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The Sunmart 50mile/50K trail run is the largest trail run in the country,
with over a
1000 entrants this year. I ran the 50K (equivalent to about 31 miles),
which was
my first time going further than the marathon. I was rather
intimidated about it
because I didn't feel like I got to train enough for the race (really only ran
about once
or twice a week until the race, with one of those usually being my long
run...and I
did only three 20-milers, longest at 22 miles). But the atmosphere at the
race
totally eased my mind, because most of the people there are just interested in
having a good time and finishing. You also notice that for the most part
there is a
different kind of runner there...more older folks, hippies, etc...the runners
had
different overall appearance than the "competitors" at the marathon.
I noticed that
most people stopped to walk up the hills (to conserve energy), hung out
leisurely
at the aid stations to eat as much as they delighted (there were like 20
different
kinds of snacks at every stop, and even coke and beer), etc...anything to make
the
run as comfortable as they pleased. So my dad and I did the same, just
intending to
finish and considering the race just another training run before the marathons
we'd
run in the next months. It was actually pretty unfavorable to try to go
for time on
that day anyway, as a cold front passed through slowly throughout the entire
race,
providing light rain that made the trail a muddy mess the whole way...but I
don't
think it bothered anybody. My dad and I are also devout followers of the
walk
break strategy, so we exercised that with a 4 min. run/1 min. walk cadence the
whole way (that might seem excessive, and maybe we could have actually made it
without walking that frequently...but we still noticed the same effect we always
do
in races from doing that: passing up 100s of people later in the race that slow
down
so much, and we finished reasonably well anyway, under the circumstances).
Anyway, we ended up finishing in very good shape, probably running our last mile
the fastest of all. Out of the five marathons I'd accomplished before,
I've only
avoided hitting the wall in one. Unbelievably, in this race that is even
longer than
the marathon and with as little training as I did, it happened again. This
made me
realize that there's definitely something different about the trail run with
regard to
the actual running part as well: your legs apparently hold up significantly
better on
the trail compared to running on the paved surfaces in the marathon. There
is also
the mental difference: running through the forest and through all the nice
scenery
has a very positive effect, which seriously made the long time that we were
actually
running fly by. All in all, the trail run had a much different feel than
the marathon.
So what I'd like to say is that I strongly urge everyone to add the Huntsville
Trail
Run to your itinerary, not really because I did it and thought it was cool, but
because it seriously is so much more comfortable than the marathon. You
get SO
much free stuff too: really nice duffle bag with the trail run logo on the side,
hat,
polo shirt, finisher's jacket or woven blanket with the logo on it, 2 free
delicious
banquets (before and after), and then about 10 other items, some of which really
would cost some money...so it's well worth the money, especially since it only
costs about $10 more than your average marathon.
Kurt
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