Ultra Kraut Running

I know I know, you're not supposed to be racing to train, you're supposed to train to race, but I do not get paid to do this thing, I run trail because I love it. I love trail races even more than just running trails. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy long self-supported runs just as much, I had done it quite a few times before, spectacularly beautiful solo runs and spectacularly mind-numbing solo runs. However, I had mapped out a fairly long training cycle to get ready for this summer and I want to save most of my mental strength for my actual goal races. 

These shorter ultra distance trail races are my way of getting a supported long run in. Yes, I usually get sucked into running a lot faster than I want or should, but I always have a lot of fun and that's ultimately why I do this sport...to have fun and to see amazing places...if that means blowing up spectacularly every once in a while, so be it:-)

This year marked the 20th anniversary of the Oak Mountain 50K in Pelham, Alabama. It takes place in Oak Mountain State Park just outside Birmingham and has some seriously beautiful and seriously challenging single track trails. But don't make the mistake and believe that this is an easy course. It's definitely one of the top two most difficult 50Ks in the state of Alabama.

Paul Morris and I drove down to Birmingham the night before the race to get a proper night's sleep . The Oak Mountain 50K is a fairly low key event and packet pickup only takes place race morning, so we didn't have to worry about that and instead just grabbed some spicy Thai food. Luckily, this gamble did not "backfire" :-)

We arrived at the race pavilion with plenty of time to mingle and catch up with fellow runners and friends. Race Directors extraordinaire Todd and Jamie Henderson always put on solid events and for the 20th anniversary of this one, the actual race founder got us started and racing off into the woods. 

The Oak Mountain 50K has anywhere between 4000-5000 feet of vert and much of it seems concentrated in the first half of the race as I so painfully discovered 2 years ago, when I blew up epically after having run just over half the race distance. What followed was a slow slog to the finish. I was determined not to repeat history.

I decided to start slow and tackle each of the early hills conservatively and put my weight vest hill hiking training to good use. As a result, I was able to keep my heart rate low and sustain a constant level of energy for most of the day. Within the first 3 miles, I had passed a couple of runners ahead of me. By mile 10, I was running in fourth place overall, still maintaining a comfortable pace. I ended up sharing some miles with Sarah Woerner as well after hitting one of the more spectacular places along the race course, the Peavine Waterfalls.

I caught up to the runner in second place after about 15 miles. The runner in first place was about 5 minutes ahead and as it turned out, he had a pretty great day himself. Rather than me being able to close the gap, he continued to extend the gap by a couple of minutes between every aid station. On that note, congrats to the winner on a strong performance.

By mile 20, I was running closer to my max pace and rather than try to chase the race leader, I was hoping to be able to break 5 hours. Unfortunately, the final 6 miles of the race, although very runnable, felt more like 8 miles and when I crossed the finish line the clock showed 5:05 hours. This was still way better than my expectations, both from a time and placement perspective. Lucky to have been able to spend another Saturday running in the woods.

Initially, the plan was to camp out at the park the night before the race, but temperatures in the low 30s had me reevaluate that idea. Instead, Rick Rawls and I opted for an early Saturday morning drive to Beersheba Springs, Tennessee to run the 2019 edition of the Savage Gulf Trail Marathon, arguably the gnarliest and most scenic trail marathon in the continental US. We arrived with plenty of time to get our bibs and catch up with fellow runners and friends from near and far that had descended on this beautiful little slice of nature that had been carved into the western edge of the Cumberland Plateau.

Lots of friendly faces I was glad to have a chance to catch up with. I had no plans for the day other than try to settle into a sustainable pace early and get my miles in. Even better, if I could just latch on to another evenly matched runner to pass the time. To ensure that I wouldn't go out too fast or run too fast in general I had decided to take my GoPro along to take some video footage of the amazing race course. I usually reserve picture taking and similar activities for races of distances longer than 100K. While I may not race anyone but myself, I do try to work a little harder in the shorter distance events, so there usually isn't really time to slow down and smell the roses. However, since I had run this event twice before, never really taking the time to really take in the views, I wanted to make a point this time around to do just that...and what better way to capture the experience and views than with a video camera.

