Add 2 more names to the growing list of Ultra runners from the FM area. This past weekend my sister Jodi and fellow Fargoan Jarod completed their first Ultra Marathon down in Bloomington at the Trail Mix event. The weather was nearly perfect for running with the temps in the mid 40's at the start with light wind and a blue sky.
As was the plan, Jodi started out the run very conservative and finished strong in the middle of the pack. The 50K (31 mile) course is set up as 4 - 7.75 mile loops. Her conservative start allowed her to have it in her to make the last lap the fastest of the day. Lap 3 was her slowest by only a couple minutes.
Here is what Jodi had to say about her experience:
"When Rick told me he thought I should run the 50K with him (about two weeks before the event) I had to ask myself, how far is 50K? If a 5K is 3.1 miles, I guess a 50K is 31 miles. Well, that’s only 5 miles more than a marathon…it can’t be that bad, right? So without a lot of thought, I agreed. I put a lot of faith in what Rick has to tell me. He has done all the reading and the research for me so I can be lazy and just ask him. If he thinks running a 50K five weeks before the Fargo marathon is a good plan then I’ll do it.
I’ve only done one other trail run – a 5K in Pelican Rapids. I really kind of hated it as it was hilly and wet. My toe started bleeding, I misread the signs and ended up running in circles for a while. Rick’s wife Kristy was with me and we actually ran a 6K. I forgot about that until the night before the event. I just hoped this wasn’t going to be a repeat of that (X 10.)
What can I say? Running 50K was actually a lot of fun! We saw turkeys, geese, pheasants, squirrels and ducks. We got to run on grass, wood chips, mud, dirt, sticks, sand and asphalt. We ran across prairie, through the woods and around lakes. But even that gets a little boring after about four hours. I have found that most of running is mental. By the last time around (the course was four loops) I was ready to be done. We got to the course at 6:00 a.m. (started at 7:00) and by the time we were done running it was almost 12:30. Six and a half hours of most anything is enough for me! Rick decided to make it fun by harassing me on the last lap. As we’d come up behind people, he’d yell things at me like, “Good Lord – would it kill you to wait until we’re at the top of the hill to speed up?” I would return his fire, making the people around us either laugh or look really uncomfortable. Just what I needed to break up the monotony.
I’ve only done one other trail run – a 5K in Pelican Rapids. I really kind of hated it as it was hilly and wet. My toe started bleeding, I misread the signs and ended up running in circles for a while. Rick’s wife Kristy was with me and we actually ran a 6K. I forgot about that until the night before the event. I just hoped this wasn’t going to be a repeat of that (X 10.)
What can I say? Running 50K was actually a lot of fun! We saw turkeys, geese, pheasants, squirrels and ducks. We got to run on grass, wood chips, mud, dirt, sticks, sand and asphalt. We ran across prairie, through the woods and around lakes. But even that gets a little boring after about four hours. I have found that most of running is mental. By the last time around (the course was four loops) I was ready to be done. We got to the course at 6:00 a.m. (started at 7:00) and by the time we were done running it was almost 12:30. Six and a half hours of most anything is enough for me! Rick decided to make it fun by harassing me on the last lap. As we’d come up behind people, he’d yell things at me like, “Good Lord – would it kill you to wait until we’re at the top of the hill to speed up?” I would return his fire, making the people around us either laugh or look really uncomfortable. Just what I needed to break up the monotony.
Rounding the corner heading toward the finish line, I saw Kristy waiting for us. Eleven months ago when I ran my first marathon, she was waiting for me just outside the dome. I said the same thing to her this time as I did then, “Kristy, I’m going to do it!” Just before the finish line I waved to my girls, their friend and my nieces. We finished the race in five hours and 21 minutes.
Bucket list….marathon (check)….marathon under 4:00 hours (check)……ultramarathon (check). A big thank you to Rick for helping me reach my goals!"
-Jodi-
As I always say, "A problem shared is halved and a joy shared is doubled." Thanks Jodi for sharing with me.
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