DATE: Saturday, October 30, 2010
LOCATION: Champoeg State Park, near Newberg, Oregon
In 2005 I ran the half marathon at Autumn Leaves, in 2006 I ran the 50k, and in 2007 I ran my first 50 miler at Autumn Leaves. But in 2008, the race director changed the date and I was already doing a different race, and in 2009 the race was canceled. This year, a few Portland area Maniac and ultra runner, Bret Henry took over the race. He did a great job in reviving this race. Many people thought this race was dead, due to a lack of interest. But volume of runners this year exceeded everyone’s expectations. There were 75 runners signed up for the 50 miler, and about 45 signed up for the 50k.
I helped by creating finisher medals for the race. And my friend Tim joined me for the race. After running 42.75 miles in seven hours at Operation Jack 7 hour race in early September, I had a desire to see how fast I could run a 50 miler. My PR was 8:33, which was my 50 mile split at Pacific Rim in 2008. I knew I had a shot at a sub-8 hour race. The course is a 6.25 mile loop run eight times. I figured I could run one loop every hour and finish in 8 hours.
I took the early start at 6am, because I wanted to finish sooner. The first loop was completely dark, and a flashlight or headlamp is a must. I ran with Stacy Otter and Genia Kacey, both Marathon Maniacs, for the first loop and a half. The first loop went pretty well, except we got lost at one point that added 0.35 miles to the loop. I finished the first loop in 0:59:41, which I was really happy with.
From that point forward I was cruising pretty good. My slowest loop was a little more than an hour and most were well under an hour. At the half way point, I ran a 3:42:55 and in second half I ran a 3:58:08 which gave me a final time of 7:41:03. This was a 52 minute personal record and 19 minutes faster than my goal.
I hit the half marathon mark at 3:50:34 and the 50k mark at 4:34:50. And if you take out the time I spent at each aid station, I ran all my miles between 8-10 minute miles. I ran a very steady race, and really pushed hard. It was a challenge at times, because I wanted to slow down, but I knew this was a special race, so I kept pushing.
The weather was pretty nice, it was in the upper 40's with a little rain at times, but the rain didn't stay very long. After I finished Tim and I stuck around for a little more than an hour before we headed back home. Overall it was a huge success!
LOCATION: Champoeg State Park, near Newberg, Oregon
In 2005 I ran the half marathon at Autumn Leaves, in 2006 I ran the 50k, and in 2007 I ran my first 50 miler at Autumn Leaves. But in 2008, the race director changed the date and I was already doing a different race, and in 2009 the race was canceled. This year, a few Portland area Maniac and ultra runner, Bret Henry took over the race. He did a great job in reviving this race. Many people thought this race was dead, due to a lack of interest. But volume of runners this year exceeded everyone’s expectations. There were 75 runners signed up for the 50 miler, and about 45 signed up for the 50k.
I helped by creating finisher medals for the race. And my friend Tim joined me for the race. After running 42.75 miles in seven hours at Operation Jack 7 hour race in early September, I had a desire to see how fast I could run a 50 miler. My PR was 8:33, which was my 50 mile split at Pacific Rim in 2008. I knew I had a shot at a sub-8 hour race. The course is a 6.25 mile loop run eight times. I figured I could run one loop every hour and finish in 8 hours.
I took the early start at 6am, because I wanted to finish sooner. The first loop was completely dark, and a flashlight or headlamp is a must. I ran with Stacy Otter and Genia Kacey, both Marathon Maniacs, for the first loop and a half. The first loop went pretty well, except we got lost at one point that added 0.35 miles to the loop. I finished the first loop in 0:59:41, which I was really happy with.
From that point forward I was cruising pretty good. My slowest loop was a little more than an hour and most were well under an hour. At the half way point, I ran a 3:42:55 and in second half I ran a 3:58:08 which gave me a final time of 7:41:03. This was a 52 minute personal record and 19 minutes faster than my goal.
I hit the half marathon mark at 3:50:34 and the 50k mark at 4:34:50. And if you take out the time I spent at each aid station, I ran all my miles between 8-10 minute miles. I ran a very steady race, and really pushed hard. It was a challenge at times, because I wanted to slow down, but I knew this was a special race, so I kept pushing.
The weather was pretty nice, it was in the upper 40's with a little rain at times, but the rain didn't stay very long. After I finished Tim and I stuck around for a little more than an hour before we headed back home. Overall it was a huge success!
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