Medoc Meltdown 50k 2010

By: Vince Smith

I just wanted to let everyone know that I survived the Medoc Mtn 50K (actually 34.4 miles) yesterday.  It was a great race and everyone was quite friendly.  It started getting pretty warm by the time that I finally finished (around 2:00 pm), but the course was mostly shaded, and the high was in the mid 80’s so I can’t complain.

For a run that has Mtn in the title, the elevation change was pretty mild.  Each lap had one good climb and a couple flights of stairs (one up and one down).  Other than those it was a fairly mild rolling trail.  This was my first trail run, so I took a “crash course” on how to manage trails.  The course consisted of 4 loops.  I fell flat on my face 5 times (with two other close calls) in the first two laps.  After the second lap though I finally figured it out and finished the last two laps without a single fall.  The scenery was beautiful, but every time I started to look around and enjoy it, I ended up on my face.  In one area there is a large tree growing diagonally across the trail.  Twice I admired this interesting site, and wound up on the ground both times.  I learned that trees do not like for you make eye contact.

Another interesting challenge was the various trails branching off.  The first lap I just followed everyone else, but when people started spreading out it became difficult to tell one tree from another.  I spent more than a few times standing in front of forks in the trail scratching my head, not wanting to add an extra mileage.  Luckily I never veered more than a few yards off course before being corrected by another runner.

My first two laps I was going with the motions and running in the middle of the pack.  On the third lap I truly felt like a rockstar, passing a number of other runners, and feeling no pain.  Alas I ran out of adrenaline and the fourth lap was pretty painful.  The fatigue was setting in, which led to many more walking breaks than on the previous laps, but I trudged on.  In the end I was very pleased and a bit surprised with my 6:41 (3rd place) finish.

Negatives: My right hand and both knees are skinned up and bruised (and I keep discovering other strange bruises).  The 4 hour drive home after the run was not terribly pleasant.  But with a few pit stops to stretch the legs it was manageable.

Positives: Everything else