Ugh…

I’ve entered the Badgerland Striders F/X 12 hour race. I’ve noticed that in the past, it was a small race; smaller than the Cornbelt (where I set my 24 hour PR in 2004).

I got some race instructions in the mail and was distressed to read:

Track Courtesy – It is common track courtesy in an event like this to let the faster runners pass on the inside lane. Particularly because of the large number of runners, everyone will have to particularly courteous and aware of their surroundings, at least until the 12 hour day runners finish at 9 p.m.

So, if you are running slowly at the time, move over into the second lane, or even into the third when it is the most crowded and runners are still fresh (from at least 9 a.m. until 3 or 4 in the afternoon).

And if you are walking, the third or even fourth lanes may be where you will have to be.

(emphasis mine)

At the Cornbelt, they told you to stick to the inner lanes and let others go around. That seemed to work. But, one has to follow the rule of the race, which means that I may as well plan to stay in lane 3 for the whole 12 hours.

The downside means that my results will show me with between 5-6 laps of distance (1.25-1.5) miles fewer than I’ll actually have.

But I’ll know how far I’ve gone, thanks to programs like this one. Roughly speaking, I’ll “lose” a lap for every 10 miles (if I think in terms of a 1/4′th of a mile lap)

Key marks for me:
5 miles 19.5 laps
10 miles 39
15 miles 58.4
20 miles 78 laps
25 miles 97.3
Marathon: 102 laps
50K 121 laps (lost 4 laps by now)
40 miles 156 laps
45 miles 175.2 laps
50 miles 195 laps

Anything more than that: I’ll be too ecstatic to care.

The weather forecast is very promising.

But the lesson here is that loop courses (rather than track ones) are probably better for walkers.