First off, the Pinnacle 50k is actually a "training" run for the Stone Cat 50 (miles). I attempted the Stone Cat 50 last year as a way to spend the last day of my thirties (because I know how to really party!). The race course is four 12.5 mile loops. To stay in the race, you need to finish the third loop in 9 hours or you're cut off. Well, I missed that cutoff by three minutes (3!! 3 lousy minutes! Maybe I shouldn't have retied my shoes, changed my shirt or paused too long at the aid station!). Needless to say, I have a score to settle with the cold Stone Cat.
In that year, I learned a lot more about trail racing, started training a little better (although I still feel my volume is lower than it should be), found another crazy person to run with on occasion, and, on the whole, just felt better about myself.
Now back to the Pinnacle 50k... I arrived at the Newport High School to pick up my packet just after 6 AM. I parked my car to where I would be running by twice through the course and then waited for the shuttle to take me to start of the course. There was about fifteen of us there who opted to do the early start at 7AM. With very little fanfare, someone yelled "go" and off we went! The course started off with a covered bridge and some road until we hit the rail trail. I quickly fell into the back of the pack. I did try to keep up but I reminded myself that I was in this race for myself not anyone else. Once I accepted this, I maintained a brisk (for me), but steady pace knowing I wouldn't have it so easy once I get into the mountains (yep, I would be climbing two small mountains - twice!). I was a little worried that trails would be muddy with the all the rain we had the night before. However, the rail trail is normally sandy so the water just filtered through and prevented the sand from being kicked up making it quite pleasant. The rail trail also went through two rail trail covered bridges. There's only seven in the country and I got to run through two of them! And since, it was an out and back, I got to do it twice - how cool is that?
While I enjoyed the sun filtering through the fall leaves as the trail winded around the Sugar River and the relative easiness of the flat, wide trail; I was honestly getting a little bored toward the end of it. A couple dirt bikes that came out of the woods did help wake me up, though! There was a little bit of road until I got to the 13.1 mark of what would be the first out of three times that I would go through the finish line. I was pleased to see the clock timed 2:16 as I went through. I grabbed some food and water at the aid station then went to my car to shake out my shoes and Vaseline up my feet before heading up the The Pinnacle (1362 ft) and Coit Mountain (1590 ft) for the first time. I was very happy to get into the forest and single track! The trail had enough switchbacks so while there was some steep sections, it also provided lots of opportunity to open up and really pick up the pace. And at moments, I felt complete bliss running on this perfect autumn day. The rain did make for some slippery footing especially with the pine needles and leaves. After reaching the Pinnacle, the trail opened up to a woodsy field where the aid station was at the 17.1 mile mark. I grabbed a PB&J and a couple other goodies and hit the trail again. After a bit of a hill, the trail went back into the woods and approached Coit Mountain. This portion was definitely more tricky with lots of open rock to navigate. Once at the summit and it descended on what website described as "fantastic snaking descents on pristine singletrack". And fantastic it was! If I was a mountain biker, this would be a real sweet trail with lots of banked turns. However, as a runner, it was a little tricky with my footing. I finally made my way out of the woods onto to a bit of road and then to the finish line (again!). There was a bunch of people around who probably thought I was finishing, but, in fact, I still had 9 more miles to go! I wanted to yell "no, no, stop cheering, I'm not done, yet".
At that point, I was not relishing the fact of going up and down those mountains again. But I fueled up and I went back into the woods again. There was another runner, an older Canadian guy, with me and we kept each other company off and on for that last loop. I was so relieved to get to the aid station again at the 26.1 mile mark. At that point, I knew I only had five miles to go! No problem, that's like a regular run in my neighborhood or a loop through Mine Falls. Well, that was the most brutal five miles of my running life. The Canadian caught up with me and we went over the open field and into what we thought was the trail. It really didn't seem familiar but after 26 miles, who knows? He was ahead of me for a bit until the trail just stopped. We went back to retrace our steps to find out we both missed a trail marker that pointed left instead straight! At that moment, I was feeling defeated, my legs were shot, I missed my family, and I just wanted to be done already. The Canadian and I again leapfrogged for a while until he pulled ahead of me for the last and longest mile or so. I kept going down the trail thinking the field to the school and finish line would be around the corner but it wasn't. I was swearing just about every step of the way until I saw the finish. I picked up the pace and ran through the finish line for third and final time. By that time, the small crowd was gone and it was just handful of very nice volunteers who congratulated me. Final time was 7:50:40. While I wasn't truly trying to race, I still felt disappointed with my time especially being the last one in. The Canadian was at the finish and apologized for getting us lost. We wished each other well in future races and then went our separate ways.
Still feeling deflated, I begrudgingly went to the post race meal at the school. I was pleasantly surprised that there was still hot food left! I grabbed some food and went to sit down while they started the awards ceremony. I was taking a bite of chicken when I heard someone announce my name as the winner of the female age category of 35-49 (oddest age category ever)! I was shocked and shouted "GET OUT!". The race director laughed and said "nope, I have it written right here". My prize? A nice big jug of maple syrup!
Come to find out, there was only one other female in my category and she didn't finish. But hey, I'll take my syrup and run! Lots of lessons still to be learned as I venture into the world of trail and ultra racing but I am so pleased to have actually finished (and win!) my first ultra race!
