My experience at Watchung this year can be summarized in a word: deja-vu.
The day begin bright and early when Dave picked me up around 4:30 in the morning. The race didn't begin until 8am but with the recent snowy weather and the possibility of more to come we wanted to have ample travel time so we would be late. After picking me up we proceeded to meet up with our new friend, Amy. This was going to be her first ultra. Amy has run a few marathons ad is running Boston in April. The drive to the Watchung Reservation at Mountainside, New Jersey was uneventful and the roads were pleasantly clear. We chatted and discussed the trail (it happens to be one of our favorites). Amy brought us cinnamon crunch bagels from Panera Bread...yummy! WE ate those on the way to the race. It was an enjoyable ride and I was feeling pretty good and not to sleepy. I think Imanaged about 5 hours of sleep in my own bed the night before.
We arrived at the race site around 7:15 or so. Th parking lot was already quite full but we managed to get an excellent parking spot very close to the start/finish line. The weather was actually pretty decent this year. Last year it was sunny but frigid, not going over 20 degrees for the day. This year was cloudy with a few flurries but the temp warmed up to around 30 degrees. I brought a lot of gear to choose from but went with two long sleeve tech shirts, compression shorts, calf sleeves and loose fitting running pants. I also used a fleece beanie and fleece gloves. It turned out to be perfect. I was never too hot nor was I too cold at any one point throughout the race. For shoe choice I went with my blue Montrail Streaks which I also put 3/8 inch hexhead sheet metal screws for added traction on the trail. And as it tuned out I would need it for this day.
The Watchung 50k consists of three 10+ mile loops o the Sierra Trail totaling 31.2 miles (according to some one's Garmin). Last year my splits were approximately as follows: 1:40, 1:40, 1:57 for a total time of 5:17 which was good enough for 8th place overall. My goal this year was to be close to or possibly under 5 hours. But that was not to be this day. I knew the reality of this about a mile into the first loop. There were bout 132 starters and the trail immediately goes into single track and the conga line that formed reminded me of the conga line I saw on the AT section at the JFK 50 miler last year. It was slow going for sure. Also, I was in the middle of a large group of about 20 runners and the entire group went off course about a half mile into the race. The rest of the loop was rather fun and uneventful. But when I looked at my watch after the first loop and it read 2:02 I immediately knew that 5 hours was not going to happen for me this day. The second loop was again uneventful and it seemed to click by. Again I was a little surprised to see the time of my second loop was again nearly identical to my first loop. Again it was around 2:02. Then, just like last year, I bonked again on the third loop. RD Rick McNulty told me I was around 9th or 10th when I started my final loop. I was passed by a few people and walked more than I wanted to on this loop. The third loop took me around 2:23 to finish. I ended up finishing 15th out of 52 finishers with a time of 6:27--that is 1 hour and 10 minutes slower than last year--yikes!
Dave had a great day. He ran the 50k in 6:00 and finished 8th overall. He passed me early on the second loop looking fresh as a daisy and that was the last time I saw him until the finish line. His training is spot on for Beast of Burden Winter 100 miler next month. He's going to do great. Amy did not have such luck this day. She completed two loops but did not make the time cutoff and was not allowed to run the third and final loop. She would have finished if she was allowed to continue.
The trail this year was brutal compared to the trail last year. Last year there was some snow and a little ice. But this year due to recent weather, there was snow ad ice the entire loop. My calves felt like I was running in sand the next day. Rick and Jennifer McNulty put on anther quality race and the trail, despite it's brutal conditions (exemplified in the finishing rate) was fun. Thank you to all the volunteers and anyone else who heled make this day happen.
And of course, thank you to God for the ability and opportunity to use the gifts He has given. To Him be the glory.
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