executive version: did the 3rd kentucky ultra trail sojourn - fine people, fine course, fine weather, fine support, run went well, and because it went so well i decided to drop the western states 100 miler from this years plans - aah what?

long version: met up with bill mack on friday at the cracker barrel in findlay, oh, ft wayners mitch harper and linda gorman joined us in wapakoneta, oh and we zoomed off south towards kentucky. we crossed the ohio and the first thing we get to see of kentucky is - the oldenberg brewery :-). we had a hard time finding anybody in there so bill was the barkeep and pored us some nice ol' lager straight from the tap. then got to meet some more folks at the pre-race dinner and most of the crowd retired to the hotel for some pre-race carbo-loading - with nikki robbinson's diverse collection of microbrewed malted hop-juice. the morning dawned after a short night and on the way to the start we attempted to drag out joe and kevin's car from a tobacco field - i really never heard a good explanation how it ended up there in the first place :-)

the race: herb herdgecock puts on the kentucky ultra trail sojourn which follows the trails around cave run lake in the daniel boone national forest. a low-key, relaxed start at 7am sent us off towards our first climb, bill and i settled in behind ginny turner for the first few miles but it is a lie that it was us who pushed her down and made her duel some rocks in a contest of hardness - honestly, it was a stump that jumped up at her and took her down. she then ran another 9+ hours with a fractured hand and finished the race with a smile - honestly, you ultra running folks are nuts :-) - nutso, man, nutso - i wish i would have the guts to do things like that - on the other hand, i rather not ... my own run was in comparison pleasantly boring, i walked the steeper climbs, ran the flats and downhill sections and made nice progress. the fire tower was an "optional detour" but how can i take the shorter version when herb calls it the "wimpy" option :-) a series of steps leads up to a cliff, a couple more steps up the fire tower and you get rewarded with a spectacular view of the land below. on this crisp clear day you could look out way into the distance and way, way back in the distance you could see another fire tower and inside you could barely make out - the back of your own head :-). i swear, you could see that far - little did i know that the jason hodde cliff-hanger was unfolding right below us on the side of the rock :-)

aid stations were filled to the brim with goodies and the course was marked reasonably well with streamers and standard markers. i did turn around a few times when i was convinced that i was onto a wrong trail but then ran into other unsure runners coming my way. the trail repeatedly followed the shores of the lake, then went back into the forest and up onto the next hill. yoyo-ed positions with some nice folks, chatted, and time went by quickly. a small group condensed and i ran mostly with natalie hergert for the rest of the day, we got lost three times - twice on the same damn spot on a short section that was repeated between loops. i should also mentioned that the places where we did get lost were well marked - duh :-). the course was measured accurately, but herb forgot to mention that the last sections were given in "herbical" miles :-) hey, mr rd, i am loging this one as a 60 standard km.

passed 33 miles (as a third of a 100 miler) in around 7:20, then walked it home in 9:08 with a relaxed stroll. this was followed by another evening with good company, pizza and beer - this time at herb and sue's place, more tall tales of ultra folks, largely dealing with detachable toe nails, beer, or cool neon gadgets that make you look like you are moving when you are not ...

the aftermath: looking back i felt great about how the run had gone and the uneasiness about the western states also had crystallized. i am in reasonable shape but i am mainly concerned that i wont be able to prepare adequately for this race as my first 100 miler. here in NW ohio i cant train the brutal hills, i cant train the altitude, i cant get aquainted with the course, i cant get my trusted sweetie wife as crew - its just a sub-optimal setup all around. on the other hand the mohican 100 miler is virtually at the same time as western states, it is a 2h drive from my home and i can do my regularly long run and trail training right on the actual course. i will face fewer unknowns. it was a hard decision but it makes sense to me and i feel relieved about it - ws has now been dropped from my calendar and the mohican 100 has been added instead.

thanks to all involved, i had a great time at my first race with fellow nw-ohio drs runner bill mack and lots of new-found friends.