Race Reports

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!

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.

Thanks to good weather and volunteers the 22nd “A-OK” 25k/50k on March 6, near Atoka, Oklahoma, was a success. Finishers received jars of honey and cedar plaques made from a cedar tree cut on the property.

The single-track trail ascended in a series of switchbacks as far as you could see. The heat from the sun amplified the soul crushing fatigue I felt from having run 68 kilometres in the mountains. The thought of running another 57 kilometres today seemed unfathomable. My movement was reduced to a slow walk and each step was a struggle. There was simply no way I could finish this race. I was done.

Mario Lacerda’s vision for the Brazil 135 occurred after his failed Badwater 135 attempt in 2005. Although Mario had not summited Everest or won any 100 mile races—questions on the earlier Badwater 135 application—he had been on extensive pilgrimages. It was this experience that gained Mario admittance to BW135.

The Hellcat 50km race on Jan 9 2016, is held annually to commemorate the F6F Hellcat Navy fighter of WWII fame. It is held on the old Navy air base in Green Cove Springs Fl. The base is now an industrial park but the old runways, bunkers etc. are still there. The race loops the outer perimeter 5 times.