Start & Finish Line of 10 mile loop.
12/8/18 Bigfoot 50k
Western Reserve Racing
Since I moved to Ohio, there has been talk about Bigfoot sightings (or Sasquatch depending on what group you follow). In the trail running community, there is talk about the Bigfoot 50k, 20 miler & 10 miler. I have to say the name alone caught my interest and when you see a number of Facebook posts from the race organizer (Western Reserve Racing), you kind of get sucked in. Back in late summer, there was a series of post about beating the price increase and also making sure you get your swag (one of the real reasons I signed up for this event). So I signed up for the 50k, come on…….. if you are going to do it, go all in and run the 50k,, right? I signed up and simply forgot about it, except for a mental note it was in December after my road race season was over.
Needless to say, I did forget about it until after I ran the local Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving and took a look at my calendar to see what was next. Oooooooh crap, 2 weeks away I have a 50k to run! Can I cram in a few long runs to see how I feel? The simple answer is NO, but I tried………. and I tried on flat land ☹.
The week before the race I was feeling good, my diet was the best it has been in months. I got a little tapper in, and my legs felt pretty fresh. So going into the race, I felt good but knew I was undertrained. Hey, you hear all the time it is better to be undertrained than overtrained!
The race was held at Salt Fork State Park, about 2 ½ hours from my home. I debated driving down the night before but decided to get up early and drive down on the morning of the race. The 50k started at 7:30 am. The drive was pretty smooth and even had a few snow showers on the way. I arrived at the lodge a little before sunrise and quickly got checked in. Looking back, I should have planned ahead and booked a room at the lodge. It appeared to be very nice, and it would have been nice to roll out of your room and run……
The races all started in front of the Lodge. The 50k started at 7:30, 20 miler at 7:45 and the 10 miler at 8:00 am, so there was a nice staggered start to keep us broken up on the trails.
The weather was in the 20’s and clear. I think near the end of my race the temp was in the high 20’s and there was not much sun to be seen all day. The air was calm, so there was no wind to cut through you. I wore tights, a Patagonia long sleeve undershirt, Patagonia R1 hoodie, gloves, and a knit hat. I started with a ‘bluff’ but took it off after about the first mile as I was sweating like crazy already. I liked that the hoodie had a long half-zip on the front of it and I could cool down quickly when needed.
The course for the 50k consists of 3 loops of a lollypop shaped route just over 10 miles. Most of the course is horse trails. The first 1.5 miles are almost all downhill except for a few steep inclines. Along this area, you go from wide horse trails to a short section of single track and then it opens back up before the first stream crossing. The thing to remember on this course is if you go down, you must go up! The rest of the first 5 miles is a series of ups and downs with most of it being very runnable. As you near the 5+ mile mark there is a steep incline. (I did not see anyone all day even attempt to run it!) Once you reach the top, you pop out on a paved park road. The first aid station is about ½ mile down the road. After the aid station there is a short trail section, and then you pop back out on the road for a little while longer. The next 2-3 miles are very runnable with rolling hills until you get back to the ‘handle’ of the lollypop that takes you back up to the lodge. After the start of the race, this part of the course has 2-way traffic as runners are coming down the trail as you are going up. Once back up top, you loop around the parking lot to the front of the lodge where the 2nd aid station is along with your drop bag if you brought one. If you are doing the 50k, you get to do it 2 more times.
Course conditions varied a lot! The first loop, most of the soil was frozen, and the horse trails were very ‘choppy’ from the horse hoofs. This put a lot of twisting on my ankles, and I could almost feel the impact every time my foot landed that went right up my spine. On the second loop, the course became much smoother after a couple hundred runners went over it and the ground had some ‘give’ to it. The third loop was the best from an impact point of view. There are a number of stream crossings. If you take your time, you could keep your feet dry. What you could not predict was there was standing (frozen) water on parts of the trail, and you could not see it under the leaves. Certain areas of the trail got very muddy, quickly, and I am sure a few runners lost a shoe here and there. Some of the steep descents and climbs got a little slick, but nothing too scary.
