Dances with Dirt 50K

I did it! I can finally call myself an ultramarathoner!

Dances with Dirt in Hell, Michigan was the hardest race I have ever run. I probably fell ten times from tree roots, rocks, a wire fence, branches and in the rivers. I also tripped but didn't fall another three to four times. I scraped both knees and have bruises. I have a huge bump on my right shine and scratches on my left shoulder from one of the many times I took a spill.

This course was labeled "extreme trail running" and it was. It has some of the steepest hills I have ever seen. At one point, it felt like we were scaling a wall. I climbed up on my hands and knees. I was really thankful for the trail shoes. I would have slid down the hill without them. There were just so many huge hills, inclines and rocks.

Besides battling hills, inclines, rocks and tree roots, the course included river crossings. The first three river crossings were easy and didn't take that long to get from one side to the other. The last river crossing was bad. We walked in a river for probably .25 of a mile. The water was really deep in spots. In one spot, the water came up past my waist. The currently was coming at us very fast, which made it more difficult to walk against. When we finally made it out of the water and walked up a huge hill, the volunteers at the top yelled, "Welcome to Hell!" They were right, it was Hell.

I was so happy when I reached the final aid station. At mile 25, my legs still felt pretty good. A sign on the table said that there was six miles to the finish. I was so happy that I was that close to the finish. I thought all of the hard trails were behind me. I was hoping for smooth sailing. I kind of got that. I wanted to run the entire way to the finish. I just couldn't believe how many rocks littered the trail. Not just small rocks, but large ones. Some places I had to stop and walk because I really didn't want to face plant into those. During this last stage, I tripped again. I was just getting so frustrated with myself that tears were stinging my eyes. I got up, pushed back the tears and kept going. Crying on the trail wouldn't help me at all.

Some of the male relay runners passed me with less then two miles to go. They were running so fast. I was thinking I wish I had their energy, but they haven't run almost 31 miles either. A volunteer on the course passed me while picking up flags. I had to ask him since it seemed that the last six miles were taking forever. He was ahead of me and I yelled, "How much longer until the end?" He said that I was about a mile away. That made me so happy. I told myself that I could run another mile.

I was thrilled when I finally ran out of the trail and into the park. When the finish line was in sight, I wanted to pick up my pace. I couldn't. I had to continue at a snail's pace. What stopped me from turning it up was wicked side cramp on my right side. When I took in a breath, I got a horrible stabbing pain. I did what I could and ran across the timing mats to finish. I finished the very difficult course in 7:01:42. A volunteer asked me how old I was to see if I placed in my age group. I did. I was fourth. The top five received a DWD coffee mug. She asked me what my name was. I told her and then I spelled it out for her. My name is very long and she gave up after my maiden name. She skipped my married name after the hyphen. She ran out of room on the sheet.

I really like the 50K distance, but I know that this was my first and last Dances with Dirt. I will gladly run a 50K on another trail that isn't so extreme or a road, but not back in Hell. It was a great learning experience. Even though I was watching for roots, branches, etc., I still tripped. The tripping was due to not lifting my feet and toes up high enough. My toes caught everything. I really tried to keep positive during the race, but it was getting tough after all of the falls and the huge hills. I know that I can run 50Ks and longer if I just keep my legs moving and have the right attitude.

Now it is time to get ready for my next 50K. It is a road race around a lake in New York state. I'm really looking forward to this race because it is on a road and I won't be tripping over tree roots or rocks.