As myself and nearly 20 thousand other people get ready for the upcoming Fargo event, some of my Ultra Friends headed out of town for their first 50 mile event. Tim and Joel set out last Friday for the Kettle Moraine Forrest near Madison Wisconsin to take on the Ice Age Trail 50.
Arriving in WI late Friday night, they got little sleep in preparation for the 6 a.m. start of the event. The weather was much like we have here in Fargo. Unpredictable. They said everything was throw at them except snow and locust. Weather like that can bring the heartiest of runners to their knees especially when you are expected to be out in it for 11-12 hours. Well the good news is they both persevered through it all and finished the event within the 12 hour time limit. Not without some drama as Joel finished with just over 4 minutes to spare. Back home now, both a bit battered but richer for the experience. One thing nice about an Ultra is that you usually get your moneys worth.
I added the elevation profile of the Ice Age course. Though this event is not considered one of the more difficult as far as elevation goes, take a look at it (click to enlarge) and see how it compares to the flatness of Fa
rgo. This is tame compared to the beast Joel and Tim will tackle this fall. Joel has signed up for one of the toughest 100 mile events on the planet in the Wasatch 100 in Utah. Tim will be running with him as a pacer which are allowed after about 40 miles. Besides reaching an altitude of over 10,000 feet, the elevation gain/loss is almost 27,000 feet. That is 5 miles of uphill and 5 miles of downhill. Now that's getting your moneys worth.
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