bimbler`s bluff 50k

Here is a little recap of the longest run I have ever done...It took place on October 24^th , 2 weeks after I ran the Hartford marathon.

When I woke up early that morning after only about 4h of sleep and having spent 15h on my feet working a party the day before I felt like not doing the race, I had after all a very good excuse...I was pretty tired and my feet were already trashed!

I decided nonetheless to leave the house with all my gear and hit 95 to drive to Guilford CT. Rain started falling and I thought there was no way I would run a 50k today!

When I got there it had stopped raining and I then decided to check in and race. People started coming in and soon the parking lot was full of racers who seemed to..  have done this before and pretty much knew one another. I wore my marathon shirt and the race director asked me strangely if that was last year`s or this year`s?!  When I replied that it was the one I ran a few weeks ago, he said it was too soon to participate at this race!! I laughed and walked away slightly annoyed and pondering his words until a fellow racer came to me and said he had done Hartford too and it was also his first 50k trail run.

Soon it was time and we ran  one loop of a soccer field before entering the woods on a very narrow path full of branches. I felt good and stayed in contact with the lead group until the first aid station at mile 3 that I reached in 27mns. Then it started to get crazy at mile 6..I was running pretty fast ( you know like in a regular road race..) when my left ankle hit a rock and I suddenly fell down in pain. People were friendly as they passed me and asked if I needed any help. I got up and decided to forgo what had just happened and soon passed racers again ..The trail was very tough, leaves were covering tiny rocks and it was uncomfortable running at its best! Soon we had to tackle river crossings, rock climbing, and really crazy hills. Running was getting impossible, one could barely walk!

I reached the mile 12 aid station in 2h..and stopped for 2 mns to get some fluids. In front of me was a 200 yards vertical wall of mud and signs like “ the Bluff”, what you have been training for!”  Getting up there on my knees took forever, it was very scary and people were visibly shaken by it. I made it with difficulty and resumed my walk/run on a tricky path bordering a 200 yards fall. For the next 6 miles it was very difficult to progress, lots of steep hills, fallen logs on the way, mud patches, but the worst happened when happy to finally see some open space in front of me, I decided to go all out just to make up some time..  Terrible mistake because I hit a rock again on the same ankle and this time I had to stop for 10mns, unable to even put it down. At this stage you are pretty much alone..I was still far away from the next aid station and I was getting a bit nervous about how to get there. I made it after an eternity and I was ready to quit because it seemed so pointless to go on! Many racers were there, actually telling the officials they were dropping out….and I was about to do the same when my Hartford friend whom I talked to at the beginning arrived and started chatting with me. He too was really demoralized by the fact that one could not really run the race, you took your eyes away from the trail from one second and you would injure yourself! But he told me his wife was waiting for him at the finish, and that she had given him such a hard time for even registering that quitting was no option!!  He made me laugh and we decided to go on together for the next 13 miles! He had injured his knee falling off the mud wall and was walking fast at best. We calculated that it would take us about 8h to complete and we pushed through the dense forest. Endless trails opened as far as the eyes could see, pretty surreal! The landscape was boringly mesmerizing. We did not meet anybody for the next 3h, not a soul. We got lost at one point, because we were so busy talking we missed a turn and walked/jogged another 5 miles until we realized our mistake! I thought he would start crying….and me too!

At this stage my legs were hurting badly and I was getting really annoyed with the whole thing. We would talk a lot for 30mns then would not say a word for an hour, then would resume....it was weird, kind of a survival mode. At one point he told me he could see the parking lot with cars and that that was great! We had made it...but all I could see at the horizon was a large pond with ducks in there…I did not know what to say ..he kept talking about it, really excited...until he realized he was hallucinating! It was hilarious. I am sure the forest still echoes from my laugh!

Next I saw a house which was not a house but a large boulder and we laughed again. It was getting serious!  We finally found the aid station at mile 28,  volunteers were excited to see us ..and told us it was almost over, another 3 miles on the easiest portion of the trail. We disappeared in the woods, anxious to get it over with and after 45 mns we saw volunteers perched on a big rock and screaming at us that we had made it, it was almost over and a big crowd was waiting for us..

We came out the woods sprinting ( for the crowd and the photographs..), and saw 5 persons waiting for us at the finish.. The parking lot was literally empty...people had probably already showered and were taking their naps..! but it did not matter, we did not give up and we made it...in 9h 04mns 40s!   Of course we were among the last ones to arrive!

I will never race this one again but I would maybe try an easier one some day...just to see how it is. The distance is not really scary...it is more the frustration of not being able to run normally, always scared of getting injured.

By the way my ankle was so swollen the next days...it was unbelievable!

Kelly I don`t know how you do it so well..