Bridle trails 50k race report.

What a way to start 2010!

Bridle trails wasn’t on my list of runs until just a week or two before the event. Erik Swordmaker now an ultra veteran had put it on his calendar. He had even managed to run a loop of the course before the event while out on delivery. Who was I to let a 50k slip by that was local, on trails, starts at 3pm and is only $25!

I had no expectations for this race. It was just an excuse to go run in the dark and visit with friends. My PR for the 50k had just dropped to 5hrs last March at Chuckanut. That was an effort all unto itself. Even with training involved. I’ve been putting in some good fun runs but no speed work. There was a suggestion by a friend that I should try to break 5hrs. It got me thinking, well if I feel good and everything comes together then there’s no reason I can’t. Erick’s recon mission had reported that it was a non technical rolling 5+ mile loop repeated 6 times for a total of 31miles or 50k. I am a night runner at heart, so equipped with my Fenix flashlight and Halogen headlamp I was going to go have some fun!

After Scott McCoubrey said go the fun run was on. The weather prediction for the day forecasted torrential downpour but to everyone’s delight it had turned out to be a fabulously warm partially sunny day. I started out with energy and was going to use it as long as I had it. Adam Hewey, Arthur Martineau and I weaved our way through the 5 and 10 mile runners who had left in the wave before us. Half way through the first loop it was just Adam and I chatting and running along at a brisk pace. He mentioned that he gets board running alone and so I figured I’d just keep up with him as long as I could. All I knew of Adam was he had ran a 20:42 at Cascade crest 100 this year taking 3rd. We continued to run the next 2 laps in the light chatting it up and not even thinking of the race. We grabbed our lights for the third lap and talked about how fun night running was and how after a while it becomes second nature. There came a point when we couldn’t even see our feet and thought “Oh maybe we should turn our lights on“.

The course was just as Erik had described. Rolling and none technical, except for the one diagonal log that mysteriously had been chopped up and moved to the side of the trail between lap one and two. Now on lap three, Adam mentioned that we were on a 4:30 pace. I thought to myself “Well, I feel good and we’re half way there so I’ll just keep it up” We continued to chat as we found ourselves surprisingly alone on 5 mile trail filled with almost a hundred people.
On lap four we were just starting to feel the effects of our speedy pace after stopping to refuel. Our legs were a bit tight. That’s almost always a precursor to the condition called
“excruciatingly Painful cramping” We then discussed the merits of salt and how it magically makes cramps the thing of the past. Adam commented that they must be making this course longer each loop. I agreed but thought “yes but wow this run is flying by”
I had been doing a little cheating since sipping on a redbull from lap 3 to the finish. I don’t indorse redbull but I had forgot my caps and the effects of caffeine for me really are incredible. Something tells me now that I may have been able to run as fast even without it’s aid but it’s sure nice. By this time our conversation had slowed but our pace was still on fire. I was really surprised how good I felt. Normally by this point in a 50k my core is straining to keep up with the pace.

On lap 5 I pulled out my secret night running weapon. My trusty Halogen headlamp that leaves LED’s whimpering in there own shadows. I was now confident that we would at least break five hours, something that I had never even thought of in my last twelve 50k finishes. Looking back I guess this was to be lucky 13. We continued to push hard but it had never been a race between us or anyone else. We discussed how much we appreciated Ultra running’s laid back race scene. We were in this together and we were going to finish together.
We continued to push hard right to the end. After crossing the finish line I looked over at the time clock to see that we had just broken 4:30. ( I don’t wear a watch ) Glenn Tachiyama then mentioned that we could take 12 minutes off of that time. Adam confirmed after looking at his watch that we had finished in 4:13 or officially 4:12:36! Wow! Wow! Wow! Did we short the course or something? It just didn’t seem possible that I had just taken 47mins off of my 50k PR. It’s a true statement of how a little competition and camaraderie can push you to excel beyond what you’ve conceived. We even managed to tie for second!

To top off the night Erik in his first 50k ever broke 5hrs coming in at 4:49 and as a side note Terry Sentinella who caught a ride with us finished in 4:36 after running a road half marathon earlier in the day in his preparation for Rocky Raccoon 100.

Thanks everyone! a few more pitures HERE

You can't fake those smiles