Bandera 50k

Bandera 50k January 9th, 2010

Last Saturday I had the distinct pleasure of joining 600+ runners in Bandera, TX for the running of the Bandera trail races. The race is comprised of 3 races, 100k, 50k, 25k. All starting at 7:30am.

Arrived in Bandera Friday afternoon, checked in to my motel, and quickly headed over to the trail briefing. Which was held in town at the Silver Sage Coral. The briefing was then followed by a pasta dinner. Had a good time, hung out with friends Emily, Lisa, Peter and his wife Elizabeth. The briefing was informative and the pasta was filling. Met up with Peter and Elizabeth at the Bandera Saloon later that evening for a pre-race beer. Good times.

Back to the motel to rest and get ready for the next day. As the temps were predicted to be in the teens I went through my clothing options for the cold day to follow. Sleep did not come easy as it rarely does the night before a race. The alarm was set for 5:30am and I was nearing slumber by midnight.

Saturday morning dawned a cool 10 or 12 degrees depending on who’s weather gauge you were checking. Either way it was cold. Packed up and headed out the door to pickup Peter and head to the Hill Country State Natural Area where the race is held. This about 10 miles or so outside of Bandera. Met up with Peter and headed down the road. About 3 minutes into the drive Peter freaks out that he forgot something. He frantically starts digging through all his bags. I guess that it is just pre-race jitters and he’s fine. But, nope he did forget something. He quickly calls his wife to find the missing race belt, and we turn around to go back and meet her. In the end it’s just a 10 minute hiccup in our morning.

We eventually find our way to the race site. Park, gather our things, and head over to bag drop and to check in. We’re a bit short on time now, so we’ve got to get moving. In the process, Peter and I get separated. I won’t see him again until a mile or two into the race. Once I’ve dropped my bags and check in I head to the start. I just make it on time. Trail races are kind of funny in that you get there, a bunch of people are standing around and then someone yell’s “Go” and you are off. I found Emily and Lisa at the start and we head off down the trail together. We don’t know where Peter is and hope he is not far behind. The first few miles are cold and it takes some time to warm up. The morning is clear and bright and it looks to be a gorgeous day of running. Which it was.
About 2 miles or so in I pull off the trail to take a pit stop, Emily and Lisa forge ahead, and I won’t see them again until the race is finished. While taking my pit stop Peter catches up to me. We get going again and head towards the first aid station around mile 5. The first 5 miles went quickly and we’re feeling good, we see Erik from Rogue and Jamie from Hill Country Running. A couple high fives and refill the water bottle and we’re off.
The next aid station is Nachos about 5 more miles down the trail. The running is going well. Lot’s of rocks and ups and downs, the views from the tops of the hills is gorgeous. I’m quickly warming up and realize I’ve over dressed a bit. We can hear Nachos long before we get there as the festive group has music playing. Once into the aid station I shed a layer, and stow my hat and one pair of the two pairs of gloves I’m wearing in my pack. Fill water bottles, take a leak, and head back out on the trail.
The next aid station is Chapas, another five or so miles down the trail. More rocks, more hills.
Chapas is the first aid station where drop bags are located. It is another big and festive aid station, where not only did they have water/Gatorade/snacks etc…they were also making waffles, grilled cheese sandwiches, and grilled PB&J’s. Fun stuff. Once in I grabbed my drop bag and did a quick shirt change. And put on a running hat. The morning sun had been making running on the rock strewn trail even more challenging. The running hat with a brim was welcome shade.
Peter arrived to Chapas a few minutes after I did, we chatted a bit, I then left before he did. I would not see him again until the last mile of the race.
Chapas to the next aid station Crossroads was flatter and smoother. I ran well in this section. Finally having a chance to stretch my legs. Steve our Rogue coach had warned me about this section. Advising to run, but don’t push it too hard as there is a lot more running and climbing to do afterward. I heeded his advice and had a good run.
I arrived into Crossroads, where Peter’s wife Elizabeth greeted me. She was volunteering. Big thanks goes out to Elizabeth for all the hard work that she and the other volunteers did in setting up and supporting this race. They did an amazing job.
Elizabeth let me know that Emily and Lisa where kicking ass and were way ahead of me, maybe a half hour. Wow. She asked where Peter was and I told her a few minutes behind me on the trail. Refilled my water bottle, grabbed a few snacks and headed down the trail.
This inner loop starts at Crossroads and comes back to Crossroads. About another 5 miles. Still feeling pretty good at this point in the race. We’ve covered about 21 miles or so. Somewhere along here on rocky but an otherwise easy section of trail, I trip and fall. Not a big deal, get up, brush myself off and keep going. There are a couple of good climbs through here, I run when I can, the flats and downhills, and walk the uphills. As I’ve been doing throughout the race. About 3 or 4 miles into this section I’m inexplicably and without a doubt attacked by the “bear” (for those who do not know, in running terms this means I’ve got make a major pit stop) There’s a glorious restroom back at Crossroads, that I eyed as I left and wondered….hmmm maybe I should use that. I thought well I’ll be back here in a quick 5 miles. I can wait. Nope. Not gonna happen. So, into the woods I go. Wearing ¾ tights and searching for both privacy and a bunch of leaves made this a lengthy pit stop. Eventually I was back on the trail and running.
Made it into Crossroads, refilled water bottle, got some snacks, drank some coke. And headed out for the last 4.75 miles. On a typical day of running, I’d think nothing of a run that short. After 26+ miles on the trail it didn’t seem so short. I was definitely feeling the fatigue of the day now. The rocks and hills were taking their toll. Running downhill on the technical rocky sections was painful and required an immense amount of effort. I just kept on going.
The last big climb of the day is Lucky’s Peak. I don’t think I can describe just how nasty this climb looked from the bottom. It was STEEP and rocky. Ugh. I eventually made it to the top. I looked back down the trail to see who was there and low and behold it is Peter. Woo Hoo…I wait at the top and he joins me for the last mile to the finish. We chat a bit on how were doing. We’re both doing ok, but are definitely ready to be done. We cruise through the last aid station, I get a quick refill of water, which I really did not need, but out of habit, I got it. We now had just a half-mile to go and it was all downhill. We picked up our stride and ran it in. Finishing together, holding hands, in 6:44:58. I’m just kidding we didn’t hold hands. (but I wanted to lol)

We were welcomed at the finish by Emily and Lisa and bunch of others. Got our medals and walked around and talked in a daze. We did it. We were excited. Beer, food, and dry clothes were quickly found. We hung out, told stories and watched people finish, saw the male winner of the 100k come in, very exciting, saw runners finish their first lap of the 100k and go back out. Which we all said we had absolutely no interest in going out and running that trail again today. Lol.

Emily and Lisa did in fact kick ass, they finished around 6:09. Both in the top 10 of females in the 50k. Woo hoo!!

It was a good day of running. I had fun. It was hard, tough, rocky, hilly, cold, gorgeous, long. I’m glad I did it. Still seems a bit strange to say that I ran 31 miles. I ran an Ultramarathon.

Big Thanks goes out to Joe P and his wife Joyce and all the volunteers. They did an amazing job. Thank you!!

Almost forgot to mention, saw our buddy John Brown at the race. Great guy. Also, saw Jess. Great to see them both. : )