Mud/Bonk/Total Botch - My Seneca Creek Greenway 50K(27.7 Miler) Race Report

March 2, 2019

Photo by D. Reichmann

Looking for a low key grassroots 50K, The Seneca Creek Greenway 50K seemed like a perfect choice. I've run the Stone Mill 50 a couple of times and much of that course uses the Seneca Greenway so I'd even be semi-familiar with the route and besides, The Montgomery County Road Runners club put on a lot of events, so low key or not, I knew they'd have it dialed.

After my last outing (The Algonquin 50K) I visited the dentist to have a broken tooth extracted. After the tooth-pull I was prescribed something called Clindamycin and quickly I realized that I was staying in the bathroom more than any other room. It took me a little while to put two and two together and then I noticed the side effects listed on the bottle. So I've got a race coming up and I can't keep any food in me. Worse yet, I started to feel terribly run down. I contacted the dentist and was told the alternative antibiotic would probably affect me the same way. I made the decision and ditched it. I lost about 6 pounds and I was still looking for a full night's sleep. Getting prepared to travel to Gaithersburg, Janice asked me how I felt about the race, would I be able to run without frequent porta-john stops (that's not exactly what she said, but I'll spare you her crude idea of humor :-) )

Pretty psyched that the race didn't start till 8 am and my hotel was only a couple of minutes drive from the start. Staying on the 12th floor in a seemingly sparsely populated hotel, I thought it was odd that room next to me was occupied. I knew because when returning from dinner, I heard them; they were loud. My dreams of sleeping in were dashed at 3am when I was awakened by yelling and screaming coming from the hallway. Checking out I was informed of some sort of "altercation" that had occurred. So much for sleep. 

While we were getting another dose of snow back home in Harrisburg, in Gaithersburg it rained steadily all night. We had already received an email from the race directors advising the trails would be muddy and this rain was guaranteeing an absolute slop-fest. The race website and follow up emails described offering a 50K and a Marathon option, along with detailing aid stations and cut off times and locations. Runners also had the option to decide their distance at a "Decision Point" near the finish. That point also had a cut off time and missing it meant you had to choose the Marathon and you'd not be permitted to run the additional distance for the 50K. 

Number pinned on and sitting waiting for the start, I felt like taking a nap. My 3am wake up call(fight) had me yawning. Janice called me (she didn't make this trip) and thankfully, talking with her seemed to wake me up a bit. It was no longer raining, but the damp temps in the 30's had me shivering while listening to the last minute race instructions. 

They went over the cut-offs and the "decision point" and considering I never plan on missing cut-offs or dropping, I only sort of paid attention.After the singing of our national anthem, fiddling with my hat; I dropped it in the mud. I had no idea the foreshadowing at hand.

After a brief run on a paved park road we were soon turning into the woods and onto single track trail. The mud began immediately and it was that slippery kind of mud that robs total control from your feet. Running along, it became common to see someone ahead of you suddenly lose their footing and landing on their butts. Or you'd hear the "whoa" behind you and you'd know someone had just bit it. Seeing this also made it obvious that it was only a matter of time till it was you getting back up from the slimy muck.

Ice on the sides, mud down the middle.

Photo by T. Bryant

In any ultra, the first few miles are my time to get warmed up and settle into a pace. These muddy conditions allowed for none of that. In fact the lack of footing, to me, was terribly discouraging. Four straight miles of slipping and sliding along. I was going so slowly that I wondered if any improvement was possible. Yes, I questioned whether continuing was worth it.

Slick tilted bridge

I slipped and fell a couple of times, but the second one was the worst. We were crossing one of many small wooden bridges and this one in particular was pitched with one side higher than the other. It wasn't just slimy, it had remnants of ice as well. In my lackadaisical way, as I crossed that bridge I noticed a large bird flying high over head and calling loudly. I didn't recognize the bird or its song so I was distracted and yes, I slipped and hit hard, The guy behind me said he thought I was done as he had seen my head bounce off the tilted planks. If anything, it was a not so gentle reminder to pay attention and that if I wanted to go bird watching I'd need to do it another day 

Photo by T. Bryant

I did recognize much of this trail. It seemed in places that I might've been going the opposite direction as the Stone Mill 50, but I noticed many spots that seemed quite familiar. During the entire run, The Seneca Creek is quite evident. It's either right next to you, you're crossing it or it's not far over the next little hill. At about the 11 mile mark we came upon a sign that warned of a dangerous water crossing. Now we had already either tromped through numerous stream crossings or crossed bridges and none of the water really looked dangerous. This sign even went as far as to direct hikers one way and horses or bikes the other. We rounded a bend and swollen by the over night rain, this creek crossing was definitely legit. I'm about 6 feet tall and based on the depth on others' legs I wasn't concerned. 

Photo by T. Bryant

As I approached the stream bed to take my turn to wade, I noticed a small woman reaching out to a man's hand for help. She might've been 5'4" and the depth and current were a real concern for her. The water was slightly above my knees and swift. She commented that she had never done anything like this before. I tried to assure and encourage her to take solid steps and not be in a hurry. Before exiting up the other creek bank, there was something submerged we had to step over and soon she was reaching out for a second hand, mine, to ensure she didn't go for a swim. We all made it. I looked back as those behind me were wading and thought a rope would've been nice here. That might've been the sketchiest water crossing I've ever experienced.

