Harbison 50K: Race Report

Around the first weekend in January Caitlin and I try to make a trip to Columbia, SC to see our friends Brent and Nicole. The Harbison 50k is conveniently located about 5 minutes down the street from their apartment on the same weekend. Early on New Years day I grabbed one of the final spots available for the race, committing myself to another ultra only two weeks off my last.

 Brent "Today's my birthday" Lewis

Typically I space my racing out quite a lot. I finished the Lookout Mountain 50 with a feeling that maybe I couldn't have run any faster, but I certainly could have ran harder. As time moved on I became increasingly unsatisfied with how I ran that day, thinking that I really didn't do myself justice and was just out there to play it safe. I knew coming into to this race that I wouldn't be in any better shape than I was a few weeks back, but I was going to lay it on the line from the start just to see what happens.

For the first three miles or so there was a group of five running together, with Aiden Cooper leading the way most of the time. Soon enough if it was down to Ryan Thompson, Cooper, and myself. I kept expecting the pace to settle in to something slower, but Aiden kept pushing the pace and I didn't want to let him get out of my sight. Throughout the last remaining miles of the first loop he'd bomb the downhills and Ryan and I would slowly reel him back in on the flats and hills. Finishing out loop one Ryan and I had a slight lead on Aiden and completed the loop in 1hr58min, well under course record pace. 

Just before finishing the first loop Ryan asked me how my legs felt. I said, "I'm feeling good!" Absolute lies. My legs were already toast and I was covered in sweat and salt. The warm temperatures I was looking forward to were coming back to bite me. I continued to hit the water and salty stuff as hard as my stomach would allow, but the damage was already done. I knew I was about to enter a world of hurt.

For lap 2 it was down to Ryan and myself. I had the lead for about a third of the way around the second loop, but lost it after pulling some trip/cramp/superman into a tree maneuver. Ryan was within 50ft or so a few times after this, though it was becoming increasingly apparent that this was to be his day and not mine. I hated that I had to fade back, it was really fun getting to run neck and neck as cooperatively as we did throughout so much of the race. I think we pushed each other to a much faster day than either of us could have run alone.

 Hitting the last aid station my legs were absolute toast, every slight incline felt like the side of a mountain and I couldn't make as much as a twisting motion without something somewhere cramping. The folks running the last aid station told me I was number 2, I told them I felt like it. Thompson had a 3 minute lead on me by now, I tried as hard as I could to close the gap to no avail. On every straight section I hoped to see his bright yellow shirt somewhere up ahead. No matter how hard I ran I couldn't reel him back in.

Thompson finished out the course just below the record in 4hr10min20sec, I shuffled in behind him in 4hr14min48sec. This was much faster than either of us probably anticipated running on this particular day. For me, this was certainly one of the hardest effort races I've ever had, which is exactly what I needed. On the first loop I decided that I'd rather have to walk the last ten miles than feel like I had something left in the tank at the end. This is a better mind set to start off a year with. There's no time for just going through the motions, playing it safe, and patting yourself on the back for a job well done. As the year wears on I hope we all hold on to whatever goals we set for ourselves, and I hope they're set just beyond the reach of what's currently possible.

Only being the second ultra venue I've had experience with my knowledge is pretty limited on the subject, but I do think this race is a good one for someone looking to run their first ultra. When looking at the course map initially I thought the course might feel a little confusing or overly circuitous with so many intersection and turns. This was not the case at all, it was easy to stay on course as long as you keep your eyes up and was a really fun course to run too. The aid stations are close together and extremely well stocked. In my opinion everything except a few miles late in the back half of the course are very runnable with good footing. The race director did an excellent job all around, but as long as I can get hot food and cold drinks at the end I'm pretty easy to please.