Race Reports

The 24th annual Bulldog 50K Ultra and RRCA State Championship 50K Ultra Race treated runners to the coolest race day weather in recent years but being the Bulldog in August, the coolest weather is still warm.

The Marquette Trail 50 has it all: challenging climbs, lakefront scenery and possibly Sasquatch. The race is run on parts of the Noquemanon Trail Network in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula in mid-August with 100k, 50 mile and 50k distances.

Twenty years is a long time, but also goes by in an instant. To the best of our knowledge we are the 17th 100-mile race to be started after the historic 1973 WS100 began the current ultra-running sensation.

It was not a pretty sight. I was walking next to my pacer in pain. My right calf was rock hard and mobility was limited. My left knee felt like it was about to rip open from compensating so much from my calf.

A balmy 68-degree 4 a.m. start greeted runners as they set off into the inky black from the front of a castle in a gorgeous park at the Burning River 100. While there were those with the requisite whoops and over-eager adrenaline surges charging down the grassy slope, most held their energy in quiet reserve, hoping that doling it out in tiny amounts would help later.