RACE REPORT: New River 50k

Submitted by: Ron Fleming

I had pretty high expectations going into the New River 50k. I thought my training in the past couple of months was going to yield big things. However, I had been dealing with some nagging soreness in my right calf since the weekend before Golf Club. I didn't run for two weeks leading up to the New River 50k just to let that heal, but managed to get in some biking, elliptical and swimming. The day of the race, it seemed to be a non-issue.

I started the race running with Scott and Liz. We just could not stop talking about the views we were getting. A foggy morning made for some very cool views of the trail and rocky river. The race started off pretty cool, in the high 40's I believe. Once the sun burned through the fog and the skies cleared it became very warm.

The race started in Fries VA. The first 5 miles were along the New River. We came to an aid station where we had a half mile out and back to the aid station and then crossed the river to start a 10 mile run along Chestnutt Creek to the 16 mile turn around point near Galax. I stayed with Scott and Liz for a while, but never really felt good. Typically after a few miles of warning up, things fall into place for me. That never happened. I never felt like I had my legs and never had confidence that it was going to be a good day. Around mile 12, I started having some GI issues and backed off the 9:00 pace and Scott and Liz moved forward. After toting those GI issues around for a couple miles a bathroom was sent down from the heavens and I was able to put that behind me, hoping that would make things better.

On my way to the mile 16 aid station, I finally met Scott and Liz headed back towards the finish. They both seemed to be doing really good. I arrived at the aid station, had a piece of a turkey sandwich and some other snacks. I removed a shoe and sock and lathered up a couple of toes with petroleum jelly as I could feel a blister coming on.

I knew I wasn't "feeling it" that day, but was not really prepared for what was about to happen. I started making my way away from the aid station and out of the blue was getting pain in the outside of my left knee and started developing a limp. I met Ted making his way to the aid station and then not long after that, he was on my heels and he slowed down to speak and then moved forward. Shortly after, I met Frank making his way to the aid station. Both Ted and Frank were in good spirits. This knee pain ultimately shut me down. It wasn't that I had gone out too fast and that my legs were shot, it was just that I couldn't run because of the knee. I could walk it off for a few minutes and then resume lightly running for literally just a few seconds until it came back. To top that off, I turned on my iPod for the first time and it was stuck on one song and would only play 20 seconds of that song and then repeat.

I had about a mile-long self pity party after the 16 mile aid station, but then made up my mind to just suck it up and enjoy the scenery. I pretty much walked the last 15 miles from the turnaround to the finish. The scenery was so incredible, I was not about to let myself have a bad time out there. So many other runners that passed me could see me struggling and offered all sorts of support, from verbal encouragement, to fluids, electrolytes, salt and ibuprofen. It was such a friendly and supportive group of runners on the course.

I felt so weird after finishing. Usually after finishing a distance race, my mind and body are completely exhausted and hurt. Not this time. I had walked for so long that my body and legs felt fresh (compared to a normal finish) except for the nagging knee pain I experienced, which wasn't really an issue when walking...only running. I thought I was going to escape post-race soreness, but boy was I wrong. Today (Monday), I definitely feel like I covered the distance.

For anyone that is reading this far, I assume you might have some slight interest in increasing your race distance, doing a 50k or participating in some smaller local, off the beaten path races. If you ever want to run a race further than a marathon, the New River Trail 50k is your race. It is flat. Very very flat. It is a trail, but it is not technical, there are no roots and loose large rocks. It is packed gravel and cinder for the most part. The scenery is fantastic. I will be very surprised if I ever run a course that is more scenic than that one. The course and supportive group of people at this race will make it an excellent choice for you to try something different. I expect I will be back next year.

My hat is off to the other RMEC runners that finished Saturday. They had wonderful races and I was happy to be there to share that with them.