August 15, 2015 Marquette 50k Trail Race

Marquette 50k Trail Race

 

I went into this race with a goal to enjoy the day on the trail. I had no specific goal for time but did have an idea that it would take me about 9 hours to finish when I looked at last years finishers.

I decided to run this race based on conversations with runners that ran last years race and a video posted to the race website of someone running the race. After seeing the climb up and down Hogback  Mountain I knew this was a race I wanted to run.

The 50k course is one southern loop of 10.6 miles and a northern loop of 20 miles. We started the race at 5:30 am so it begins in the dark using headlamps.

Doug and I at the start line.

 LOOP 1: 10.6 miles

The first mile or so is run on the road (some gravel, some paved) to help spread out the runners before getting to the single track trail. This helps with the bottleneck situation once on the single track trail. It would be nice to run the front part of this section in the daylight as it was very nice trail even in the dark.

First Leg of the 10 mile loop still in the dark

I was able to turn off the headlamp by the time we hit the first aid station at five miles. I dropped my headlamp as they offered to take back to the start/finish line so we did not have to carry them. I was headed back to the start/finish line as this was our second aid station anyway but it is always nice to take it off when not needed.

To Aid Station 2 - start/finish (mile 10.6)
That next section of trail was very technical. I found myself in a congo line of runners and ended up falling down twice. After the second time I let the runners pass so that I could give myself more room on the trail. I have found that I fall the most when I am running too close to other runners on the trail. When 'trail gating' there is not enough reaction time available to make those evasive manueveurs to avoid tripping. Luckily these falls resulted in zero injuries.

Crossing the power lines to get to more single track trail

(Photo credit: Mike Madden)

I arrived at the second aid station which was the start/finish line in 2:32. About the last 2 to 3 miles were not very runnable due to the roots on the trail.

I had a drop bag at the start line and was glad I did as my braid had come undone and I was glad I did not have to run the entire race without fixing that situation. Nothing like dealing with long hair when the day is hot and humid. Oh did I mention that it was really humid during the race? Even at 8 am I was already sweating profusely. It was promising to be a very hot day.

LOOP 2: 20 miles

To Aid Station 3 (14.6 miles):
This next section included some nice rolling trails in the woods. Somehow I ended up missing a turn near Wetmore Pond and I found myself on a trail with no markers. A runner came up behind me and we commented on not seeing a trail marker for awhile. We kept running thinking a marker would show up soon. This was not to be as we hit a trail head and parking lot. We knew the aid station was on the road and we walked up to the road to see if we could see the aid station but the road curved. After wasting time trying to decide what to do and looking for some trail markers we decided we were going to have to backtrack to see where we went wrong. I was not too concerned as I had no goal time for finishing. So back we went and sure enough we saw the markers where we were suppose to turn right and had kept running straight instead. I still cannot figure out how I missed this turn as it was very clearly marked. After we found the trail again I determined that I had run an extra mile and probably added an extra 15 to 20 minutes of time. Oh well. Not much to do about it but keep moving forward. At some point on this section just prior to running into aid station 3 (which was suppose to be mile 14.6 but was 15.6 for me) I was stepping over a log and banged my left knee on a broken off branch on the log. It hurt. Like alot! I only barely scratched my skin but after saying a few choice words and rubbing my knee I made sure it still worked and continued on.

Great single track trail!

I arrived into aid station 3 and looked down and my knee was swelling. There was not any pain other than when I touched the area so I hoped nothing would develop as I still had over 17 miles before the day would be done. I took extra time in this aid station as the next section coming up would be 7 miles and was suppose to be mostly runnable after getting off Sugarloaf Mountain. And it was starting to get hot. I wanted to make sure I had enough water and added ice to my bladder to have cold water which always feels good during a hot and sunny race. The predicted high for the day was 84 degrees.

To Aid Station 4: (21.7 miles)
This section included the climb up Sugarloaf Mountain. I actually enjoyed this section and climb as it included stairs to the top. I don't mind stairs and powered my way to the top. At this point I started seeing more hikers on the trail and we were told that this might be the case as these trails were very popular in Marquette.

