North Face Endurance Challenge 50K

My First Ultra Marathon!
The North Face Endurance Challenge 50k (June 4, 2011 - Sterling, Va.)

Quote of the Race: Paramedic 1: Looks at Paramedic 2 with great confusion and concern while taking blood pressure reading.
Paramedic 2 to Paramedic 1: "It's okay, that is normal for 'these people,'" after seeing Jenny's finish line blood pressure of 100 (systolic) over 65 (diastolic).

RACE STATS:
Location - Sterling, Virginia (Washington D.C. area)
Cost - $75 to $110 for 50K based on sign up date. More for 50 mile and less for all other distances. See website here.
Year of Running - 4th year at this location.
Sponsor/Race Directors - The North Face, Gortex, Jeep, Nuun, Gu, and various local sponsors.
Charity - Karno Kids, Challenged Athletes Foundation, Leave no Trace, Bonneville Enviromental Foundation and runners have option to run for their own cause/beneficiary.
Number of Participants - 325 finishers (50K), 211 finishers (50 mile), 199 finishers (marathon).
Available Races - 50 Mile, 50K, Marathon, Marathon relay, Half Marathon, 10K, 5K and kid's race spread during two days.
Course Condition - Mostly single and double track trails. Little or no pavement surface. Moderate to advanced technical trail with some steep inclines and declines involving switchbacks, rocks, gravel, mud, stream crossings, tree stumps, and lots of dirt/sand!
Pace Groups - N/A. Pacers are allowed for 50 mile participants toward the end.
Expo - Not really. Packet Pickup is held at the North Face retail store in Georgetown.

ORGANIZATION, SUPPORT & SPECTATORS: - Great! I felt The North Face did an excellent job for this event. Everything from registration to packet pickup to getting home after the race went smoothly for us and as described on the event website. Race organizers described the event accurately on the website and made available a super informative and environmentally friendly race package downloadable in .PDF format. They also didn't provide any plastic bags upon packet pickup and encouraged participants to bring their own reusable bags to promote a message of sustainability. Everything seemed simple and easy as it should.
Support was adequate if not above par for a trail race. Aid stations were well stocked, manned and seemed to be placed at "just right" distances along the course. Volunteers and organizers were visually "in touch" with each other using radios and cell phones and I witnessed paramedics along the course multiple times.
Due to the nature of the course spectators are very limited to access. There's an area in Great Falls Park where there were hundreds of spectators camped out and then also at the finish line, but that's about it. A few times I came upon day hikers that looked more confused about the runners than anything else. In my opinion it was just right for a trail race.


ACCESSIBILITY:
Not bad at all. Instructions regarding this were very clear in the race package. As instructed we arrived at an offsite parking lot and were easily taken into the park to the start line in a school bus. The location of this race is accessible from multiple airports including Dulles International, Regan International and Washington/Baltimore International. We had family members to give us a ride, but there are plenty of car rentals available. I'm not sure if the Metro goes close to the start line. I'm guessing it does not.


SWAG:
Awesome! The North Face is one of my favorite apparel companies for a number of reasons, mainly because their high quality products and their corporate responsibility. Depending on the distance each participant races they receive some or all of the the following swag with each registration: The North Face Technical running T-shirt, The North Face arm warmers, The North Face water bottle, personalized bib number and timing chip, hot meal ticket and finisher's medal. Living up to their environmental friendliness, The North Face asks that runners bring their own reusable bags to packet pickup instead of giving out hundreds of plastic bags that will end up in landfills or worse.


POST RACE AWARDS & FOOD:
Yummy! Each participant gets a meal voucher. The meal was catered with several options for hot meals. We also received and used our vouchers for a free beer that tasted oh so good! There was also the normal bagels, bananas, water, etc., as much as you want. The post race awards were held on a small stage and done in an appropriate manner. There was an "ice bath" area with multiple tubs, horse troughs, buckets and coolers full of ice water. Runners could chose how much icing they prefer. Paramedics were standing by at the finish line in case anyone needed help. Multiple venders/sponsors also had display tents around the finish area.

