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On a Sunday morning in early March, an eclectic group of runners make their way into a small, crowded kitchen on top of Mt. LeConte. The LeConte Lodge is closed, but we’re here at the caretaker’s invitation, readying for a day of running in the Great Smoky Mountains. We drink cowboy coffee and hastily down donuts, indulging in what would normally be off-limits pre-race food.
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Maybe it was the buzzards circling overhead, or maybe it was the 20,000+ feet of elevation change facing our 50-mile runners, but I knew this would not be an ordinary race day!
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The second annual Peyton’s Wild and Wacky 5k Ultra was held on Saturday March 12th, 2016 at Laurel Hill Park in Mount Pleasant, SC. Its a beautiful park and one of the few areas in the vicinity with a bona-fide trail network.
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No one watches the long-range weather forecast like an ultrarunner. Whether we are planning some long training run or preparing for an event, nothing weighs as heavily on us as the forecast. Of course, it really makes little difference if we are headed to a race. Having invested our children’s inheritance in the entry fee, we’re going to go no matter the weather.
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Ryan Bak won Chuckanut 50K last weekend with the second fastest time in the race’s history, propelling him into next month’s Lake Sonoma 50. While he seems to be finding a career as a professional runner once again (he previously ran for Oregon Track Club and Team USA Monterey Bay), this time he’s in Bend, OR. Surrounded by a like-minded community of professional athletes, most have professional careers and young families, and for Ryan, this balance has made all the difference.
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A few years ago, I started pulling a tire back and forth over a local bridge as part of my endurance training, and as you can imagine, it encouraged some interesting remarks from passersby. “I think there’s something chasing you,” to “Let me sit in there,” to “My dog would love you to pull him around,” were the norm.