Bad Idea 50 Miler

I just realized why there is an edit option on blogs.  It is so that you can return to an entry at a later time and finish it!  I should not be in the house at 10:13 on a Sunday morning, but I am enjoying a bit of breakfast after my (too short) run and want to start on the Bad Idea #20131102 50 mile report.

No pictures as I forgot the camera.  I also got in 39K of epic hills and gnarly single track on Bruce's trail.  I sound like a teenage mountain biker.  A small group signed up for the run.  Attrition was a little higher than normal as the weather was (surprise!) ugly, even by Dunedin standards.  Sleet and high winds.  Mind you, the weather was welcome on the first (3K) uphill.  It was comfortable running the single track, although at times it was dicey, running on wet moss covered rocks inches from a 40 foot cliff.  Just to clarify, the cliff went down.  Way down.  I deliberately walked some sections on my 3rd (13K) loop, as I hate being in the statistic column of a run.  The weather had the biggest impact on the final 1.6K downhill section.  As in strong winds shoving sleet in your face.  Reminded me of Scotland, with the low clouds and misty moors.  Ah!  The home country.  I'm not really fooling anyone, with a last name of Marcoux...

There were many firsts for me.  First long run outside of a race in 3 years.  First time drinking coffee laced with scotch (thank you Ann!) before the last loop.  After 2 loops I was debating the merits of another loop.  After making my decision known, to run loop 3, Ann said "that's the scotch talking".  I believe she was correct!  I was tempted to sleep in Saturday morning, as I was not sure if anyone was going to show for the 06:00 start.  Being a fun run, the start time was when you started running!  Fortunately my "work" alarm (inside my head) went off like clockwork (get it?) at 05:00, so I arrived just before 06:00.  Good thing too, as Steve Bridson was already there and ready to go.  We started at 06:30 since no one else showed up (Steve was unsure of the course - in the dark) and I had to set up the 5K aid station.

Lunch.  It is raining, so I can't paint (same as every other day for the last 4 weeks, Pinky...).  Below are results for the Dunedin Bad Idea 50M.  See Ron Irwin's blog (http://westgreyrunner.blogspot.ca/) for his explorun of the Dunedin area.  Ron listed himself as DNF, which is tough to do on a fun run!  Lee Anne ran to Dunedin and home, and chose a 19K loop instead of the 2 options (yes, life is a never-ending surprise with Lee Anne!).  Below is tabulated in semi-alphabetical order.  Sharon Zelinski won the Bad Idea plaque, for most improved sleet runner (actually, because Doug Barber forgot to bring it home and I wasn't about to drive it up to Owen Sound).  Unless I made a mistake (do recall that scotch is involved) Adi, Steve Beach and I all ran 39K in 7:03, but I ran at a different time.  Weird!  As will become apparent, most did not "race" the event.  Only Steve Bridson completed 50 miles (we docked points from him for this) and Dave Robinson ran from 01:00 to 05:00 Saturday morning, slept 2 hours and arrived "late" to the run.  No comment.  To read:  Name, start time, clock time for each loop (13K is option 1, 14K is option 2), total distance and run duration.

Adi Shnall:  10:17, 12:25 (1), 14:46 (1), 17:20 (1), 39K, 7:03
Dave Robinson:  10:17, 11:52 (2), 13:45 (2), 15:39 (2), 17:34 (2), 56K, 7:17
Lee Anne Cohen:  60K, 8:00ish
Pierre Marcoux:  06:30, 08:30 (1), 10:40 (1), 13:33 (1), 39K, 7:03
Ron Irwin:  12:30, 25K, see his blog
Sharon Zelinski:  08:30, 10:30 (1), 12:15 (1), 14:20 (1), 16:18 (1), 52K, 7:48
Steve Bridson:  06:30, 08:30 (1), 10:15 (1), 11:55 (2), 13:45 (2), 15:30 (2), 17:34 (2), 80K, 10:57
Steve Beach:  10:17, 12:25 (1), 14:46 (1), 17:20 (1), 39K, 7:03
Stephan Miklos:  08:30, 10:30 (1), 12:15 (1), 14:20 (1), 16:18 (1), 52K, 7:48
Doug Barber:  08:30, 10:20, 13K, 2:10
Les Szilagyi, Cliff Renfrew and Ann Fleming:  08:30, 10:40, 13K, 2:20

Well, it is sunny, so painting is hypothetically possible...  More this evening!

I dipped the brush in the paint and the sunny ski turned to clouds and rain...  I'm cursed.  Damn you weather gods!  Of course with an attitude like that, it's no wonder it rains when I paint.

I ran loop 1 with Steve Bridson, which is a polite way of saying that Steve slowed down for the first loop.  If you note his times, he sped up considerably later on.  Steve Br. and Dave ran 4 loops together, so they must be close to the same pace.  I met up with Lee Anne at the start of loop 2 (what are the odds of that?) and ran about half the course with her.  She wanted to run road and pass "her" waterfall (on Townline, close to Lavender falls) so we parted ways at the Bruce Trail and CR 9.  At the end of loop 2, I caught up with the Owen Sound contingent.  This was a huge tactical error.  See "coffee and scotch" below.

26K of hills and technical single track is a satisfactory run for me.  I was already forming images of how great a cup of coffee would be and I had planned on supporting the aid station.  Mind you, it was only 10:30 and with the weather giving the appearance that it would improve (it didn't) and having some legs left, another loop seemed logical.  Doug, Deisel (Les), Cliff and Ann declared that they were stopping after one loop.  Since I had ample time, I thought I'd sit and chat for a while, have that cup of coffee and decide later if another loop was in the offing.

Then the scotch came out.  First, Ann presented me with a bottle of vodka, for organizing the run.  It was quite a gesture and much appreciated!  For future reference, I enjoy both Vodka and Kahlua...  At any rate, we sat and chatted for a while.  Always great to hear stories from Doug and his friends!  I had no sooner mentioned that I was starting to stiffen up and should get loop 3 going (Ann mentioned that was the scotch talking!) when Lee Anne shows up.  Another coincidence!  We replayed loop 2, with Lee Anne staying on CR 9 when I hit the Bruce trail.  Loop 3 was tough!  I walked many of the rocky sections, as the leg muscles were threatening to quit.  I met up with Ron Irwin, who was running the loop backwards (clockwise, not actually running backwards!) which helped to pick up my mood!  I think that Ron was having a great time, taking video and trying to get lost.

The remainder of the day was spent supporting runners when they finished a loop and chatting with friends when they pulled the plug.  Plans were for a few of us to head back to Creemore for some pottery glazing and stringent quality control of some fine wines...  I am 93% certain we had a good time!
What's next?  A bunch (Sharon Z., Charlotte V., Chris P., Lee Anne and I) are heading to Phoenix to run the Across the Years race in late December / early January (hence the name).  It should be a hoot!  Lee Anne is eyeing the Canadian 100 mile record...  It appears soft for F60 - 64 at 28:14, but that's easy for me to say; I have no intention of running 100 miles.  Lee Anne will take a stab by running the 48 hour.  Since pacers and crew are discouraged, I am running the 24 hour to support Lee Anne.  Correction:  I am entered in the 24 hour.  I plan to run 1 lap (about 1 mile), then wait 12 hours and run at night to support Lee Anne.

Well, that is long enough for now!