A Mile With Colby: Across the Years

My First Official Ultra-Marathon!

I did my first ultra-marathon at Across The Years. Across The Years is a 24,48, or 72 hour event (I chose to do 24 hours). The course is a 1.05 loop and you switch directions every 4 hours so you don’t get bored of it. I was really excited the morning that my race started, my goal was to do a 100k which is about 62 miles. My Mom and Dad had already been running for 24 hours and were doing great! In the beginning I started out way too fast. “I am doing 62 miles, not 13.1” was the thought that reminded me to slow down.

I was supposed to be doing 13 or 14 minute miles but I was doing 10 minute miles instead, that made my 10k time about 57 minutes! That was definitely too fast so I decided to walk half of the next loop with a 9 year old that was going for 50 miles. He looked like he was having a blast.

At around mile 18 I ran up to my Mom and Dad and found out that my Mom was at mile 100! She also told me that to win the female division for 48 hours she only had to do 30 miles, so she might have a chance to win. This happy thought made me ignore my aches and run faster. At about mile 26 I was having weird pains, for example if I bent my knee too much pain would shoot up my leg which really hurt. I finished the first marathon just under 6 hours so I was keeping a decent pace.

After the first 50k I realized that every step I took was a PR, because this was the farthest I had ever ran! I was feeling pretty good at mile 35, but that ended when I realized that for a 100k i still had 27 long and hard miles... When I hit mile 40 I walked a little bit with the 9 year I was talking about earlier, I found out that his name was Liam and the farthest distance he had ever ran was a marathon too.

Miles 45-50 really kicked my butt. My legs were super tight, I was some what cold, and I was pushing to finish 50 miles in under 12 hours. At the beginning of mile 49 I passed my Mom and Dad and this is the conversation me and my mom had:

Mom- Colby why are you crying?
Me- Their tears of joy, I have 20 minutes to finish this lap then ill have done 50 miles in under 12 hours!
Mom- Go do it!

I ended up finishing the first 50 miles in 11 hours 55 minutes, I did it! After that I walked 6 miles with my Mom and was really hurting so I sat down in the warming tent with my grandma. I waited until it was midnight and watched the runners do a “victory lap” to celebrate News Years, and well, I noticed something... our friend Michael Miller was wearing a diaper! I laughed at it until my Mom came back. When my Mom got back I got up to finish my 100k, but my legs were so stiff that I was basically walking like a penguin, so my Mom made me go sleep in my tent.

My Dad said that while I was asleep I was rolling around saying, “just one more loop”. Sadly, I couldn't finish the 100k but I did 56 miles that is more than double the farthest I have ever ran.