The two aid stations were well stocked with many snacks and gels. Tailwind was available along with water. The volunteers did a great job of asking if you needed anything and also kept a close eye to see if you were really OK.
I came into this event with intentions that I was going to run it for fun, but we know that is just a saying…….. I went out at a speed I thought I could maintain, but I also knew I was under trained and the training I had was mainly on flat land. I intentionally hiked the inclines and tried to run the flats and downhills. This worked well for the first 16-18 miles, then the back pain set in. I am not sure what caused this except for a lack of core strength training, but any time I went uphill my back was throbbing. After about mile 16, I told myself to finish this lap and I would be done and take my first DNF. I finished the second lap and took some time fueling and drinking fluids and knew that if I just got started on the 3rd and final lap, I would finish the race. I walked about the first ½ mile of the final lap downhill and then got my feet moving and ran a slow painful run/hike motion for the final lap. When I saw the finish line in sight, I did the ultra shuffle into the finish. By far, one of the most draining, hardest 50k’s I have done! This event is not for flatlanders like myself. I can take the wet feet, mud and cold…… but just feeling drained that is another story and I did not see Bigfoot anywhere..... :-(
Overall this event was very well managed. Western Reserve Racing put on a great event. The swag was a bright yellow running rain jacket that I am sure I will use! Finishers also got a medal and sticker to show off their success. If you plan to run this in 2019, I would look into booking a room at the lodge before they sell out and make a full weekend of it.
My GPS course: https://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/3280499872
Shoes: Montrail Fluidflex FKT
Gear: Under Armour Running Tights, Patagonia long-sleeve undershirt, Patagonia R1 pull-over hoodie, tech-gloves, knit cap, EMS socks.
Pre-race Food- Banana, Vegan protein bar, dates, coffee, Vega energy drink
Fueling during the race- 6-Clif Shot gels, aid station snacks, water & Tailwind.
Post-Race Food- LOTS!
Western Reserve Racing
Since I moved to Ohio, there has been talk about Bigfoot sightings (or Sasquatch depending on what group you follow). In the trail running community, there is talk about the Bigfoot 50k, 20 miler & 10 miler. I have to say the name alone caught my interest and when you see a number of Facebook posts from the race organizer (Western Reserve Racing), you kind of get sucked in. Back in late summer, there was a series of post about beating the price increase and also making sure you get your swag (one of the real reasons I signed up for this event). So I signed up for the 50k, come on…….. if you are going to do it, go all in and run the 50k,, right? I signed up and simply forgot about it, except for a mental note it was in December after my road race season was over.
Needless to say, I did forget about it until after I ran the local Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving and took a look at my calendar to see what was next. Oooooooh crap, 2 weeks away I have a 50k to run! Can I cram in a few long runs to see how I feel? The simple answer is NO, but I tried………. and I tried on flat land ☹.
The week before the race I was feeling good, my diet was the best it has been in months. I got a little tapper in, and my legs felt pretty fresh. So going into the race, I felt good but knew I was undertrained. Hey, you hear all the time it is better to be undertrained than overtrained!
The race was held at Salt Fork State Park, about 2 ½ hours from my home. I debated driving down the night before but decided to get up early and drive down on the morning of the race. The 50k started at 7:30 am. The drive was pretty smooth and even had a few snow showers on the way. I arrived at the lodge a little before sunrise and quickly got checked in. Looking back, I should have planned ahead and booked a room at the lodge. It appeared to be very nice, and it would have been nice to roll out of your room and run……
The races all started in front of the Lodge. The 50k started at 7:30, 20 miler at 7:45 and the 10 miler at 8:00 am, so there was a nice staggered start to keep us broken up on the trails.
