Skunk Ape 50 Mile Run Recap
Hey there! On Saturday I completed the Skunk Ape Endurance Run in Ocala, Florida. There was a 100 mile option and a 50 mile- I did the 50. The course was an out-and-back (with a slight variation on the way back) and the 100 milers did that TWICE. This made it fun because we got to see runners coming and going. Full disclosure: I’m still a little mentally foggy! But I was afraid if I waited to write the recap, I would forget too much… so here we go. Here’s the start at 7 am: We were off! The beginning of the trail had a lot of roots, and I was worried the whole thing would be like that. But it soon evened out into a beautiful, smooth trail, perfect for running. The day was forecasted to be HOT, but at this time it was comfortable, the trail was shaded, and I felt great. If you’ve read my other race recaps, you’ll know that I always seem to make a “friend” in these races, and this was no exception. In the early miles I was running near a guy who eventually asked my name. “Jenny,” I said, “What’s yours?” He said “It’s Forrest! Isn’t that crazy!” What! That is crazy! Then he said “Just kidding. It’s Charlie.” He was running with a friend (Brad) and every time after that when I saw them, he would yell out “JENNAY” (in a Forrest Gump voice). How many times did I see him? Read on to find out. We came to the first aid station after about 7 miles. Here’s a photo Darlene found on Facebook. After filling my water bottles, I ran on. The next section had a little more difficult terrain, but nothing terrible. I was still feeling good. Around 11 miles in, we got to the second aid station. This was one point where we could access drop bags, so I grabbed some more gels and supplies and was on my way again. I had been enjoying running by myself, but now I was starting to feel a little lonely. Just as I had that thought, from behind me I heard “JENNAY!” It was Charlie and Brad. I decided to run along with them for a while. We were on a section of pavement that had a lot of hills, and unfortunately Charlie’s pace didn’t work for me. He walked more than I wanted to, but when he ran it was faster than I wanted to go, so I decided I had to do my own thing. I trotted along happily again at my slow but steady pace. Soon after that we got to the next aid station. Here, everyone was talking with dread about the section coming up called “The Berm.” I wonder what’s so bad about it? I mean- I’ve run in sand. I completed a race called Dunes 50k which had us running up and down sand dunes. But this was worse than any sand I’ve ever encountered. I tried several times to run (because WALKING through the sand for 5 miles seemed unbearable) but eventually gave up. Everyone was walking. And guess who was there? “JENNAY!” Charlie was keeping up his aggressive walking pace, and I decided to walk right behind him. I didn’t let myself think any thoughts (but if I had, they would have been angry and negative) and just focused on Charlie’s feet in front of me. Trudge, trudge, trudge… at one point someone said “Can you believe we paid to do this?” Ha ha. After three or four miles we got to a runnable section. I sat down to empty the sand from my shoes, and you wouldn’t have thought it was possible for THAT MUCH SAND to come pouring out of a shoe. And I started to run again. PHEW! But then… it was The Revenge of The Berm. Yep, the deep sand came back, and I had foolishly run ahead of Charlie. I tried to emulate his aggressive trudging pace, and finally, FINALLY came to this sign. I emptied another five pounds of sand from my shoes, and ran to the next aid station. They assured us that the sand was done (and you only do The Berm section on the outbound route, not coming back) and that the next section was fun “if you like running up and down hills.” Er…anything is better than sand- bring it on! This was a 6-ish mile section to the next aid station, which was also the turnaround point. This meant we could see the runners coming back our way, which was fun. I was running alone again, but saw lots of runners coming back towards me, and we all gave each other thumbs up and called out “Great job! Looking good!” until… a woman running toward me held up her hand in warning and said “Watch out- rattlesnake.” And then she ran on. WHATWHATWHAT??? Rattlesnake??? WHERE? Around the next bend? A mile away? I immediately turned off my music (I had put music on as a reward after The Berm) and slowed down to a cautious walk. What do you do if you see a rattlesnake? I couldn’t remember- run away? Stand still? Throw something at it? (no- pretty sure that one is wrong). After about half a mile I saw more runners coming towards me- they weren’t fleeing in terror and called out the customary “great job!” so I figured it was safe to proceed and started running gain. I was almost 30 miles into the race, and it was getting hot. The last mile of this section looked like this: It was in full sun, and when I got to the aid station I knew I had to rest and cool down. The aid station workers told us it was 94 degrees, and they had chairs set up in the shade. I’ve never actually sat down to rest at an aid station- but this time I knew I had to. My