Cornbelt 24 Hour: Short Version

I've only had 3 hours of sleep since the post-race breakfast, and I will start driving home tomorrow, so I'll do a full race report once I get home. I hate to wait because blogging is time sensitive.

So the short version is, I went into the race to accomplish one thing: finally, after 22 years of running ultras, to run 100 miles in less than 24 hours. I've run lots of 24 hour races as training runs in the past, but usually as training runs, unless you count the 1994 Across the Years run, which was my first 24 hour, where I blew up from going too fast. I won it anyway, but only got 84 miles that year.

I also hoped to have some good competition and maybe do a little chicking and sharpei-ing along the way. That's the fun part, that comes only at the end, when you find out what the standings are going into the final few hours and honing in on your targets. It's what drives you to work your hardest, dig deep and run your best performance.

Well I succeeded on almost all counts: Ran 101.31 miles in humid, warm weather, got a 100 mile split of 23:47, and chicked almost all the field except for my friend Doug Nash from Fort Collins, who won the race overall, but I was the one who got sharpei-ed. Double sharpei-ed. Doug has 10 years on me, and Bonnie Busch from Iowa, the local star whom I know from Badwater, has 6 years on me. Doug finished first in 108+ miles, Bonnie finished 2nd in 104 miles, and I was 3rd.

I'll provide details later, but basically the race went pretty well for me except the stretch from 50 miles to 100 K. It took me 3 hours to cover those 12 miles, because I was bonking and couldn't get enough calories in- nothing looked good, and I had to eat small bites for a while until I got enough calories in to "re-boot". After that I moved really well.

I had a blast, and the race was one of the better organized and orchestrated races I've seen. No frills, but all of the runners' basic needs were met. It's definitely on my list for a repeat visit. I highly recommend it. As Wayne would say, "Excellent!"

I'm going to leave this here and work on a lengthier blogpost, because it was a fun-filled day. I'll post the full report sometime this coming week. Right now my priorities are sleep, food, and lowering myself onto chairs, toilets, and other low objects that require knee bending and quad work, using my triceps.