Possum Kingdom 52 Mile Trail Run

This weekend I ran in the Possum Kingdom 52 Mile Trail Run put on by the folks at Endurance Buzz Adventures. The race unique distance offered me the opportunity for my longest run of the year (by 2 miles), and I came into the race feeling great physically. After a strong finish at the Grasslands 50 Mile Trail Run 3 weeks prior, I was mentally and physically ready for another go at a 50ish mile trail run.

4am Saturday morning came, and Carl and I were on the road and on our way to the race site in Graford, Texas, a 2 hour drive from Denton. Carl had entered the 56km (37ish miles) race, which, coupled with the race course looped patterned, meant that I would have some company for the first part of the race. Or at least as long as Carl could stand me. We arrived at the race site, checked in, got our drop bags organized (with the race being 3 loops of 17.35miles, I just left some extra food and clothes at the start/finish line), and soon Carl and I were lined up for 7 am start. After a quick race briefing, we were off.

We were only maybe ½ mile into the race, when I ran right into a cactus. No one’s fault but my own, as I was too busy talking and not paying attention to what was around me. Weird stuff like that always seems to happen to me at the beginning of races. I had to stop and quickly pull several thorns out of my left thigh, with some in fairly deep too. After the quick stop, Carl and I were off again onto some beautiful trails. The early miles of the race featured some great views over the lake and of the sunrise. The race was mostly on single track trails, almost all of which was very runnable. There were a handful of short, steep hills, and a couple technical sections, but overall it was a very fast trail.

Carl and I finished the first loop, 17+ miles, in 3:05, and I was feeling very good. I grabed several bananas and a larabar and started out onto the 2^nd loop. Carl was going to change some clothes, and I told him I would just walk till he caught up with me. It took him a bit longer to catch up with me then what I had expected, maybe 30 minutes. By then the heat was making itself felt. Luckfully there were trees along most of the trail, and a pretty strong breeze off the lake most of the day which helped. Still it was hot, and I haven’t had too much time to acclimate myself to the heat this year. But this is Texas, there is no point in complaining about the heat.

Around this time, Carl and I started running with another runner out of Houston. The three of us were talking about random things, when we had to come to a sudden, abrupt stop to avoid stepping on large rattle snake sunbathing in the middle of the trail. We were all way too close for comfort with that thing, maybe only a foot from it. It slither off, sending my adrenalin sky high. For the rest of the day, every stick or limb laying in the trail was another snake in my eyes.  

Well into the 2^nd loop, Carl was needing to slow down to manage the heat. We still were able to keep a fairly steady run/walk pace, but he was certainly feeling the effects of the weather. I was fine with slowing down as I wanted to save energy for a strong/fast 3rd loop. We came into the aid station at mile 32, and Carl sat in the shade, while I feasted on bananas, potatoes, and pickles and drank a lot water. Soon, though, we left the aid station and quickly covered the last 2.5 miles of the loop, for a total time of 7:10, marking Carl’s longest run to date.

With Carl done for the day, I was looking to see how fast I could run that last loop. I stopped to fuel up on some bananas and coconut water, and told Carl to expect me back in under 3:20. At the start of the final loop, I was 35 miles into the race and was feeling great. I now felt like I was flying through the trail. I was running around 9 minute miles and having a blast. I stopped quickly at the first aid station just to refill my water bottle and took off. I was still feeling very good and moving well when I came to the next aid station so I just ran through it hoping that I had enough water till the next aid stop.

I had not eaten anything since the start of the loop, so about 13 miles into the loop I decide to eat a larabar I had with me. I didn’t want to walk, as I was still moving very fast, so I tried eating it while running. Not the best idea. I happen to be passing a large group of dads hiking with their little daughters at this time. Well, I wasn’t able to keep the food down and starting vomiting right in the middle of the group. I apologize profusely to the dads for the disturbing scene and causing their daughters to scream, and just kept on going. Even though I threw up, I still was feeling very good, and figured I was close enough to the finish line to not worry about eating anything else during the race.

After a quick, final stop at the last aid station for some much needed water, I was off to the finish line. The last couple of miles flew by, and I finished the race in a time of 10:28, for 8^th place overall, and securing an age group medal (or cowbell in this case). I ran the last loop in 3:05, which meant that the last loop was my fastest loop. Very happy with that. I was also happy with the fact that I never really had a low during this race. Once during the race I did get slightly dehydrated (my urine was very dark), but I was able to quickly fix it, and felt good and had fun throughout the day.

Huge thanks to David at Endurance Buzz for putting on the race, and the volunteers. I loved the course and the aid stations were great. Also, thanks to Carl for letting me run 34 miles with you, and for tolerating my humor during the run.

The next race that I had scheduled for the year, the Lone Ranger 24 hour Run, has been canceled due to low entries, which means that I don’t have any races planned for the next couple of months. While I was sad to see the Lone Ranger race canceled, I am looking forward to being able to put in some good training weeks before another race. With the frequency of my races the past few months, it has been hard for me to have multiple back-to-back quality training weeks. So some time away from “racing” is probably for the best.