The weather was in the 20’s and clear. I think near the end of my race the temp was in the high 20’s and there was not much sun to be seen all day. The air was calm, so there was no wind to cut through you. I wore tights, a Patagonia long sleeve undershirt, Patagonia R1 hoodie, gloves, and a knit hat. I started with a ‘bluff’ but took it off after about the first mile as I was sweating like crazy already. I liked that the hoodie had a long half-zip on the front of it and I could cool down quickly when needed.
The course for the 50k consists of 3 loops of a lollypop shaped route just over 10 miles. Most of the course is horse trails. The first 1.5 miles are almost all downhill except for a few steep inclines. Along this area, you go from wide horse trails to a short section of single track and then it opens back up before the first stream crossing. The thing to remember on this course is if you go down, you must go up! The rest of the first 5 miles is a series of ups and downs with most of it being very runnable. As you near the 5+ mile mark there is a steep incline. (I did not see anyone all day even attempt to run it!) Once you reach the top, you pop out on a paved park road. The first aid station is about ½ mile down the road. After the aid station there is a short trail section, and then you pop back out on the road for a little while longer. The next 2-3 miles are very runnable with rolling hills until you get back to the ‘handle’ of the lollypop that takes you back up to the lodge. After the start of the race, this part of the course has 2-way traffic as runners are coming down the trail as you are going up. Once back up top, you loop around the parking lot to the front of the lodge where the 2nd aid station is along with your drop bag if you brought one. If you are doing the 50k, you get to do it 2 more times.
Course conditions varied a lot! The first loop, most of the soil was frozen, and the horse trails were very ‘choppy’ from the horse hoofs. This put a lot of twisting on my ankles, and I could almost feel the impact every time my foot landed that went right up my spine. On the second loop, the course became much smoother after a couple hundred runners went over it and the ground had some ‘give’ to it. The third loop was the best from an impact point of view. There are a number of stream crossings. If you take your time, you could keep your feet dry. What you could not predict was there was standing (frozen) water on parts of the trail, and you could not see it under the leaves. Certain areas of the trail got very muddy, quickly, and I am sure a few runners lost a shoe here and there. Some of the steep descents and climbs got a little slick, but nothing too scary.
The two aid stations were well stocked with many snacks and gels. Tailwind was available along with water. The volunteers did a great job of asking if you needed anything and also kept a close eye to see if you were really OK.
I came into this event with intentions that I was going to run it for fun, but we know that is just a saying…….. I went out at a speed I thought I could maintain, but I also knew I was under trained and the training I had was mainly on flat land. I intentionally hiked the inclines and tried to run the flats and downhills. This worked well for the first 16-18 miles, then the back pain set in. I am not sure what caused this except for a lack of core strength training, but any time I went uphill my back was throbbing. After about mile 16, I told myself to finish this lap and I would be done and take my first DNF. I finished the second lap and took some time fueling and drinking fluids and knew that if I just got started on the 3rd and final lap, I would finish the race. I walked about the first ½ mile of the final lap downhill and then got my feet moving and ran a slow painful run/hike motion for the final lap. When I saw the finish line in sight, I did the ultra shuffle into the finish. By far, one of the most draining, hardest 50k’s I have done! This event is not for flatlanders like myself. I can take the wet feet, mud and cold…… but just feeling drained that is another story and I did not see Bigfoot anywhere..... :-(
Overall this event was very well managed. Western Reserve Racing put on a great event. The swag was a bright yellow running rain jacket that I am sure I will use! Finishers also got a medal and sticker to show off their success. If you plan to run this in 2019, I would look into booking a room at the lodge before they sell out and make a full weekend of it.
My GPS course: https://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/3280499872
Shoes: Montrail Fluidflex FKT
Gear: Under Armour Running Tights, Patagonia long-sleeve undershirt, Patagonia R1 pull-over hoodie, tech-gloves, knit cap, EMS socks.
Pre-race Food- Banana, Vegan protein bar, dates, coffee, Vega energy drink
Fueling during the race- 6-Clif Shot gels, aid station snacks, water & Tailwind.
Post-Race Food- LOTS!
