Since it wouldn't stop I laid down for a while. After several hours, I woke up and the pain was gone, so I put my running gear back on and went out to find my parents. Honestly they looked really bad, so I decided to walk with them. The last six miles were pretty nice because I didn't really have any pain and I was with my Mom and Dad.

Although my original goal was 100 miles, I was pretty happy with 50 miles considering that I did my 100K the weekend before. During the race I was a little bit disappointed that I didn't get 100 miles, but there is always next time!

Overall BLU was a great race and I would recommend it for your first ultra distance because the race directors, course, and volunteers were amazing.

I earned my first buckle!

Razorback was so much fun! It was my first 100k and I got my first buckle there! The course is a 2 mile loop and it is pretty flat. The only really bad thing about the race for my Mom and I was that the drive to get there was 7 hours long!

Right before the race started I was very nervous and excited, it felt like my heart was going to beat out of my chest. I had a feeling that I would be fueled by Mt. Dew, soup, and anxiety,  like at Across The Years.

I was glad when the race finally started. Our good friend Ed The Jester ran with us for about 10 or 12 miles but then he left us to run his own pace. He just took off he was going super fast. At about mile 12 I had to go to the bathroom 3 times, my stomach was starting to hurt. It worried me a little bit.

After a few more miles my stomach stopped churning, and thank goodness things started getting better. My confidence was going up and I was starting to feel really good as the day went by.When I started approaching mile 30 I got really excited because I was already half way there, but that is where it starts to get harder for me. I started to ache some and get tired. My mom had me eat more and slow down our pace. After a while, I felt better.

Later, my Mom had a bad tape problem and her toe was just ripped up and looked pretty bad, but I was doing pretty good. When the sun went down my Mom and I still kept around the same pace and we found out that we had an hour to do 2 miles for a sub 12 hour 50 miles. That was a nice little morale boost that helped my mom and I feel a little better.

The next milestone for me was mile 56, that was what I ran at ATY. I was anxious to get passed that distance for the first time. The good thing was I wasn't doing the death march, I was still going pretty strong. After I hit 56 an 11 year old kid ran a lap with me, he had done a half marathon earlier but the farthest he has ever gone was a 50k. It was fun to talk to another kid runner. Along the way I was happy to share several laps with our running friends. It sure makes the time go by faster.

During the last lap anxiety for that buckle started to  kick in and I started to run faster. Ed and our friend John were running with us. All I could think was, "I am about to get my first buckle!!!" The finish line was in sight and I ran as fast as I could. When I hit the finish, my emotions started flooding in.  A phone was handed to me, and I was happy it was my dad talking and I had just gotten my first buckle!!!

After I finished I fell asleep in our car and woke up to seeing a bunch of people huddle around my Mom to see how nasty her blisters were. She finished her 100 mile race while I was sleeping. It was fun to celebrate with everyone.

Razorback was a great race and I suggest it if you are going to try to run your first ultra run Razorback, because of how easy the course is and they have great volunteers and food.