StumpJump 50K Report

Ultrahard, ultramad, ultrathirsty, ultrahot, ultrahungry, ultrydirty, ultrasore, and ultrarelieved - these are all the words that can be used to describe this race experience. So here goes a long, but concise report.

Drew, Michael, Patrick, and I left for Chattanooga around 8:30 Friday morning and we arrived around 1:30, so we went to RockCreek to pick up our race packets and walk around the store and the expo. We got some great swag for this race: technical tee, North Face bag, smartwool socks, endurolytes, and some other knickknacks like water bottles and stickers. Everything was great except my t-shirt which was a women's small and up to my bellybutton. I tried to trade it out, but they would not let me despite the fact I held it up and they saw how it fit. So my mom is going to cut it up and sew it on another shirt because I finished this mother and I'm wearing the shirt.


We relaxed for a bit then went back up to the store for the pre-race meeting and dinner, which was awesome! It was here that we met up with the four other Memphis runners we knew: Lauren, Elle, Chris, and John. We had a great dinner and good company, then we headed back to the hotel where Patrick and Michael entertained us. I've always heard people don't sleep well the night before, but we were all out by 9:00 and we all slept pretty soundly until the alarms went off at 5:30.



We arrived at the start around 6:45 where we did last minute preparations and used the bathroom a couple of times. I made sure to have toilet paper because I wanted no Nashville incidents to occur on this race. I think the fact that I took Pepto the night before also helped. I took it for indigestion, but it helped in other areas as well. I'll leave it at that.



Michael's parents and twin came up for the race, so it was nice to have some faces cheering us on as we left the start line right at 8:00. I could probably write a book about the race itself, so I'm going to try to be as concise as possible. I started off conservatively because that is what they tell you to do. I was behind Michael, Drew, Lauren, and Elle, but ahead of Patrick and John. We all basically were within a minute of each other for the first 10 miles. Our pace was really slow because we all agreed after the race that this course was probably 70% unrunnable. It was that rocky and that steep, so even going down some hills were slow because of that. But by mile ten we were in the middle of the pack. Drew took off at that point and Elle fell behind so it was Michael, Lauren, and myself. We made it to the next aid station which was about at mile 12 and the next one was at mile 16. This is where things got squirrelly.


12-16 was difficult to we drained our water bottles by the time we got to 16. We got to the aid station at mile 16 and THEY WERE OUT OF WATER. Two guys, sitting on a truck, telling us they were out of water. YOU HAVE A TRUCK - FREAKING GO GET SOME WATER. Needless to say we were furious. Patrick and John catch us here, so it's the five of us plus another lady. The next aid station was at mile 21. 5 miles away. The temps were high that day - I think 86 with high humidity, so they were unprepared for the amount of water people were drinking. Many people dropped here, but we decided to press on. We left the aid station and were all talking and being mad, and missed the turn for the course. THE AID STATION PEOPLE SAW US DO THIS. So we ran about 30 minutes out of our way before we realized what had happened. So we were even more mad by this point.

We finally made it and John, Patrick, and Michael got ahead of us. So Lauren and I had a death march between miles 16-21 with no water. No water means no eating, taking endurolytes, etc. That was horrible and I was mad as heck. We finally make it to the aid station at mile 21 where we met up with Elle. Turns out the people behind us were told to drop or get a ride to the next aid station and you can finish the race if you want. So she got a ride and finished up with us. We sat at the aid station for about 10-15 minutes just trying to get oriented again. I was determined to finish - no way I was coming back with a DNF - I had trained too hard for this. I ran with Elle and Lauren until about mile 27ish, and then I took off. I was ready to be done. The last three miles are runnable and I ran as fast as possible to the finish. I crossed the finish line in 8:50. Chris finished in 5:44, Drew finished in 7:30, and Michael in 8:20. Lauren right under 9:00 and Elle, Patrick, and John came in a little after 9:00.

I'm pumped I finished for sure. The results still aren't up yet, but what I heard is that of the approx. 200 runners who started, 60-70 DNF. But I'm disappointed in the lack of preparation on the race course. I knew at the beginning of the week that it was going to be hot, so surely the race people could see that also. We are all fired up and we are doing another one in February. I'm interested to see how I could do on a more runnable course and one with more water. I thought maybe after this race that I would not want to do another one, but it's the exact opposite - I'm ready for my next!!

Here are the rest of the pics:









I carried my camera on the entire run, but it was too much trying to run, survive, and take pictures. I'll have more when Michael and his parents develop theirs and when the race pics are posted. So pics are to be continued...

A big thanks goes out to all my fellow runners who helped me before, during, and after the race. Another thanks goes to my fellow bloggers who cheered me on. And a huge thanks to all my family, friends, and students who prayed for me to survive!!! I couldn't have done it without all of you guys!!

Happy running!