Wooden stairs to get to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain

Top of Sugarloaf Mountain

Top of Sugarloaf Mountain looking over Superior

Top of Sugarloaf Mountain overlooking Superior

Top of Sugarloaf Mountain

Top of Sugarloaf Mountain

Really bad selfie at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain

Talked to some hikers and we each took pictures of each other atop Sugarloaf Mountain

I spent entirely too much time at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain but my goal was to enjoy my time out on the trail so I took as much time as I needed to enjoy the view.

Getting down off Sugarloaf Mountain was interesting and I almost lost the trail down as it was hidden between some very large rocks. But I was smarter about it this time and did not go far without first looking for the markers down the trail. Going down there are many large rocks and sometimes the markers would be in rock cairns as there was no dirt to put the markers into. The trail was very well marked and as long as you were very conscious of where they were in front of you it was hard to get lost.

After getting off Sugarloaf Mountain the trail became mostly flat and ran along the shoreline of the Superior. This was a very nice section with lots of pines. It was somewhat rolling and there were rocks and roots to navigate but it was a very runnable section. I was pretty much by myself on the trail and had been for a long time. I was enjoying being out on the trail by myself. It was a confidence booster for me to be out there running alone.

Running along Lake Superior

To Aid Station 5 (26.2 miles)
This next section included the climb up Bareback Mountain and ran by Harlow lake. This section was not very memorable for me but included rocks, rocks and more rocks. This trail reminded me of running in Duluth on the Superior Hiking trail and in some sections reminded me specifically of the trail in Jay Cooke State Park with its rocks and roots and also parts of Wild Duluth with the running over the large rocks in the trail.

I am happy to say that I did not hit any lows during this run at all. In hindsight this is very surprising as I almost always seem to hit those low spots. I think I was enjoying being out on the trail so much with no pressure for a finishing time that I was living in the moment and enjoying myself immensely.

To the Finish (31 miles)
The last section included the climb to the Top of the World and the famous Hogback Mountain.

When I arrived at the top of the Top of the World there were some tents set up. Apparently some hikers had decided that it was a good camping spot. They must have been hiking as no one was around while I was there.

Top of the World

Top of the World

Top of the World

Top of the World

Next up was the climb to Hogback. I started to see or catch up with other runners at this point. I actually ran across some 100k runners on their backwards loops. I saw Rob Henderson, Travis Theide and Anjannette Arnold while still several miles out from Hogback Mountain. They all looked great and had been out on the trail for many more hours than I had been at that point.

Mild section of the Hogback climb

So how do you describe climbing up Hogback Mountain. Not sure there are really words for it. It is a very steep climb that continues for what feels like several miles but in reality is only about 1/2 mile. I was warned that there was a false summit and indeed there was. This climb was one where I actually had to stop to catch my breathe a few times. I found myself climbing this with four other ladies from a running group called Coyotes out of Illinois. I know one of their members(not present), Karol, and she had mentioned to me they would be there.  I also caught up with Rick Bothwell on this climb which I had not expected. As we were climbing there were others coming down on their backward loop.

Mild section of the Hogback Mountain climb

After hitting the top of Hogback the next challenge was climbing back down! This was not a runnable descent but rather a hike back down figuring out your best foot placings so that you would not end up tumbling down the large rocks.

By the time I was done ascending and descending Hogback I was ready to be done with hills but this was not to be the case as there were many small climbs on that last two miles. About the time I just wanted to run to the finish I found myself needing to walk. I was happy to be done at 32 miles (remember that bonus mile as a result of getting off trail?).

This race was very warm and humid similar to Black Hills in late June but I did much better overall during this race.  I did not experience any lows and had a really great time out on the trail.

Results:
9/21 Age group (40+)
18/36 Overall Female
Time 9:23:54 with an average of 18:11(my average pace was 17:37 min/mile for the 32 miles)