Watchung Winter Ultra Preview

Tomorrow Chris and I will be headed to Mountainside, NJ to run the Watchung Winter 50k (there is a marathon distance option as well). This is the third year NJ Trail Series directors Rick and Jennifer McNulty have put on this race, and it will be my third year running it as well. The course consists of three 10.xx mile loops on single and double track trail, with a couple of very short road sections and crossings. The first year I ran the race a major snowstorm began during the last loop and made for an interesting drive home to say the least. Last year was sunny, but very cold and the trail was frozen stiff with many rough spots where horses had punched up the mud in earlier warmer weather. This year will hold true to the winter theme as we are currently getting snow which will linger through the night and have easily over 3 inches of fresh powder for us to plow through.

The race began and is advertised as FA style, low key, no awards, t-shirts, bring your own supplies type of fun run. There ends up being a plentiful goodie table offered at the start/finish line with donations from the runners, and even though Rick and Jennifer had to charge a nominal fee to cover permit and insurance fees this year and we will be chip timed, the atmosphere will still be grass roots "run cause you love it" not cause you want to show off. That's my kind of race, plus the actual course ranks in my top five favorite courses if not in the top two.

My approach to this year's event is a little different to the previous two...as in I'm actually in great shape for it. I've trained steadily through December and want to not only use Watchung as a tune-up race for Beast of Burden, but also to post a personal best on the course. Last year I PRd the course by 45 minutes, but was still recovering from an eardrum injury and was not in the best shape to run hard. The snow is going to slow me down some, but it will be a great workout and definitely tons of fun!