I had so much fun running this race last year that I just had to come back. This is a very small race with only 44 runners signed up across the three distances (100M, 50M, 50K) and only 15 signed up for the hundred. I’m a huge fan of small races and wanted to come back again this year to support the event. The vibe is very old school, however you get the full race experience with well stocked aid stations and more than enough support to get your buckle. People decry the UTMBization of ultras, however mom-and-pop races (or Nichole-and-Vinny if you will) are still out there. You just need to look a little harder as their marketing budgets and social media mentions are nonexistent.
While I’m looking forward to doing 12 hill repeats at Greek Peak (2x per loop), this is not a focus race for me. As such, my only goal is to finish. I have last year’s time of 28:52 to compare my effort, however I’m not going to target this. It’s still too early in The Revolution to expect results so I’m not going to be discouraged if I’m slower this year. Weather looks to be about the same, yet course conditions may or may not be fully comparable. And listen, bad races happen. Nutrition/hydration can definitely go sideways on me and since this isn’t an A race, I’ll be less focused on shaving time at aid stations. Maybe I’ll even sit down and hang out for a little bit. My wife will be crewing for me (we’re heading to Watkins Glen for a couple days afterwards) and I may decide to spend some extra time in aid stations versus my normal NASCAR pitstop. All of that being a long winded way of saying I’m looking to have a fun time more so than a fast time.
Time to go play in the woods!