posted Sep-09-2007 08:36 PM            

http://blogs.nashuatelegraph.com/off_track

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posted Sep-09-2007 10:01 PM            

YEAH!

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posted Sep-10-2007 08:08 AM            

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posted Sep-10-2007 09:52 AM               

I ran the 50k and had a great time. It poured at the start and rained throughout, but the course wound through mossy forests and around misty ponds, and was somehow very well suited to the weather. It was very rocky, rooty, and relentlessly hilly journey through the woods, with a nice feeling of isolation and adventure. The course got a 10 in my book- definitely worth running again.

There were some minor organization grumbles, though. Before the race, the line was so long for the single bathroom that a lot of us went off and lined up for the single, reeking porto-john on the neighboring construction site. The aid station food was adequate, but minimal. I love fig newtons, and that was good, because they were the only thing I saw that was heavier than an M&M during the race. I didn't see any salty food at all. Also, it would have been great if all the volunteers had been given a more emphatic briefing on how much runners love to be helped at aid stations. I ran into one with two other runners, in the heat of a pretty drawn-out battle to sqeeze into the top 10, and struggled to tear open double-layer fig newton packages with wet hands and find a water jug to fill my bottles as I watched one of my competitors dissapear into the forest.

But on the plust side, the course marking was great, with tons of pink tape up, so I didn't have any problems there even though the course was totally new to me and I was running alone most of the time. I heard of someone getting lost, but there was so much tape up that I think most people probably did fine. The start/finish area had a nice barbeque going and friendly volunteers despite the rain, and I heard there was a shower available. The first-come, first-served, choose-your-own prize table was a laid-back innovation and the light blue cotton, long-sleeve race T's were simple, old-school, and great. I took home a loaf of organic bread for my 12th place finish, having run a near PR 4:57, only 2 minutes slower than my PR, which was on an easier course.

I hope everyone else had as nice a run as I did!

[This message has been edited by RunLongVT (edited Sep-10-2007).]

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posted Sep-10-2007 11:08 AM            

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posted Sep-10-2007 11:38 AM            

off track, congratulations on your return.

I ran the 50K yesterday also, and after taking most of August off with a bad case of knees, I feel good that I feel good today. Well, good other than a Popeye looking forearm that came from falling hard on a bridge around mile ten. And another fall near the end...

So, I finished a little dazed and confused in a little under six hours. Not too fast, but in good shape to go forward with the VT50 at the end of the month.

The course was great--that is an honest 50K without much flat ground. The rain wasn't bad, but the effect of the weather on the light was kind of like running in twilight all day--not much contrast on the trail. And man, I wish I'd thought to add a few screws to my shoes to help with traction.

I can only think that the aid station volunteers are not distance runners. I felt like Oliver Twist after getting about five ounces of water in my twenty ounce bottle. More? Please? And I've got this other bottle, too... I took a DIY attitude after that. Did they think they were going to run out? Everyone at the end was super friendly, however.

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posted Sep-10-2007 02:46 PM            

I really enjoyed the race. It was my first 50k, and it was a nice introduction. I'm still waiting for some race results since I didn't think to write down my actual finishing time, so I only know that I ran 4:27 and change. That fell within my 4 to 4.5 hours range, so I'm happy with it. I'll leave some links to my race descriptions once I get around to writing them up.

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posted Sep-10-2007 05:37 PM               

For those of that this was the first....we are now ultra runners!

I'll write up a race report later this week but here's some of my details for now.

The race was great. A very technical (to me), mostly single track course. Seemed to be much more roots than rocks but that was quite a challenge as it poured the whole race. Skies opened up right at the race start and didn't let up all day. As with Nipmuck, I am glad it rained and was not hot.

I felt strong and maintained a positive attitude the whole time. The best I felt was miles 12-17 & 25-31, the worst from miles 17-25 (this was during a loop part of the course in which you hit the same Aid station at miles 20 & 25). Ran most of the race alone after the initial first few miles. At times it felt like I was out there forever and other times it felt like it all went so fast.

Overall, I feel just like I did after Nipmuck. I felt stronger throughout the race than I did at Nipmuck but I do think I didn't eat enough. The way the Aid/Water stations fell made my food planning difficult as I chose to go sans camelback.

Sunday evening I was tired and a bit stiff but never hurting or sore. I felt ready to run again today but took a mandatory rest day anyway. Legs were slightly stiff this AM but walking the dog 4-6 miles helped loosen them up.

Now to plan and get ready for Stone Cat.....

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posted Sep-10-2007 09:33 PM               

I thought the aid stations were OK. There was only one station that had Coke which was a little let down. However, one of the volunteers at the aid station we hit twice was nice enough to let me have some of hers after I asked if they had any. I agree the food wasn't anything to get excited over. I only had a couple fig newtons and relied upon my own GU's and drinking a lot.

I felt strong at the finish and chased the second place woman in. I found out after the last aid station I was in 4th place and was totally happy with that and then I caught up to the 3rd place woman and passed her. I felt if she passed me back then all the power to her but I managed to stay ahead and caught up to the second place woman who turned around and said she was glad to see me so that she new she was going the right way. I figured if I passed her then great but she kept up the pace and I was maybe 15-20 seconds behind her at the finish.

I finished in 5:32 a PR for me. I did the VT50K 2 years ago in 5:47. I'm feeling much better going into the VT50m.

Congratulations and great job everyone!

Kelly

[This message has been edited by kelywil (edited Sep-10-2007).]

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posted Sep-12-2007 07:54 AM            

http://blogs.nashuatelegraph.com/off_track

[This message has been edited by off track (edited Sep-12-2007).]

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posted Sep-13-2007 10:39 AM            

Breaking the Marathon Barrier - initial thoughts and impressions
Pisgah 50k Trail Race (2007) - Pre-Race Review - race organization and everything before the "gun"
Pisgah 50k Trail Race (2007) - Race Review - The race itself

I'll probably write the post-race wrap up this evening or tomorrow, which will be linked from those articles.

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Run to Win
Breaking the Marathon Barrier: Pisgah 50k

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posted Sep-14-2007 12:34 PM            

Pisgah 50k/23k Trail Races - 2007 Race Results - basically a copy of the results now that they are available
Pisgah 50k Trail Race (2007) - Post-Race Review - post-race celebrations and the aftermath of the race

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Run to Win
Breaking the Marathon Barrier: Pisgah 50k

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