2013 The North Face Endurance Challenge Series Georgia
50k Race Review by Lauren Cortjens 2nd Place
So that was hard. Just slightly. HA! That was the rockiest course I have ever encountered with about 20-30 (easily) large boulder rock gardens, many narrow cliff ridge trails, tons of smaller rock gardens, and endless roots. Now I know that's trail running, but damn! I have never run a trail that was that difficult! I can't say that I didn't have fun though, I always have fun on trails. My hubby and son were able to make it to most of the aid stations, which helped a ton. I took a wrong trail at one point, where I ran and extra 3/4 mile, which wasn't really an issue physically, just mentally when I tried to catch back up backtracking. So the race started in the dark, my headlamp was dead so I was using other people's light and it was a slow start due to the fact that no-one could see. Finally the sun came out and the pace picked up to a good sustainable speed. 1st aid station: I was 1st female. I saw Rudy (hubby) and Hunter (son) and gave them a kiss :) The 2nd place female passed me right as I was about to leave. She didn't have on trail shoes or any water/ food on her. I passed her again just as we had about 1 mile to the next aid station. She was running downhill faster than me but I could power up the hills faster than her and sustain it on the flats.
2nd aid station: I saw Rudy and Hunter, and then from behind, a different girl came up, who just took off! She started in wave 2 just behind us but was looking incredibly strong! The 3rd place girl and I went back and forth on the hills. At this point, my metatarsalgia started acting up big time and I was being very careful where I put my foot so to not pinch it between rocks... which definitely slowed me down. I stopped and popped my toes, which didn't seem to help immediately so I just kept running. (I have no clue how many times I fell or when it was but I will tell you I fell multiple times, jamming my ankle once, really aggrivating the metatarsals quite a few times, many hard stumbles, and one really hard knee scraping) 3rd aid station: No Rudy or Hunter so I grabbed some food and kept going. They said it was 7 miles to the next aid which would prove to be the hardest part of the whole course. It was out in the sun for 1/2 of it, which was getting a little warm, but it was a beautiful day so it wasn't too bad. 4th aid station: This one was partly a u-turn so I got to see the lead girl pass me going the other way (a good 2-3 miles ahead of me by this point). I passed the other girl I had been going back and forth with for good since she was sitting on a rock, feeling lightheaded. I gave her a gel and told her the aid station was really close. By this point, my metatarsalgia was magically gone! Rudy gave me some good encouragement and sent me on my way. The next aid was only 2.5 miles.
5th Aid Station: This was definitely a welcome site by then since it was pretty much all uphill from the last aid. I saw Rudy as Hunter was sleeping by then, much to Rudy's relief. Aid 6 was 5.3 miles and not too bad. 7th Aid station: The damn lady there told me only 2.2 miles to go! I was excited and didn't take any fuel or water... and took off! Woohoo! This is where I took the wrong trail and also fell pretty hard on my knees when I was trying to catch back up to get on pace. I got to the top of a hill at 2 miles and the dude said the next aid was 0.2 miles! WHAT!? I mentally broke immediately, thinking I was almost done but I had to go to another freaking aid station!
8th Aid station: Rudy was there and gave me reassurance and helped me calm down. I only had 1.4 to go... really... until I was finished!! So I kept going, knees aching really bad, ankle sore as hell, mentally exhausted, and finished 44 mins behind 1st, and only 6 mins ahead of 2nd... that was close! Ice bath? Yes please!
So I had fun, but it was the hardest 50k I have done so far. I don't know if the extra 3.5 weeks of training would have made the difference but that doesn't discount the difficulty of the course. I don't know if I will do this one again but we will see. Maybe I will come back for revenge. Maybe ;) It sure was fun taking the boy for his first camping trip!