MY RACE STORY:
Welcome to my first 50 kilometer race! I should probably write a disclaimer at the bottom of this warning "do not try this at home." I really don't recommend anyone go about their first ultra marathon the way I did. Buy a book, get a training plan and follow the route that experts recommend. However, for entertainment value only; here is what I did. Please also keep in mind that Jenny actually trained for this race correctly with several long runs in access of 26-miles and a proper taper, but that's her story.
Most of the winter and spring since the Donna Half Marathon was spent recovering from my nagging and ongoing Achilles Tendinitis that has plagued me for two years now. After the half marathon I continued getting weekly treatment at a chiropractic clinic and by doing physical therapy. All this meant no real long runs, speed training, hills or anything abusive or interesting. Jenny's goal since her 35th birthday was to run 35 miles at one time. This spells ultra marathon all of it. She started training for it before picking a race. When it came time to decide upon a race it was looking like the final contenders were a trail race in North Carolina or a trail race in northern Virginia (The North Face). At that time (only a couple months) I decided that it would be a good idea for me to also participate in said ultra marathon. I mean, surely I should be able to come up with a strategy only focused on finishing without injury and still be able to finish, right?
When I told Jenny she looked extremely concerned. With some effort and reassuring I "think" I was able to get her to not worry about me and focus on her own race as this race is about her more than me.
In the few weeks leading up to the race I was able to get in a couple long runs, but nothing longer than 11 miles. Mixed into that was the Bay to Breakers 12K race, which my cousin and I actually ran at a respectable pace. I also concentrated on running a lot of 5-and 6-mile runs during the weeks leading up to the 50k. Thinking back, this was completely insufficient and naive for ultra marathon training. Other than being completely retarded my major concern was further injuring my Achilles tendon. It's an overuse issue with me and it seems to get angry every time I increase my mileage so this ultra was in part an experiment to see what the minimum amount of training I could do without injuring myself, but still being able to finish. Yes, I know. I'm stupid.
Fast forward to race day!
We arrive ultra early (it is an ultra) and the sun is rising over the Potomac River. The air is cold and I can see my breath. There is steam fog rising across the glassy water of the river. Just last week temperatures in the metro D.C. area were topping out in the upper 80s and I'm thankful for this unusually cool weather for this time of year. Jenny is covered in goosebumps as we wait in line for the bathrooms. We stretch. We eat. We check in our bags. We eat some more and then we wait near the start line trying to stay warm. Jenny sees some rays of light and moves into the grassy patch of sunlight. I see that she is standing right next to Dean Karnazes and I do not follow. She is looking right at him nearly 6-feet away and doesn't recognize him. He is a small man. Shorter than you'd think until you see him. Jenny looks back at me like I'm insane for not sharing the warm sunlight with her. Then she looks again at Dean. Her face slowly changes from confusion to "oh my God," as she realizes who he is and she hurries back to where I'm standing. The entire situation causes me to laugh out loud. While we respect Dean for the good that he does for the sport, charities and how well he markets himself, we've never really been a fan of his ever since watching his documentary.
A few speeches are made. A few hundred runners that would be considered crazy by an average Joe gather around the start line. Finally, a feeling of "this is completely normal" is in the air around me. An air horn sounds and we're off just as the 50-milers started two hours before and as the marathoners will start two hours later. It's simple. It's easy actually. I tell myself that my only mission is to keep a constant state of forward motion no matter what happens.
Starting only a few dozen runners back, I'm tall enough to see the lead runners blazing down the trail at a pace that would kick my ass in only a couple miles. It's crowded the first few miles. The trail is double track at the most and each time we happen upon a narrow section it bottlenecks slightly, but eventually it thins as everyone settles into their own comfortable paces. I run with Jenny for about two miles in the crowd. It's very apparent that she wants to start passing people and run a faster pace. I tell her to go kick some ass as my strategy is much more reserved. For the next two or three miles I keep catching glimpses of Jenny ahead in the distance, but soon she is gone.
