Rockin' K 50-Mile Trail Run, 1st Saturday
in April, 2002
I had a pretty fun time at the
Rockin' K 50-miler on Saturday. Many of
the
50-mile competition dropped out due to 50 mile-per-hour winds.
The
lightweights. No, honest...it seemed like anyone under
140 lbs
was
blown away. Some opted for the marathon finish, instead. All of
us
received (an appropriate) wind shirt, and a finisher's horseshoe.
The course is hilly, and has
multiple stream crossings, four of which were
up to my
thigh. There were about 5 miles of sand, (but it was pretty
sand),
in yellow and orange hues; as if that makes a difference. I
would
rate it (on a non-windy day): very much easier than Voyageur and
harder
than Quivering Quads.
I actually really enjoyed this
one. The first 25 miles I was feeling
just OK,
not marvelous, believe me. The second half, I felt great--
even
though the wind had picked-up and it had gotten colder. I was
passing
rocks & trees like they were standing still. On the second
half, I
got into a sort of zen trance; I enjoyed the scenery
immensely,
and was awestruck by the beauty of the prairie and
canyons.
I seemed to be getting stronger and faster toward the end.
I had a strong finish and felt I
could have run another ten hours. I
ran a
BadBen