2019 Endless Summer 6-Hour

More Heat

Six years ago to the day I ran this race, though it was held in Quiet Waters Park that year, with high expectations and a goal to exceed the marathon distance. That goal was so set in my mind that I ignored all warning signs and continued to push to maintain my scheduled pace despite the unexpected small hills and the summer heat and sun. Needless to say, without going into great detail, it didn't take long for my goals to become unreachable and not long after that to be sitting at the aid station with the medical staff checking to be sure I was okay. Instead of it being my first ultra race, I finished with 16.6 miles and severe doubts that I was suited for these longer races.

This year my confidence is high once again based on solid training mileage including a couple 6-Hour races in the heat and a solid 50K performance with an age group best by almost 20 minutes. With the reminder of this race six years ago, I hope to avoid being over confident and making the same mistakes. A last minute announcement, well actually the day before, had me reworking all my pacing numbers and reevaluating my eating and drinking schedule. Instead of a 3.65 mile loop, it would be 4.369 miles certified. I was already at my hotel in Annapolis so I was stuck with only the two bottles for my vest, and two bottles wasn't enough at Loopy Bunny's 4.5 mile loop. There had been no mention of a water stop or aid station on the course, just the one at the start which we would pass after finishing each lap. It wasn't until I took a closer loop at the map that I realized the course looped back past the aid station at 1.1 miles. Fears relieved and issue resolved. Now the only problem was what to do for breakfast. The hotel breakfast started at 6:30 a.m., but I planned to leave for the race at 6:00 a.m.. My fall back plan was to look for a mini-mart where I could buy coffee and a bagel or Danish, but when I went to check out most of the breakfast fixings had already been set out, so I did get my coffee, a Danish, and a muffin there and ate while I drove to the race. Once there it seemed like old home week. I met up with two friends from RWOL days and saw at least four runners I knew from D3 (Dawn to Dusk to Dawn).

The race started a few minutes late, which was fine with me because the porta-potty lines were long and I barely finished in time to get to the start for the national anthem. I opted for a run three minutes, walk one minute pattern assuming the terrain did not dictate otherwise. There were two dips in the trail during the first mile where I felt walking up from the bottom was preferable, but that was only ten seconds or so of walking so for all practical purposes I ignored it. The only times I deviated from the pattern during the first four laps was after stopping at the aid station, then walking until I finished what I was eating, which was mostly PB&J sandwich sections. While individual miles times were erratic depending on when the walk breaks occurred and how long it took me to eat, Lap times were amazingly consistent at 58:21, 59:04, 58:03, and 58:36. When I stopped at the aid station at the end of the fourth lap, I felt a bit unsteady and it was getting very warm by this time. With no cloud cover and the course only partially shaded, I decided to was time to walk. Four laps put me at 17.476 miles, so my 20 mile minimum was well within reach with over two hours left. I was happy with that and was able to enjoy the course more the next lap. The course had been set up in the Greenbury Point Nature Center so there was a lot to see from views of the bay to osprey nests complete with osprey sitting in them, not to mention the butterflies and flowers. I took it easy at somewhere between 17 and 20 minutes per miles. Five laps gave me 21.8+ miles and that first loop of the course was 1.1 miles, so I decided 23 miles sounded like a nice number. Just to be certain, I walked an extra two tenths past the aid station, then called it a day with about 13 minutes of the six hours remaining. I didn't see any sense in continuing until the six hours were up because all that would do would be to put me that much farther from the finish and that much longer to walk back...and my legs were tired. That's why I finished with 23.1485 miles.

Here's the numbers summary: Total miles: 23.1485 73rd overall of 129 runners 55th of 84 men 1st of 3 in the 70+ age group which did not exist formally, the upper age group was 60 and over and I was 4th of 8 Oldest male in the race (there was a 78 year old female).

I'm very pleased with the way this race unfolded. Four solid laps with no appreciable slowdown in pace is very encouraging, especially since that was at a 5:51 marathon pace and once again did not include a taper. Even without the heat it would have been difficult to maintain that pace much longer, but it is still my strongest race in the past year. Next up is Lean Horse 30M in three weeks on a rails to trails course at mild altitude. That should be my final tune up race before North Coast 24 five weeks later.