Farmdale Trail Run (Walk, for me)

What: a 33 mile trail race in Farmdale Park. The course was a 3 11 mile loops, which consisted of a mix of single track, fire roads, grassy meadows and gravel. I’d say that it was mostly single track. There were a few rocks and roots, but the trail would be called “very runnable.” There were a few hills, but the course is not as tough as, say, Ice Age or McNaughton.

Lots of course photos here.

How I did: short version:

This was the finisher’s award.

This was the award for being the last place male.

I did finish ahead of one other human: a female who walked 100% of the time (as did I).

Longer version: 11 mile loop splits: 2:57, 2:55, 3:30. Yes, that last split was not a misprint. Final time: 9:25.

What happened: the day had a threat of rain that never materialized. The temperatures were perfect (50’s). At the start I was left far behind and never caught ANYONE; this was the first ultra where I was solo the entire way. In fact the only people I encountered were the aid station staff, the runners who lapped me, and a few mountain bikers (who were very polite! Thank you! )

I talked about the course: I can’t remember every detail, but we basically alternated between single track (most), prairie meadow (some) and fire road (little bits here and there). I had a rough time of it during the first loop; I tried to use a racewalking style and kept tripping over roots and rocks. I even fell once. This is due to how low one keeps their feet when one racewalks. Also, I missed one turn (which was very well marked; I was just not paying attention) and added about 10 minutes to my first loop.

During the second loop, I switched to a more “fast hiking” style. It helped; I hardly tripped at all, though I moved a bit slower. But, since I haven’t done any long trail walks, my “hiking muscles” got very, very tired.

The third loop was a death march; it was all I could do to keep moving forward. My muscles were shot and I was tired and cranky.

More about the course: the single track parts were devious in a way. You’d be going along (and there were: low roots, a few rocks, a few small gorges that I call “dipsy doodles” ) and it would appear that you were nearing a clearing which would end that section. WRONG! Just as you got close to the clearing, there would be a hairpin turn which would take you back into the woods, and often there would be a hill or a dipsy-doodle to further crush your spirit.

My performance: ok, I was happy to finally finish a race. Yes, this was a poor performance compared to my last Ice Age Trail 50K (2006; 7:38 was my time, which would grade out to an 8:09 here as this was 2 miles longer). But then, I was coming off of my training for McNaughton and having done 70 miles on that course. Here, I was completely untrained for long trail races.

But on the upside: this was way better than my Quad Cities DNF and my F/X 12 hour track walk (where I ended up with 34 miles).

A couple of more comments about the race:

1) I highly recommend this to marathon walkers who are interested in trail walking and who can do a 6:30 road marathon. The 11 hour time limit is very walker friendly. One note though: the first aid station is 5.5 miles away from the start.

2) The race director (Dave Tapp) did an outstanding job: he delivered a well organized race on a scenic trail. The course was very well marked.