My strategy is a simple one. Run 5-miles. Then walk 1-mile and then repeat until finish. The idea is to sustain a respectable pace without injuring myself. My brilliant plan works for about, oh, I don't know, two or three miles and then is blown out of the water when we encounter our first large hill. It's single track at this point and all the runners in front of me start walking up it. Apparently, their strategy is different than mine and there's no good way to pass them at this point. As I start to walk and realize how damn steep this hill really is I decide that their strategy is far more superior than mine. Yes, walking all the steep hills is definitely the way to go. If I ran up this sucker my legs would be trashed in no time! We sure as hell don't have any hills like this in Florida!
The race continues on and I'm amazed at how friendly the people running around me our. Small talk and conversation commence. One guy is running his first ultra just like me only the longest other race he's ever ran is a half marathon. The runners thin out after the first aid station 5 or 6 miles in and soon I've got lots of breathing room around me. I turn on my iPod and start jamming out to some tunes. I start eating my Sports Beans. Before the race I dumped two packages (24 count) in my pockets and decided that after mile 6 or 7 I would eat one each time my Garmin indicated another mile ran. It is my reward. My pockets are bulging with all these beans and lots of other nutrition. It's hard to imagine that by the end of the race it will all be gone.
At around the 10 mile mark (I think) I start to see 50-mile runners heading back. It's the leaders! The first guy is all alone. Then I see two guys a few hundred meters behind. Then I see a face I recognize. There's a friend of Jenny and mine that is part of the Florida Track Club named Andy Robinson. He's super friendly and happens to be super fast as well. I'm not sure if it's really him so I don't say anything. Who ever it is he's only a few minutes off the leader and he's looking strong with only 10 miles to go after running about 40. Amazing!
The North Face uses ribbons tied to tree branches to mark the trail. Each event distance has a different color. As long as you see the color of the race you are running you are on the right trail. At first there's a ton of ribbons at each marker. As we progress they start disappearing. At the aid station near what would be the half marathon distance there's only three ribbons left; marathon, 50k and 50-mile. This aid station is in the Great Falls Park and it's where the marathoners will turn around. It's also the most accessible spot for spectators on the course. From here we go into the park and run a loop. Those 50-mile freaks run the loop multiple times before heading back. After running 13 miles of trail it's nice to see civilization again. People are cheering us on, there's tons of food and drink to be had at the aid station and the weather is still good. As I leave the aid station I notice only two ribbons remain, mine and the 50-mile color.
"Wow, I'm really doing this," I say to myself.
I'm officially beyond the marathoners, which just seems nuts to me at the time.
I'm not tired yet and I've done a great job of pacing myself. I know from the topo maps that there's some crazy hills ahead of me. I create a mantra at this point to tell myself again and again until the end of the race.
"Forward....forward....forward!"
It's simple. It's true and it's easy. I must continue forward at all costs.
Great Falls Park is absolutely beautiful. I'm not sure why I never visited this place when I lived up this way. The trail is anything but boring. There are tree stumps and boulders to jump over, creeks and mud puddles to avoid or cross and the river is heavy with rapids. At one point I'm so in awe of the view I start going the wrong way. The guy that is running his first ultra follows me and a woman behind us yells we're going the wrong way and saves disaster. Part of the loop requires runners to go on a short out and back before rejoining the second half of the loop. During this section I see Jenny running back. She looks strong. I yell "hey Jenny" as she almost doesn't see me. We turn as we pass each other. She says she's good and I tell her I'm fine. I also tell her I think I saw Andy Robinson. At this point Jenny is about 15 minutes ahead of me.
I make it back to the aid station at the park and with the loop behind me it's time to start heading back, but first I decide to refill my hydration pack and change my socks. I anticipated that changing my socks would help avoid blisters and perhaps make my feet feel better. It's an old hiking trick I've used in the past on all day hikes. This takes me about five minutes and then I'm back on the trail and still feeling strong.
