I am a loop girl. I like to tick laps off like an accountant likes to balance a worksheet. The Vernal Equinox 48/24/12/8-hour race was the perfect race for going around and around multiple times. When late March weather is unpredictable in the Midwest, you never know what to expect at the Majestic Horse Farm race venue in Batavia, Ohio.
The race was expecting rain, so to avoid a sloppy mess, it was shortened from 2 to 1-mile loops. This may seem unconventional to the traditional ultrarunner, but it made for amazing community and family support for the runners. The course encircled horse stalls and barns with terrain transitioning between gravel, mud and asphalt. The 48 and 24-hour runners were assigned a clean horse stall to use as their personal home base, which gave each runner privacy, yet the open-air stalls felt much like college dorm living due to the overhearing of conversations and various bodily noises.
The author finishes the 48-hour event. Photo Mike Priebe
The morning of the 48-hour race start, there was an hour delay due to lightning, which transformed to an unexpectedly hot and sunny weekend. Periodically, the race directors, Nettie Zeppetella and Jennifer Russo, handed out popsicles and smoothies to keep runners going as temperatures never dipped below the sixties, even in the evening. The 24-hour runners began their race on the second day of the event, which is exhilarating and exhausting for the 48-hour runners to watch after 23 hours of continuous loops. By midday of the second day, much of the mud was starting to dry and all 48/24/12/8-hour runners were on the course together. As with most timed races, runners were starting to take extended naps or tap out, all in search of completing their own personal race distance goals.
By the race’s conclusion, friendships were made and all runners were cheerleaders at some point. Yes, the loops were a bit long (100 loops ended up being 107 miles) but the support and energy was much needed for those final hard miles, no matter the distance accomplished. Full results here.