All of the photos in this blog post are grabs from the video I captured with my GoPro Hero 7. A full edited version of the actual video can be seen at YouTube. Check it out. I'm sure you'll put this race on your to do list, once you've gotten a glimpse of this beautiful course.

Luckily, my buddy Yong Kim from the Nashville area was running this race as well and since we've been running a fairly similar pace in recent runs and races, I figured he would be just the guys to try to follow. To be fair, he's run this course nearly 30 minutes faster than me in the past, but he "assured" me he'd barely been running much distance in recent weeks. Oh, how gullible I am. Turns out, this was his last long run before the Boston Marathon, where he has intentions of running sub 3 hours. This explains, why he dropped me like a bad habit about half way through this race.

But let's back up just a bit. I lined up in the second row at the start line. Yong and I figured we'd hang back just a little and see how things turn out. We didn't want to get stuck in a train of runners when it was time to descend into the Gulf through the narrow steps of the Stone Door after about two miles into the race, so we made sure we weren't too far back. 

When we got the "go" signal, we settled in about 10 spots back from the front. To be honest, I had serious doubt that ALL of the runners ahead of us would be able to sustain what felt like my 5K road race pace, so I wasn't really to concerned to be back slightly further than expected. Again, I had no expectations other than maybe squeeze in just under my previous PR, which I had run 2 years earlier in pretty terrible weather conditions. 

I kept my GoPro close at hand as we took off. Yong and I kept a steady and comfortable pace. Once we made our way through the Stone Door, we started picking up the pace on the technical downhill. The rocks were dry, allowing me to run faster than usual on and through these tricky sections. We kept a steady pace and started to pick off a couple of runners already. 

I continued to run by feel, sometimes I would lead, other times Yong would lead, but it felt comfortable the entire way. We kept cruising and I felt pretty good. We climbed out on the other side of the Gulf after having covered about 12 miles of the race. I still felt pretty good, when one of the aid station workers (all Tennessee Park Rangers, by the way) informed us that we had about 8 miles to the next aid station. This would include 6 miles of rolling singe track trail along the rim of the Gulf before dropping down into the Gulf for 2 miles before hitting the next aid station. I was felling great...until Yong confirmed that we were doing well and that we should be able to cover the next 8 miles in about 70 minutes. Say what? I kept my feelings to myself and just nodded. I fell in behind him, but after about a mile or so, he steadily pulled away. I knew my leg turnover was no match for his and I just had to let him go. I continued at my own pace making sure to just keep moving. 

It's easy to slow down while you're running my yourself and not even realizing it. You just kind of fall into a slower rhythm without even realizing it. To avoid just that from happening, I kept reminding myself that there are still 3 runners ahead of me and who knew, one of them may just slow down or blow up and I wanted to be there if that happened. This way, I also ensured that I kept moving at race pace. Unfortunately for me, fortunately fortunately for them, none of the runners ahead of me crumbled:-) 

I kept focusing on moving, running as much of the final big climb as possible. This course was challenging even for the most experienced runners. The climbs are tough and the downhills are steep and technical. Runners need to watch every step. There is no such thing as just falling forward and flying downhill on this course, not if you want to stay in one piece. When I finally topped out at the top of the final climb, I had about 3 miles left to the finish. A final 5K and a final push to the finish. 

When I finally crossed the finish line, I had managed a 12 minute course PR. Not bad considering I was taking video along the way. Of course, the weather conditions were perfect. So perfect, in fact, that Nathan Holland finally got his sub 4 hour course record along with his third win at this race. Impressive on all accounts.

It seemed most runners had had a pretty good day, which was to be expected considering the near perfect conditions. If you haven't run this race, you should. And if the scenery isn't enough, consider that this race supports the Tennessee Park Rangers and their efforts. In fact, the race staff consists entirely of park rangers from all over Tennessee. What better way to give back to the guys and gals that maintain the places we all consider our playground.