It's about 5-miles or so until the next aid station. The air temperature is quickly warming up at this point. I'm also doing the math in my head and at my current pace I might be able to beat 6 hours. I don't have a time goal, but that sure sounds good for my first ultra and at this point I'm feeling way better than I thought I would and there's no hints of impending injury. I decide it will be a good idea to pick up the pace a little. Hell, maybe I'll even run up a hill.
All goes well for a few miles and then I discover I'm low on water. In fact, I'm freaking out of water! Hydration pack status = EMPTY. According to Mr. Garmin it looks like I've got about two more miles to the aid station. I guess I'm at around mile 23 or 24ish where I should be hitting "the wall" in a marathon situation. Only thing is, I'm not hitting a wall. I'm just thirsty. REALLY thirsty. My body confirms this with my first cramp. It happens in my left calf muscle. It's not what I call a full on "Charlie horse" style cramp, but more of a mild "you can still run, but I'm going to speak to you with each step," type cramp. I've been carrying with me a package of Shot Blok 3X Sodium that is Margarita flavored.
"Why the hell not," I ask myself as I tear into it and start eating the little gummy cubes one by one. It's hard to take Shot Bloks without water and it's definitely not recommended, but for my plight it beats the alternative. I soon start to feel better and I have to admit I'm now a believer in Shot Bloks.
I finally reach the aid station and refill my hydration pack and force myself to eat some food. I start running again and now I'm officially past the "marathon" distance. It's a bizarre feeling that I don't think I can describe with words. For so much of my life I felt that marathoners were crazy and that 26.2 miles was the ultimate distance. I never imagined that I would run a marathon. Then I did one. Then I did another. Then I felt that ultra-marathoners were crazy and that I'd never do one. Well, I must be crazy because now I'm passing 27 miles and looking for 31.
Miles 28, 29, 30 and 31 are surreal. I seem to lose perspective of time. I tell myself forward, forward, FORWARD, but it's slow going. I hit a series of "mini walls" and find ways to get past them. At the last aid station with two miles to go I ask "how much further," and upon hearing the answer I confidently say, "I can do that!" With two miles left I don't think food is going to do me much good. I take some water and dump it on my head and start running, or at least trying to run.
I become somewhat irrationally emotional with myself in the last couple miles. Everything seems to blur together. At one point there's a small levy with about 6-inches of water slowly flowing across the top. It's about 100 feet long. There's a wooden bridge off to the right that most runners use to cross. A girl in front of me that is running the marathon distance runs straight through the water. I weight my options. If I go to the bridge that will require two steps up and two steps down. If I run through the levy my shoes will be soaking wet. I'll take soaking wet shoes over two steps up and two steps down at this point. I charge through the water splashing wildly and it feels refreshing on my legs.
With less than a half mile to go I can see the parking lot and finish line. Just before the finish line I see Jenny walking with her father. They have their backs to me as I approach. At this point I actually start crying a little bit. I'm really going to finish a 50K! Jenny turns around and sees me. She yells my name and jumps up and down. I run up to them and start walking next to them to chat. It's wild to think I'm 100 yards to the finish line and I'm walking and it doesn't bother me one bit. Jenny has just finished doing an additional 4-miles after finishing to accomplish her goal of running 35 miles for turning 35-years-old. I hand her my camera (yes, I carried my camera with me) and she runs ahead to get a picture of me crossing the finish line.
I approach the finish line and they announce my name. By now it's about 80 degrees and I'm ready to finish! I cross the finish line and I'm all alone. It's amazing how spread out runners get over 50 kilometers. A couple of paramedics ask me a few questions, determine that other than being crazy I'm physically ok and then I'm awarded my finisher medal, given a North Face water bottle and released into the finish area.
In retrospect, I didn't beat 6-hours as the last 10 miles were incredibly slow for me, but I did accomplish my real goals. I finished an ultra marathon and I did not injury myself. Jenny and I would also learn that it really was Andy Robinson that ran past me earlier in the race. We didn't see him again that day, but later learned he took 4th place in the 50-mile race. See his recap on his blog here.


