Friday, March 12, 2010

Old Pueblo 50 Miler Race Report

From Jan, who placed first in her age group with a time of 11:28:16:

I ran Old Pueblo in southern Arizona. A classic rugged, rocky (like running over apple-sized rocks everywhere), and hilly event. There were stream crossings, sometimes the stream was the trail, some genuine single track with tall grasses on the sides, mining roads that were very eroded, a couple of long uphills (not to be confused with the the regular hills). Check out the elevation profile on the site. It was very beautiful, of course, the Santa Rita mountains were right there and all covered with snow, but the catch was you risked injury by looking up. I bonked a little, but finished happily in the top half of the pack. I drove there the day before, camped at the trail head and just enjoyed being outside. A totally different feel than a marathon.
Jan also adds this tip for those on LONG runs/races: If feeling sluggish or tired, try falling. Preferably downhill on scree. The scrapes are a great pick me up and will keep you alert for the rest of the event and for the whole drive home.

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