DumbAss 50K

Today was the first of what is sure to become an Annual or even Semi-Annual Epic "Fun" Run on Tiger Mt. I can't wait until the summer edition (stupid Western). I'm sure it'll be stretched to a 50 miler or maybe a 12 hour. Wahoo!


When I first heard of the Dumb Ass I knew I'd like it but I also knew I wasn't in any shape to make 2-3 loops let alone 5. So I ran it a few times and dragged Shawn , Tc, and even Jenn along for some shared "fun".


We were lucky and the gate was opened early so we were able to park in the upper lot. We started at 7 in the dark. I guess some people forgot to bring a light. I didn't see them. The RD, mid-sentence, said it's 7 am go. I sprinted out to get ahead of the huge crowd. I was in first place for about a mile. Sam and Brock got tired of following me. I asked them if they knew where they were going. Someone said something like sort of or I've run here before. OK? Then just as we turned off the Nook Shela got me good and I ended up half down into the ravine. Luckily Bruce was there to help me back up onto the trail. Shela 1 /me 0, but I got her back later with a snowball. As soon I started the real climbing I knew it was going to be a long day. My climbing legs had no energy and felt heavy. It was as if I was wearing my 20 lb pack from last weekend. By the time I started down the back side Shawn, Don, Sam, Brock, and Bruce were way out of site and there was a herd of runners coming up behind me. Going down was much more fun, real fun, not stab the back of your hand with a fork fun. I was tight and not floating down like I usually do. As I'm running the home stretch into the A/S I see Shawn coming back the other way, 3-4 minutes ahead of me.



The second lap was very similar to the first. It was light out so the pace was a little faster but the climb felt exactly the same as the first time. Chris passed me on the way up and the snow was even more slippery. I was able to cruise down hill a lot more easily the second time. I passed Chris back on the way down. I also stared getting Calf and Shin cramps that would get progressively worse as the laps went on.

Lap 3 Chris and I passed each other same as Lap 2. The uphill was much harder than the first 2 laps. I came across Jane on her second lap.



I thought I would never make it up the hill on lap 4. I think few times it was 3 steps up 1 step back. By the time I got back down to the bottom I guess I had forgotten how hard it was on the way up, because there was no doubt that I would be going out for a fifth lap.
Lap five was the same as 4 but I had to stop more to stretch out my cramps.
All day I kept thinking, where is everybody. My goal time was 7:30. I ran a 7:55, considering how I felt at the start of the day, I'm pretty happy with that.