My official stats:
145th out of 229 male finishers
48th in my age division (30-39) out of 78 (ouch!)
Chip Time: 6:46:37
Average pace: 13:03
The North Face Endurance Challenge 50K TallGuySurfing grade = A




And I'll close with a few pictures!


My nutrition that I carried along with me. Here's a list of what I actually consumed during the race:
4 Gu energy gels
2 whole bananas
1 orange
An unknown amount of potato chips
An unknown amount of pretzels
2 packages of Sport Beans
1 whole package of Shot Blok 3x Sodium
1 hydration pack full of Gu Brew (2 tablets)
2 hydration packs full of water
2 cups of Gu Brew per aid station
1 bagel (Blueberry flavor)
1 gulp of Mountain Dew (I thought it was Gu Brew!)

Steam fog on the Potomac before the race start

Jenny and I just before the start

Seconds before the start

Dean says a few words at the start

Brooks Cascadias!

And we're off! (I had the Karate Kid running behind me for a while)

On trail!

Across creeks

Along the river

Only two ribbons left (50K and 50 Mile)

Great Falls Park

Absolutely beautiful!

Running on the edge!

Finishing my first ultra marathon!

Warrior Dash 2011

Central Florida Warrior Dash (Lake Wales) - Jan. 29-30

Quote of the Race: "I'm never doing this again!" - Jenny after crossing the finish line covered head to toe in mud.

RACE STATS:
Location - Triple Canopy Ranch in Lake Wales, Florida. Also in 27 other locations in North America and Australia.
Cost - $40 pre-registration ($30 if you Google search "promo code for Warrior Dash" and find one that works like we did!) or $50-$60 day of race.
Year of Running - Unknown, but I've heard of it for at least a year or two.
Sponsor/Race Directors - Red Frog Events Production
Charity - Not sure. This venue is out to make a buck. That being said, they do collect your unwanted muddy shoes after the race to be donated to a charity or recycled. I think I also saw something about volunteers and fund raising on the website.
Number of Participants - 6,394 on Saturday. 5,159 on Sunday. Total - 11,553
Available Races - 3.02-mile mud-trail run with 11 obstacles (distance varies upon location).
Course Condition - Take a sandbox and fill it with mud and water. Pack your shoes full of mud and get them soaked to the point they weight three times as much as normal. Now run, crawl and jump your way through that box of mud with 600 friends and that's your course condition.
Pace Groups - N/A
Expo - N/A Packet pickup is day of race and they recommend being an hour early.

ORGANIZATION, SUPPORT & SPECTATORS:
Red Frog Productions definitely has their act together when it comes to moving as many participants as possible through this course while keeping the entertainment value at its max. It's the type of event you see, do the math in your head and say "damn I wish I was behind this money making machine!" By providing an awesome event venue mixed with alcohol and music and a moderately challenging race course to the average person they've created an excellent adventure for the weekend warrior-type. Packet pick up was easy and well organized. The only hiccup I observed was a seeming significant number of participants, including one in my group of nine, found incorrect information about themselves in their packets. My friend was placed in the wrong age division (younger) and told to go to a different tent to have it corrected. That tent happened to have the longest line anywhere (even longer than the beer tent!). We arrived 1 hour early as recommended, but didn't have time for that line so my friend ran the race in a younger age division.
The race is organized into waves starting every 30 minutes with about 600 runners each. There is adequate support with an aid station near the halfway point (mile 1.5) with water. Bananas and water are provided at the finish line.
Spectators have a blast at this race lining the course along the final two obstacles -- several rows of fire that participants jump over and a long trench of mud with real barbwire hanging only inches above the water forcing participants to practically swim through the mud. I did not investigate if spectators are allowed to venture out onto the course at any other points and I did not notice anyone along the course other than volunteers. Regardless, the party is near the finish line.
I found that the event website was very informative and that Red Frog Productions executed exactly what was described on the website.

ACCESSIBILITY:
The Central Florida event is located on a ranch near the city of Lake Wales. You definitely need a car to get here. It's about an hour south of Orlando (nearest International Airport) and was about a 2.5-hour drive from Daytona Beach, Florida. Parking was limited on the event grounds and cost $10 per car cash only, which was slightly steep and annoying. A $5 fee would have seemed more appropriate and less greedy by organizers. Upon reflection, this event is not very handicap friendly as well.

SWAG:
Warrior Dash gets kudos in this department. This race definitely takes the old "I'll do anything for a t-shirt" mentality to a new level by providing each participant with a "Warrior hat" that looks like a viking helmet with horns. They also give out cotton T-shirts. We found that the extra large t-shirts were better quality than all the smaller sizes. This is because they were a gray color while the others were plain white and probably more subject to shrinkage after washing. Other swag included bib numbers, timing chip and the normal various coupons and marketing material.

