"Started in 1983 the Mountain Masochist Trail Run has earned its reputation for being one of the "best trail races in the east." The race begins at the James River Visitor Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway (mile 63.6) and finishes in Montebello, VA. The course itself is a challenging combination of roads, jeep trails, and single track that can cause even the most experienced runner to breathe a sigh of relief at the finish line".
My last ultra of the 2010 season. The 50 mile Mountain Masochist Trail Run (MMTR) was not on my list of runs at the beginning of the year and participation was an afterthought. I had not seen my friend Ludo and his family since 2007 and we had been looking to hook up this year. No opportunity presented itself, so I signed up for the waitlist for this run as it is practically in his back yard. And I got in!
After September Madness (running a 50k, 50 miler and a marathon in 3 weeks), I felt tired. Rather than training hard, I chillaxed and focused on re-energizing the old body. Felt pretty good although my right ankle had been sore in the run-up for a few weeks and I busted my left knee rock climbing just the week before. Nevertheless, I set myself some KPIs: top 10 finish, sub-8 hour time and beat the first female (who wants to get "chicked"!?!?!).
The start was at 6:30 am. The weather forecast called for cold weather and possible rain or snow showers. I was set on wearing tights but switched to shorts as the temperature was warmer than predicted (44 rather than the predicted 33) once we got to the start line. It was dry with no wind: ideal conditions. At 6:30 it was still really, really dark. Some people use headlights, but those weigh you down (and I didn't think about it). The first five miles were on the road and once you hit the trail there was just enough light to see the rocks and roots. I have found that it is not easy to find the balance between starting too slow (leaving to much of a gap between myself and the front runners) and too fast (running out of juice too soon). I started at a good pace with the intend to keep it up until the end. Unknown to me at that moment, I was in 27th position at Aid Station 1.
The first fire road was rougher than expected. I also recalled that the elevation profile had looked "flatish" for the first 20 miles and I had thought the organization had overstated the statistics. Reality set in early that I would have to ascend and descend exactly as much as advertised (9200 ft climb, 7200 ft descent)... After quite a climb, I descended to AS3. Ludo was my crew for the day and he was ready for me. 
Fueling strategy was about speed and simplicity: switch bottles containing carbohydrate / protein / fatty acid drink every once in a while and eat a banana or power bar at selected aid stations. I obviously had my pickle juice with me but didn't get cramps during the entire race or afterwards. At AS4, I was in 13th place 15 miles into the race (per the race website). I was also doing really well on my 8 hour schedule.
There had been a bit of rain and snow in the days before the race. Mud pools remained although it was easy enough to keep the feet dry until I had to cross a 10 ft wide creek... At mile 22 the real climbing started. Not steep, but loooong. At some point you faintly hear music while getting higher. The music slowly gets louder until you reach the top of Buck Mountain where they had a huge amplifier pumping away tunes. Not the highest point of the run, but a long climb. Most of the vertical is done with at this stage. I was doing well and hadn't walked any of trail so far. At AS9 they told me I was in 9th position. Right where I wanted to be!
Runners encountered a thin blanket of snow at the higher elevations. The scenery was very pretty as the trees still had lots of color. A couple of nice views were to be had as well. It was pretty cold, just above freezing but ideal for running. At AS10 Ludo was waiting yet again. I was now in 8th position. This section is called "The Loop" and it is 5 mile singletrack trail with heaps of rocks. Just the way I like it, when still fresh... I slipped once and could feel that I was getting tired. Not having looked carefully at the elevation profile, I also mistakenly thought I had passed the highest point and it would be all downhill from here. I was slightly ahead of schedule at AS11.
The last 11 miles were tough. At some point I had runner number 6 & 7 in sight but just couldn't catch up. There was more vertical to be done and I had to walk several parts. At last, I finally caught up with another runner and was in 7th position. The "golden rule" of ultra marathoning is that if you come up from behind, you're going to pass the person in front of you and you will never see him again. Well, or so I thought. At the last aid station, he caught up with me and we were together. I noticed I had lost time and I now had to run 3 miles in 27 minutes to make under 8 hours. It really was downhill from here, so I thought it was doable. During the downhill I was going fast, but I wasn't able to shake my competitor for 7th place. Finally there was a steep downhill. Based on the time on my watch, I thought the finish ought to be just there and I cranked it up.
And now the most exciting thing of the race happened: a dude was cutting down a gigantic tree! It had already fallen accross the trail and was just barely hanging on from another tree. I came hammering down the trail and had no choice but to pass underneath the unstable trunk. I survived and I was by myself! But the finish just didn't come. 7:59:59 came and went. By now, I was on bitumen and it was flattening out. Just before the finish I got passed and finished in 8th place in 8:02:40.
A very good result indeed. The course was more difficult than I anticipated. I had not seen any women on the course and indeed I was not chicked! Ludo did an awesome job as support team and my fueling strategy certainly saved heaps of time. Surprisingly, I wasn't sore afterwards (unlike the Boston Marathon). The ankle was fine but the knee certainly was inflamated and an unhappy camper. It needs a bit of rest!
This was my last ultra marathon of 2010. I finished 5 ultra marathons and in each of them I got a spot in the top 10. I completed 4 road marathons and set a personal best of 3:04:49 in Boston. Not too shabby! Next year I aim to improve my marathon time by at least 5 minutes. I will also try to finish a 100 miler. Hard to improve on 2010, but I'll give it a go!