2020 Buckeye Woods 50K Race Report

 

My six laps. From the looks of the map, the Earth must have shifted during the run. Or may it's a tear in the space-time continuum

Lap 1 of 6: It's dark, and after a slow first couple miles around the wetlands, now that I'm in the wooded part of Buckeye Woods, I am running slower than most people walk. I'll blame my lazy gate on the darkness (the moon is setting) and the cold (27 degrees!). I should also place some blame on not wanting to trip and do a face-plant in the dark, frozen mud.

Lap 2 of 6: Things are now a little better. During the last part, I see Debbie Scheel at the turnaround area. I manage to stay ahead of her, but I know that this lead won't last.

Lap 3 of 6: My lead doesn't last. We do run together a bit, but we stay 10 feet or more apart. As we head into the woods, she gets ahead of me. That's okay. I think this is probably my fastest loop anyway.

Lap 4 of 6: I am still feeling good. The sun is shining, and it's warming up nicely. I see a few other runners out on the trails. The Medina County Road Runners Club has purposely kept this small club-only race even smaller due to concerns about the pandemic. They succeeded. The purposeful lack of organization also enabled me to start early, since there was no official start time.

Lap 5 of 6: Okay, it's starting to get real. I changed into lighter clothing, and this helped. A little. But I'm getting a bit tuckered out.

Lap 6 of 6. Well, I ran a half-way, not-too-awful marathon if you ignore those first five miles. But now it's really getting real. After the wetlands, I slow to a crawl. I'm happy to finish this loop, but that means I still have a mile to go.

Lap 7 of 6: There's a mile loop to be done. It's usually done at the start of the run, but today I saved it for last. It ought to be easy since it's paved and flat. But after 30 miles, it's tough. When I arrive back at the shelter, my watch tells me I've run 31.02 miles in 5:52. Those last few were a struggle.

Epilog: I don't know whether anyone else ran 50K today. There were a couple other runners out there when I left just before noon. It's possible that I'm first. Or possibly last. Time will tell.

proof!

After