I can't believe I am writing these words......IT IS OVER! WE DID IT! 50 miles, yes, 5-0 !!!!!!!! It was an experience that I can't really put into words or describe but I am going to try to do my best!
My alarm went off at 5:00 am. We both grabbed a bagel and ate while we stumbled around getting ready. Ok, so we thought we needed to get up at 5 am to be ready at 5:45am. At 5:15am we were sitting there ready to go and wondering what the rush was? We then headed down to catch a cab to take us to the start. We got in the cab and told the guy the directions to which he said "I'm new, can you tell me how to get there?" We exited that cab like we were escaping a fire. This was not good for our pre-race nerves!
We got to the start line a little before 6 am....TOO early! Ultras are not exactly like any other race. There was no shelter to stand under and it was spitting rain with lots of wind. So we put on our trash bags and sat in a corner under a doorway. We didn't admit it until after the race but we were both wanting to bail at this point. 6:30 couldn't have arrived sooner!
The start was comical. There was a little over 100 people and the start went something like this..."GO!!!!" No gun shot was fired! The rain at this point had stopped, thank goodness, but we were fighting the wind off Lake Michigan.
We took off in the dark running toward the Chicago skyline. It was so awesome! The course was an out and back (6.25 miles each direction) four times. I will save my feelings on that route for later. There was a self serve water/coke station at mile 1.5, another around mile 4 and one more at mile 5.5. These are estimates but the spacing kind of sucked :) Bathroom accommodations were great. There were 3 actual beach houses on the course which was a refreshing change from the porta potties we were expecting. We had about 10 bathroom stops throughout the 8 hours, which we were happy about because if you don't have to go to the bathroom when you are running this long it only means one thing....you're dehydrated. We were not :)
Let's see what I can remember. I had some M&Ms at mile 4 that tasted really good......until they didn't. We had a small ravine that we had to jump over around mile 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, 40, 44, and 48. Same large puddle, this just goes to show how many times we went out and back and out and back and out and back.......and out and back!!!!!!! By the time we got to mile 48, to say we were jumping would be a lie. We had no spring left in our step!
The good thing about this course is that we were able to change socks every lap; in other words 3 sock changes. We also were able to lose clothes and we switched out our shoes at the half way point. This really saved our feet. There were only 2 blisters between the two of us, one each! I was expecting multiple with a few lost toenails. I am happy to say I still have 10 toenails!
The wind was not our friend the entire day. Everyone said "Oh, you will run against it one way and then it will carry you the other way." So NOT the case! It blew east to west (not north to south) so we were basically always fighting it. I still am so thankful that there was no rain. I'll take the wind over the rain any day!
We met a lot of interesting people over the course of the day. Not to mention that you probably saw them 6 or 7 times so you exchanged many "keep it up" and "looking good" (even though most of the time you were lying through your teeth on that one). There was a blind guy named David who had a guide runner. Awesome. Lots of runners running for a charity-March of Dimes, Arthritis Foundation, and in memory of a loved one. There was a man who honestly I tear up when I think of him. He was handicapped and could barely walk and entered the 50 miler. I think he was completing his first lap when we were finishing our third. The back of his shirt had a big cross on it and said something about hope and grace. Unbelievable!
There were a couple ladies who held signs that said "You can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens YOU." They stayed the whole race!!!!! It's amazing how scripture can really lift you up!
Brock jumped in at mile 37.5 for the last leg. Our toughest miles were miles 37.5 to mile 44. Elissa and I both just felt a little mentally drained at this point because we were on the last lap but running AWAY from our finish line. Brock saved the momentum and we just kept putting one foot in front of the other. At mile 44 we turned around and the horses were off and running again. I got a new wind under my sails. Our hips were tight and we could barely push off the ground but somehow we gritted our teeth and managed to run the last few miles at about an 8:30 pace!!!! With 3 miles to go I looked at Elissa and said "I think I might puke...what's our pace?" My garmin was dead at this point. She said "you don't want to know." I guessed "8:45?" nope. "8:30?" nope "We are doing an 8:00 flat right now." WHAT???? I guess we did have some left to give.
We finished the race looking strong. No gimp to our strides, which totally amazed me. Brock just kept saying "You guys look great. Your form is great." He may have been lying but it worked. When we got to mile 49 it was euphoric, seriously. Lots of it was a state of delusion but this was truly euphoric. Scott took some pictures of us as we were approaching the beach house and we probably looked like idiots....I haven't seen them yet. We both were just so happy the end was near.
Then, together, we turned the corner through the orange cones and crossed the finish line in 8 hours 32 minutes and 45 seconds!!!!!!!!!! Elissa had threatened to turn a cartwheel at the end (this idea was discussed at mile 47) but decided she would be the girl who finished the race but ended up in the hospital due to the crashing cartwheel so she held back :) We came in 5th (and I guess 6th but we finished the exact same time) women overall. The results are not posted but we think there were about 40 women. We were just so glad to be done, injury free and feeling good.
The one thing that really got us through the tough times were how many people told us they would be praying for us. We focused on that every time it got tough. And you know what? There was never one moment where either one of us thought we wouldn't finish. We knew the same power of prayer that had gotten us to the start line would carry us to the finish. Thank you so much for your support and prayers. This journey was very long but I feel like I learned a lot along the way. "Run when you can, walk if you have to, crawl if you must.....but NEVER give up!
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