Last Minute Marathon... Wild Sebastian (4/12/2014)

Wild Sebastian Marathon- Wildly Expensive... I normally make decisions about races at least a couple weeks in advance- this time was about 96 hours in advance-in hopes of curing my Keys fever-mostly the desire to see a civilization. So I book the hotel, a bonus that Rip' gets to come for about an extra $20- and then I register- I get it- it's late- but seriously $175... well maybe it's really well run, and there will be good stocked aid stations- and well I know some of that is bound for the 100 milers...

Having to work a mostly full day on Friday- I got a pretty late jump on travel, so I missed the pre-race meeting and packet pick-up, caught a salmon dinner from Red Lobster... don't chastise me it was within walking distance of the hotel, and waffle house was the only other thing open... prepped for the morning and some sleep and it was up and at it at 0500... and start making my way to the Start- a 30 minute drive, a bathroom stop at the Gas Station and on to the park... 

Taken after the race on my way to volunteer at an Aid Station

Stopped quickly at the Start/Finish Line area to pick up my packet and then drove a little further parked and prepped up for the 0700 start... note I said 0700 or 7am.  As I was making my way to what I thought was the start, I learned that the start was about a mile down the road, although it wasn't quite cleat the if it was just the marathon, or everything, or what, none of the volunteers were very clear... so already we are off to a bang up start...  so I walked my way down to the start with some other runners... and we waited...

I hate being late.

  And then somewhere close to 7:20ish we started.  I did take the opportunity to talk to some Florida Ultra Runners I had run with at some of the other races... and I saw Deb and Amanda from the Keys, who I would see several times throughout the day... Standing next to a woman named Loren, who I ran about 10ish miles with, we were off, running comfortably but maybe a tad faster than I had planned.  We ran the first 8-ish pretty comfortably chit chatting along the way...learning about how Loren and her now husband farted their way into each others hearts... among other things.

The trail was pretty nice, not technical, small spots of sand here and there, but really well marked.  I dropped back just before the second aid station, I needed to stretch a little, and I was in serious need of some coke, oranges or something... well I dug around for some coke and poured myself some, and had some pretzels- helped Amanda with her water pack and ice etc. and walked my way  out of the aid station... still feeling pretty good- the humidity was starting to build and the sun was starting to peek through the clouds.

After a strategic bathroom break, I really started to pick up the rhythm and pace again... and then this sugar sand bullshit... really... and just went I thought it was going to get better... it got worse... like calf deep sand... I power walked most of it...but seriously do you blame me....

Sugary Sand...

So not having seen the Spring course map before the race- I wasn't quite sure where the aid stations were... this was slightly problematic, but apparently it wasn't discussed at the pre-race meeting either.  But luckily the aid stations all had at least one person who knew how far to the next aid station, and well there was ice, coke, melons although you had to dig around for them- and there was also some weird meat products- cocktail wieners and pepperoni- and some potato chips but I tried to limit myself as there were 50, 75 and 100 milers and the aid stations looked a little thin on supplies...

I caught back up to Loren at aid station #3 and I ate some melon, drank some coke and then started to make way to the next aid station- running a good pace still and starting to catch folks in front of me.  

up  Electrolytes and water were well balanced, even with the temperature and humidity rising. I had been working hard to get a good balance and understand my needs as they relate to electrolyte and sodium intake as not to over/under do it. Somehow that melon was not sitting well in my stomach- popped a gin-gin and kept chugging along.  Caught up to a nice man running the 50 miler, he was a Floridian and happy to be running in the sand... great guy to share some miles to the next aid station (#4) with...  I rolled in and ran into Amanda and Deb- they were really cruising through the first lap of their 50.  I had to keep reminding myself that Freestate 100Kwas merely a week away, and I needed to keep it somewhat conservative. 

So I rolled out, still running pretty strong, just getting frustrated with my stomach and the horrible sand pits that kept popping up. I would have rather had rocks, or hills or anything but that darned sand.  I did on this stretch meet a nice guy running the 100 and his pacer on a mountain bike.  This part of the trail was pretty nice- we got a little shade until we hit the 2nd aid station... this would be #5 as well... 

Well marked-on the way back to aid station #5

I saw Deb and Amanda leaving and I caught a couple of people who were trying to cool down as the temperature was really starting to warm up, and there was no hiding from the sun.  I grabbed some coke, some pretzels and a handful of ice and headed three-ish miles to the next aid station (that I would later man for about 5 hours) I was walking more and running less out of this one- and the 100miler man caught back up to me and we really bounced back and forth to aid station #6 (although it was named 5-so confusing). The guy running this was an ultra runner- he had all the goodies- cookies- nutella... and a great attitude. With only 3 miles to go, I went with my standard coke and pretzels and headed out... 

seriously more of this crappy sand shit..

The last miles went pretty fast, I was being pushed by the man running the 100- should have gotten his name, but we had some nice chit chat time... He pulled ahead of me with about 3/4 mile left. I was still having on and off again stomach spurts- burping up melon- not fun.  I turned the corner and realized I was running through the parking lot I had parked in- there were lots of people cheering- but no this was not the finish line... I of course gave out some high fives... made a right turn and headed to the finish... somewhere about 5:22 or so... not sure of the official time... chip timing wasn't working- so the results were hand jammed...  my first official time was 6:14- not sure where the time went... so I will go with my Garmin on this one...

After finishing I cheered Deb and Amanda on for their second loop, and went over to the RD to get an assignment for volunteering after a shower and a bite to eat...I hung around for a few more minutes to see Loren finish and chit chat with her and her husband about running in South Florida and about some future events and places to run trails while I drank my recovery drink...

Overall- not bad- the best part was meeting other runners.  I would say, a little less than professionally ran (a 20 minute late start is never good- and no online map resources or maps at packet pick up, hell have all the volunteers know where the race starts) It was more like a supported training run than an ultra. I know I only ran marathon but if I would have run any more loops... well I can say I more than likely won't be back to this one...