POST RACE AWARDS & FOOD:
Now that everyone is covered in mud at the finish line it is time to party! Every finisher gets a medal (of average quality) and the opportunity to take a mass shower. I found that Muddy Buddy (a Competitor event similar to Warrior Dash) has them beat hands down in the washing off department. Warrior Dash was nothing more than a large waterfall that participants walked through like a car wash and tried to rub off the mud. Muddy Buddy provides designer shampoo and conditioner at the washing stations. Later we learned there were showers on the ranch located near the camping section, but this seemed to be a secret at the finish line. The best part of the post race party was the beer. All participants (ages 21-and-up) get one free beer. It was Budweiser or Bud Light. Not my favorite, but I guess fitting for a mud event. It still tasted good given the situation. As for food, we brought our own preferred food in coolers in our vehicles. From what I observed they were selling large turkey legs designed to really make you look like a warrior if eating off the bone while wearing the viking helmet although probably not the diet of choice for most athletes.


MY RACE STORY:
This was my race. Those are the words Jenny said to me as we discussed strategy in the race corral a few minutes before starting. I had talked her into this and recruited friends to run with us and she was letting me know that I should run it anyway I like. Yup, this is not her cup of tea. Eleven obstacles in only 3-miles means not much time to set a pace and cruise. Instead there will be interruptions to the pace every few hundred yards. To some that could mean more opportunity for injuries. For me, it's just plain old boyish excitement. Almost like free running or psychotic Fartlet workouts.
The start horn sounded and instead of fireworks, huge blasts of fire irrupted from the start line. As we shuffled near the start line (in true misfit fashion our entire party of 9 was at the back of the 600-person wave) three of us started the weaving and zigzagging required to pass slower runners and increase our pace. Each time we passed people we'd hear them laughing at our outfits. It was action and reaction! About a half mile into the race the first obstacle came into sight. It was a long mud pit nothing more than a jeep trail full of water. Thinking back at my southern redneck roots I automatically knew it would be deepest in the tire ruts. Sure enough, the runner in front of me falls head first into the water after stepping in the spot that the right tire would hit on a 4x4. I immediately stepped to the right and ran the edge of the water and this allowed me to pass about 20 runners. I went with this strategy for the rest of the race. Simply watch the runners in front of you approaching the obstacle and formulate a plan of attack before reaching it based on the line they take and what happens to them. After racing Muddy Buddy I knew from experience I didn't want to be held up by people in front of me rather than the obstacle itself.
After the first mile it was less crowded and I was alone with the rest of our group somewhere behind me. The obstacles start blurring together. My shoes are super heavy from being soaked and undoubtedly full of sand and mud. For only being a few minutes into a short distance race I'm feeling surprisingly winded. It's gotta be the obstacles I tell myself. They're not hard obstacles, but it's definitely different than running a race at one pace the entire time.
Of all the obstacles the funniest one occurred around the halfway point. It was an incline plank that required balance to run up to a 6-foot high wall with a rope net connecting it to another wall 20-feet or so away. Beyond the second wall was another horizontal rope net leading to a final wall with another plank sloping back down to the ground. I watched the runners in front of me. They went right so I decided to go left. As I reached the first rope net instinct told me to jump into it with my body remaining horizontal and roll across rather than trying to step on the rope and climb across. This was absolutely brilliant as I passed the two runners on the right side of the obstacle in the first rope net. When I reached the second wall I flung my body over it without regard and began rolling across it again. Now for the unexpected. . .
When I reached the bottom of the second rope net I collided with a soft mass at the deepest point. I soon realized it was a body. I was immediately confused. There had been no one ahead of me on the left side of the obstacle as I approached it seconds ago. I was sure I picked a clear line to attack. Then I realized it was a woman. It was a large (obese) woman and she was laying there as if stuck. She wasn't even trying to move! She had made this obstacle into her own personal hammock! She must have been from the wave that started before our wave.
"Oh.... I'm so sorry! I didn't see you here," I said as I was practically laying on top of her. "Are you ok?"
"Yeah," she quietly said.
Not knowing what the hell to do I decided it best to keep moving in the fastest way possible, which of course, was to keep on rolling. I rolled right across her apologizing the entire way and worked my way over the last wall and down the plank. At the base was another large woman yelling some kind of ill-received encouragement to her friend to keep moving. I ran as fast as I could to get away from that obstacle.
By the end of the race I was fairly winded. This surprised me. The obstacles take a little more out of you than you'd expect.
Jenny finished just behind me and as I went up to give her a hug you looked at me, mud dripping down all over her face, and said "I'm never doing this again, " in a disgusted tone.
It was priceless.
We all had a beer and laughed about it later. Warrior Dash is a fun event not to be taken too seriously. It's set up in a way that just about anyone can do it so it's great for groups of friends both large and small.
And by the way... I almost forgot to mention the Hooters outfits. One of my friends worked at Hooters many years ago during college (she now has an engineering degree and thinks teaching calculus if fun) and she was nice enough to allow most of our party (those willing) to wear a bunch of her old outfits. This put us into almost celebrity status amongst the crowd. I literally lost count of how many people asked to have their pictures taken with us.