Arriving at the Berryville Aid Station

Photo by M. Hoebeeck

At the 15 mile mark was The Berryville Aid Station and I had a drop bag there. My butt was dragging and i was hoping I'd get a lift by refueling there. The descent to the aid station had large steps cut into the hill side made of large timbers resembling over sized railroad ties. They looked slippery as ice so I did my best to avoid stepping directly on them. A young woman in front of me had taken an awkward step and kind of stumbled. In an attempt to not run up on her as she slowed, I did step right on one of those slippery steps and I went down hard again. This one hurt, my left side from my hip up to my shoulder really took a hit. 

Merely a flesh wound.

Knowing the aid station was now quite close, I got up out of the mud and went in search of my drop bag. 

Photos by M. Hoebeeck

I had some alternate/dry clothes in the bag along with more Huma Energy Gels, Pickle Juice, Clif Bar Shot Bloks and a full bottle of Tailwind. I swapped out my bottle and proceeded to change into a dry shirt, wind jacket, hat and gloves. 

Hitting the trail, those dry clothes really gave a me a lift and I felt like a million bucks.I had decided on a new approach to the mud, I was now running right through it instead of wandering off the trail to avoid it. I found myself passing groups of runners at nearly every mud bog as they slowed to figure out how to navigate around it. Somewhere around mile 20, There was a road crossing with some snacks and water. I topped off my bottle and here I realized in my haste to change some clothes, I forgot to grab gels, Pickle Juice or anything else. I was wearing a hydration vest, but I was now basically out of all my nutrition and the next real aid station was about 7 miles away. In few miles of feeling refreshed, I had passed numerous runners and now they were all passing me as my bonk was in full swing. This lack of calories hit me hard and I was now struggling. I felt like I was going backwards.

This was only my second race wearing the new Suunto 9 watch, which is an awesome device. On a major positive note, when I fell on that icy bridge, I walloped the watch face against something hard: probably a post for the railing. I looked at the glass expecting the worse and there wasn't even a scratch. On a funny note, when I fell on those slippery steps I had difficulty getting up at first. I think the cuff of my glove pressed and held the center button on the watch. Leaving the aid station I looked at the watch and it was in a menu I didn't recognize. It seemed as though I was in an area of the watch settings where you would set thresholds for pace and heart rate. While running, I couldn't figure out how to escape that menu. Eventually I found my way back to the current exercise and I thought, "phew, I can now put my brain back to running". Then the messages and alarms started. I'm not sure what I had set, but my watch was now telling me to slow down or speed up, coupled with an alarm every minute or so. At first I let it bother me, but as I started feeling crappy as my calories waned; it became amusing. So I spent the rest of the run with my new awesome watch sounding like a video game. 

The things you see along a trail.

As the miles piled up I was wondering where this "decision point" was and what I would do when I got there. I was running with a couple of guys, my watch read 25.3 miles and I asked them if they knew where this "decision point" was considering a marathon is 26.2 miles. They laughed and said they had heard the marathon was more like 27 miles, almost 28. The good news was they said an aid station was coming soon. 

We dumped out onto a road briefly and I recognized the location as the next aid station is also an aid station on the Stone Mill 50 course. My watch already had 27.3 miles, so now I was really confused and I was sure that this aid station must also be the "decision point" I'd been seeking. I was there with about 15 minutes to spare so I started shoveling food, cameling-up on liquid and I sat down on a chair while a kind volunteer refilled my bottle. I heard a runner ask where the finish was as her watch already had 27 miles. I laughed to myself, but then I  over heard a guy telling a runner, "you can run an eleven minute mile, you can make the decision point". I asked the woman who refilled my bottle if this was that ever important point and she said, "no sorry, it's still about a mile up the trail". 

After cursing a bit, I got up from the comfy chair I was in and hit the trail, pretty well knowing that I was doomed and would miss that next cut-off. I got to that most sought after intersection, I was three minutes late and the kind volunteer directed me up the last painful hill to the finish line. I felt like absolute crap, coming back from a bonk never feels good so I was never happier to miss a cut off time. When I crossed the finish line my watch showed 28.5 miles, the longest marathon I've ever run. Kneeling down to unlace the timing chip on my shoe, I cramped, the first cramp I've experienced since becoming a Pickle Juice Sport Brand Ambassador. That cramp was certainly a painful reminder to never forget my Pickle Juice again. Another kind volunteer helped me with my muddy timing chip, gave me a race magnet and told me to go have a beer.

Photos by B. Jacobs

Just beyond the finish line there was a pavilion with awesome home made hot soups and beer from a new-to-me local craft brewery; Waredaca Brewing Company (tasty IPA!) 

The beer and a couple mugs of soup put me back on earth so I gathered my well stocked drop back, found my Jeep and hit the road home. 

I went to Seneca Creek State Park to run a 50K, screwed that up and dropped to the Marathon and ended up with credit for a 27.7 Miler (that was 28.49 miles long). I can honestly say that's a distance I've never run before. It's better than a full on DNF I guess. I'll take it, fun, challenging day...just another training run with a t-shirt. If you're looking for no frills 50K put on by a group who's events are truly top notch, go run this one. Next up is the HAT Run 50K at Susquehanna State Park near Havre de Grace Maryland on the 23rd.