Our Warrior Dash gang!

My official stats (Sunday results only):
307th out of 5,159 finishers
37th in my age division (30-34) out of 518 (top 7%)
Chip Time: 28:17
Average pace: 8:45
Central Florida Warrior Dash TallGuySurfing grade = B+

No love from Ogden Marathon RD

What's up with all these races selling out in record time? Is it that more people are taking up running (or dare I say jogging)? Is it a cheap thing to do in a bad economy or recession? Are the unemployed taking out their frustrations by running races? Are more people really living a healthier lifestyle? Or is the "marathon" experience simply just a trend that is popular right now?

Regardless of the reason it's a fact; more and more marathon races are filling to capacity at speeds now requiring the persistence of a Guns n Roses fan trying to get concert tickets in the 1980s or a gamer waiting for the newest Xbox or Playstation to be released.

ARrrrrrggggghhhhh.... I'm frustrated.

It seems each time we come up with an awesome plan it's destroyed by a race being sold out. First, Jenny qualifies for the Boston Marathon only to learn that the 2011 race sold out in hours the week before her qualifying race and now she has to wait until 2012. Then, we devise the running adventure of adventures for this summer only to learn that Ogden Marathon in Utah is sold out leaving us completely out of luck for the "middle" race of the planned 3-race-3-weekend adventure.

I'm determined not to give up easily at this "wall" we've hit. I decided to write the race organizers to see if they'd take a human interest story in us or perhaps bend the rules. Perhaps we could raise money for their charity or something?

Maybe my letter didn't fall in the right hands, but the following correspondence shows that there's not much love coming from the land of Mormons.

Dear Ogden Marathon Race Director,

My girlfriend, Jenny XXXXX, and myself, TallGuySurfing, are avid runners. To live up to the stereotype of "being crazy" we run a few marathons each year. We always try and make an adventure out of it and at the same time give it some kind of purpose. Last year we raised nearly $2,000 for American Heart Association independently and then traveled from Florida to Washington to run the Seattle Rock 'n' Roll Marathon. We are not professional, not sponsored and nothing more than mere mid-packers having a good time. I'm a journalist turned Realtor and Jenny is a clinical dietitian.
This year during the holidays we created an adventure surely to out rank anything prior and would possibly be newsworthy to the right audience. While searching the Internet on Christmas morning looking at race websites we noticed that the 100th running of the Bay to Breakers 12k race in San Francisco and the BoulderBOULDER 10k race in Boulder, Colorado, are only two weeks and 1,286 miles apart. Both of these are bucket list races in our opinion even if they are not marathon distances. Jennifer is part of an all female running team named "Hot Legs" that has won the all-female overall place in several long distance relay races (Central Florida Ragnar and Sunset to Sunrise) and it just so happens that many of the Hot Legs will being going to Boulder for that race on May 30.
If you're still reading at this point you are probably asking yourself, "well, all that's great, but what does this have to do with Ogden?"
Well, the answer is simple. We are marathon runners and while we'd like to check those two races off our bucket lists, we'd also like to run a marathon in May. At first we were trying to decide which one to do and which one to put off another year. Then we saw it. Ogden Marathon shinning brighter and bigger than ever with all its glory! Set for May 21 (the weekend between B2B and BB) in beautiful Utah with an epic course like we've never seen before right smack dab in the middle between San Francisco and Boulder. When we realized the possibility Jenny immediately started jumping up and down with excitement while I remained somewhat reserved knowing there are so many factors to consider (I was secretly and silently jumping up in down with excitement in my mind).
The original plan/idea:

*Fly from Florida to San Francisco. Meet friends. Run Bay to Breakers. Rent car.
*Spend the week driving east across California and Nevada camping along the way.
*Run Ogden Marathon while taking in the sites, sounds and beauty.
*Spend following week driving across Utah, Wyoming & Colorado to Boulder
*Run BoulderBOULDER with Hot Legs and gang.
*Document and photograph EVERYTHING!
*Fly home, go back to work and be sore and happy!

Doesn't that sound truly amazing? I immediately started thinking of publications I could pitch the story to assignment editors with the hopes of someone giving me an opportunity to get back into the journalism game. We aren't looking for sponsors, but I think we would at least make a good human interest story.

Jenny and I tossed around the idea for the rest of the Christmas weekend brainstorming different ideas and by Monday it seemed like it could actually work.
Fast forward to today (the next holiday weekend where we have time off to plan our "craziness") and we hit our first real snag. Ogden is sold out, as you know. Sometimes I hate Runner's World. Like a surf magazine giving away the location of an epic surf break (surfing is my other passion) this running magazine has put the spot light on your race bringing the masses, which of course is good, but bad for those of us not aware this was going to happen.

The question we have for you is simple. Will you or can you please make an exception for us knowing what we plan to do? It does not appear this adventure can happen without Ogden. There aren't many other marathons on May 21 in Utah or surrounding areas and none have the allure of Ogden. Please, please give this some consideration. Jenny and I would be willing to raise money for your charity. We'd be willing to volunteer the day before at the expo. We'd consider anything at this point. We're two skinny little runners that don't take up much space and wouldn't be in anyone's way.

We hope you have a Happy New Year and hope to see you in 2011 at the mid-point of our running adventure!

Sincerely from Florida,
TallGuySurfing (I used our real names in the actual letter)


Here's the response I received a week later (at least they responded)

Hi Sylvan,

It sound like an exciting plan! Our half and full marathons are sold out but you can still register for a relay team and that can be up to five people. No one has to exit the marathon course when they finish their leg so you can finish together too. If you would be interested in doing that please go to www.ogdenmarathon.com to sign up.

Thank you,

Bree Montgomery

GOAL Foundation (P) 801-399-1773

bree@goalfoundation.com

After reading that I somehow felt like I was just sent a stock letter they are using to send everyone inquiring about the race being sold out. Still determined to break through the wall, I responded with:

Bree,

Thanks for your response regarding our inquiry. We simply cannot afford to pay the relay price for two individuals to run the full marathon at Ogden. Is there anyway you can open up some full positions in the race and take some away from the relay since there is more demand for the full distance than a relay race?

Sincerely,
TallGuySurfing

This time I got a response within a few hours, but my hopes were shattered by what I read:

Hi Sylvan,

I’m sorry but our half and full marathon sold out within 5 and 14 days it was a record for us to sell out so fast.

Sincerely,

Bree Montgomery

Apparently I'm still hitting the wall on this one.

This is a real shame. I was really stoked about this race. I was really hoping to bust a move and stage a return to journalism with this adventure idea, but now the keystone has been yanked. Now I have a sour taste in my mouth and I'll probably pass up Ogden Marathon in future years for other races.
The only thing left that I can think of is to continue with our plans, but instead run the course the day before or the day after their race with no support (being a bandit is below me and surely illegal). It's a free country and I don't see anything wrong with running 26.2 miles down a public road. And besides, for the amount it costs for two people to register I'm sure we can hire a driver to drive us to the start, drop us off and probably even make some water drops along the way. Then we would be free on race day to volunteer for the actual race if powers-that-be at Ogden Marathon would allow or would they turn us away as volunteers too?
If professionally sponsored runners like Dean Karnazes can get credit for running marathons on race courses on days other than the actual race day and do good in promoting the sport then so can we!